Midway through the 2014-15 NBA season, the Phoenix Suns are off to a 23-18 start and sit at eighth in the Western Conference standings. Despite having a superior roster on paper, a slow start to the year and a couple of inexplicable home losses have the Suns one game behind their record at this point last year.
With some new faces and young players on the rise, it’s time to take a look at where the 2014-15 Phoenix Suns stand midway through the season. More specifically, which players have stood out the most?
On this special edition of Suns Analysis, we’ll be handing out individual awards — Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player and Most Valuable Player — to Phoenix players just like the NBA does.
Keep in mind, these awards aren’t indicative of how these Suns players stack up to the rest of the league, but rather, are meant to point out who is Phoenix’s MVP, MIP, DPOY, etc.
I figured Coach of the Year would be a tad obvious since Jeff Hornacek is the one running the show, but let’s get started with the Phoenix Suns’ Rookie of the Year midway through the season.
Next: Suns Rookie Of The Year
ROY: T.J. Warren
Honorable Mentions: Tyler Ennis, Zoran Dragic
This may seem like a no-brainer, but the Suns actually have three rookies on the roster between T.J. Warren, Tyler Ennis and Zoran Dragic. A quick look at their limited minutes suggests that Warren is currently the most NBA-ready:
| Rk | Player | Season | Age | G | MP | FG% | 3P% | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zoran Dragic | 2014-15 | 25 | 3 | 2.0 | .250 | .000 | 1.000 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| 2 | Tyler Ennis | 2014-15 | 20 | 7 | 7.9 | .450 | .333 | 1.000 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 3.1 |
| 3 | T.J. Warren | 2014-15 | 21 | 12 | 10.2 | .455 | .400 | 1.000 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 4.0 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/14/2015.
Aside from the fact that he’s played twice as many minutes (122) as his two fellow Suns rookies combined (61), Warren has been the most efficient shooter of the bunch, he’s made four of his 10 three-point attempts and his ability to score in bursts off the bench projects to be far more valuable to this team that’s already stacked in the backcourt.
Basically, if Archie Goodwin can’t even crack the rotation after doing this to Jonas Valanciunas, I seriously doubt unpolished rookies like Zoki and Ennis are going to have much of a shot:
With the addition of Brandan Wright, it’s unlikely that Warren takes on any of the vacant minutes that were available with Anthony Tolliver‘s departure. Marcus Morris has been doing a fine job off the bench as a backup to P.J. Tucker at small forward, so unless the Suns are dealing with major foul trouble or it’s late in a blowout game, don’t expect to see Warren on the floor at either forward position.
Still, we had to give someone the award, so it makes sense to give it to the guy who’s been the most impressive in limited minutes, a guy who figures to be a good fit for this team long-term.
Next: Suns Sixth Man Of The Year
6MOY: Isaiah Thomas
Honorable Mention: Gerald Green
Isaiah Thomas might not be registering on the nationwide Sixth Man of the Year radar like we all thought he would, but it’s still hard to give this award to Gerald Green when I.T. is shooting a better field goal percentage, a better three-point percentage and is averaging more points and assists per game.
Though he’s not quite as electrifying as Green, who thrills the crowds at US Airways Center with his violent dunks and microwave act of heating up in a hurry, Thomas is fully capable of making back-breaking threes off the bench as well.
Plus, how can we forget the time Thomas became a vigilante against flopping when it came to Pablo Prigioni?
Averaging 14.5 points and 3.7 assists per game, Thomas is also shooting 38.8 percent from downtown. When he joins Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe late in games, the Suns form a tenacious point guard hydra that outscores its opponents by 15.5 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com.
This really could be a co-award, since both reserves have taken over games off the bench at various points this season. But Green’s inconsistency makes it hard to choose him over IT, so instead, we’ll give Thomas the award while appreciating G-Air-ld’s entertaining contributions with some highlights:
Next: Suns Defensive Player Of The Year
DPOY: Alex Len
Honorable Mention: P.J. Tucker
Nobody plays on-the-ball defense for the Suns better than P.J. Tucker, but Alex Len has easily had the biggest defensive impact since he was inserted into the starting rotation. Out of all NBA players who have played at least 600 minutes this season, Len is fourth in the league in blocks per 48 minutes.
More from Valley of the Suns
- Ranking the Phoenix Suns’ 5 holiday games in 2023-24
- Zion Williamson gets compared to Phoenix Suns legend
- Suns player preview: Bol Bol can be the perfect role player
- Former Suns’ guard shows he is officially done with Phoenix
- NBA insider guarantees Suns’ rival won’t make blockbuster trade
Since he was moved into the starting lineup, Len is averaging 7.8 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game. He’s coming off back-to-back games with a double-double and has registered three total in 16 starts. Not bad for a guy who was seen as an injury-prone waste of a draft pick as a rookie!
Len moving into the starting rotation has not only been a major upgrade over Miles Plumlee, but it’s also allowed Hornacek to play small-ball lineups and (usually) get away with doing so. It won’t be long before Len’s seasonal numbers catch up with his averages as a starter and he leads the Suns in rebounds as well (5.9 RPG is the mark to pass).
At 21 years old, Len is the future of the center position for the Suns. Phoenix is also 11-5 since Len became a starter. He’s a stabilizing force on the defensive end and recently showed fans why choosing him over fellow 2013 draft pick Nerlens Noel is looking like a wise decision so far:
Oh, and even though this has nothing to do with Len’s defense, we can’t mention the young Ukranian and NOT throw in this clip of Len blowing by Tim Duncan to do his best impersonation of the Air Jordan logo. I don’t know about you, but my spirit animal is an Alex Len post-dunk roar:
Next: Suns Most Improved Player Of The Year
MIP: Markieff Morris
Honorable Mention: Alex Len
Len has probably improved more than anyone on this roster, but because he was so banged up his rookie season — and for the sake of variety — we’re giving the Most Improved Player Award to Markieff Morris instead.
Taking a look at the raw numbers from this season and last season, you’ll notice that Keef’s improvement seems like it’s been minimal:
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/14/2015.
Sure, he’s stepped up his scoring, assists, minutes and field goal percentage to career highs, but so what? The year-by-year improvement really wasn’t that significant between 2013-14 and this season, right?
Wrong. As much as the numbers don’t show it, it should be noted that last season, Keef came off the bench as the league’s fourth-leading Sixth Man of the Year candidate. His stat line was definitely inflated by playing against other teams’ weaker second units, and with Channing Frye in the lineup, Hornacek didn’t need Morris to try and fill a stretch-four role.
This season, all that has changed. Frye is gone, Keef is a starter and the Suns’ offense needs Morris to be able to spread the floor with a three-point shot. His season three-point percentage (32.7) doesn’t leap off the page, but after a poor start to the season, Morris is actually hovering right around 39 percent from downtown since December.
The fact that he’s putting up these career numbers against starters now also speaks to his vast growth. Keef is one of the deadliest midrange players in the league and now has the arsenal of post moves to score on most power forwards.
If you still need any more proof that Morris is one of the most improved players in the league, let alone this team, Wednesday’s career-high 35 points against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers ought to do the trick:
Next: Suns Most Valuable Player
MVP: Eric Bledsoe
Honorable Mentions: Goran Dragic, Markieff Morris
There’s no wrong answer here, but there’s definitely one that is more right than the others. Last season, there’s no question who the MVP of the Suns was. Goran Dragic led a team that missed Bledsoe for half the season to 48 wins, earning the Most Improved Player of the Year Award and Third Team All-NBA honors in the process.
This season, though the Dragon leads Phoenix in scoring at 16.7 points per game, Bledsoe isn’t far behind (16.4 PPG) and he also has a well-rounded stat line of 6.0 assists (team leader), 5.2 rebounds and 1.6 steals (team leader) per game.
Bledsoe is also one of 10 players to record a triple-double this season and is tied for second in the league with two triple-doubles. No other Suns player has one.
If we had multiple voters casting votes, this probably wouldn’t be unanimous. Bledsoe’s penchant for turnovers (3.0 per game) is particularly noticeable when he goes flying down the lane at full speed, draws the help defense, and then jumps to throw an out-of-control pass that either sails out of bounds of floats into the hands of a waiting defender.
However, Bledsoe has been this team’s best and most well-rounded player halfway through the season, especially when you factor in that stifling bulldog defense he plays when he’s locked in. Even though the jump-passing gets old, when you take a look at the sum of his game, Bledsoe has been, without question, this team’s MVP halfway through the season.