Phoenix Suns Season Preview

Phoenix Suns

2014 record: 39-43

2015 O/U: 36.5

Who are their stars?

The big problem in Phoenix is that they whiffed on all of their stars. You can argue that they have no stars, but to fill out the area, Brandon Knight has to be the star. The Suns essentially lost Isaiah Thomas, Goran Dragic, Tyler Ennis, and the Lakers 2016 first round pick for the next five years of Knight, and a few picks that will not be as valuable as that Lakers pick. Knight is a nice player, with upside to grow into a player with all-star potential, but honestly Eric Bledsoe may be a better player than him. Bledsoe is two years older, but has a slightly better stat line, and in my eyes Bledsoe has always had more upside of the two former Kentucky products. Between the two, they have a nice backcourt combination and it goes into the new “position less” fad as they can play together and both handle the ball, and play off the ball, but also can play with the rotational guys at different positions. That is the biggest key for Phoenix to have success.

Who are the glue guys?

The problem with their best glue guy is that Markeiff Morris does not want to be there. In the Suns’ attempts to woo Lamarcus Aldridge, the Suns signed Tyson Chandler, who we will get to later. Aldridge playing at the power forward next to Chandler obviously means that Morris was moving on if the star signed. If that wasn’t clear enough, in an attempt to show cap flexibility, the Suns traded Morris’ brother Marcus. You can argue that the two together were trouble off the court, but it clearly made Markeiff feel unwanted. He wants out, and I would expect he gets his way by the end of the season. It would create a huge hole in the rotation, but they basically shot themselves in the foot missing on Aldridge. Chandler is still a guy that can contribute however. On paper, Chandler next to Morris is a duo who can create spacing on offense, and toughness on defense. If Morris can find a way to play through the off the court hate they can really have a team competitive in the West.

Who are the rotational guys?

PJ Tucker is probably more of a glue guy because of his ability to do a little bit of everything, but he also has been rumored to be on the trade block. Tucker has position versatility and gives the Suns an ability to throw out a lot of lineups. Alex Len is a guy who looked like he was making progress, before the Suns may have stunted his minutes with Chandler. Len is more of a center, but I guess in bigger lineups a push to have him beside Chandler is possible. That, along with Tuckers’ ability to slide to a small four gives them an ability to live without Morris. TJ Warren and Mizra Teletovic are the guys that can play the small forward in these lineups, and even Warren has seen minutes as a small four. In the backcourt the guards are Kentucky all day. Joining Knight and Bledsoe, is Archie Goodwin and Devin Booker. The four all played for Calipari, and the four can all play in a plethora of lineups together. The lineup aspect is their greatest strength, and if they can find lighting between the ten or so players they will be subbing they will be competitive this season.

Where do they rank? Over Under? How far can they go?

Overall, to me, this team missed the playoffs the day Aldridge didn’t come to Phoenix. They should be as competitive, if not more so than the past two seasons, but at the end of the day they will be where they were in those past two years, and that is wishing they were in the Eastern conference. I could also see some things blow up between Len and Chandler fighting for minutes, and Morris fighting to leave, but at the end of the day I see them near their 39 win total and would not make a play on either side here.

Over 36.5 wins, 10th in the Western Conference, 19th in the NBA