Brandan Wright: 2014-15 Phoenix Suns Player Grades

Highlights:

Earlier, I used the word bouncy to describe Brandan Wright, and that’s exactly where I’ll start with this section. While Wright never truly put his full bounciness on display in Phoenix, he certainly did the year before in Dallas, when he dunked all over Blake Griffin.

I figured Suns fans wouldn’t mind seeing that highlight. Especially after Griffin’s buzzer [REDACTED].

Wright certainly did have his moments in Phoenix though, posting a couple of double-doubles. Among those was Wright’s 18-point, 11-rebound outing against the New York Knicks. Wright went 7-of-8 from the field in that contest, finishing with a plus/minus of +17.

The next game, Wright followed up with a 16-point, eight-rebound, seven-block game against the New Orleans Pelicans, with a plus/minus of +4, in a game the Suns won by two. Wright went 8-of-10 from the field, with one of his two misses coming on a three-pointer that he only put up to avoid a shot clock violation.

Among Wright’s other best outings was a 16-point, 12-rebound, two-block, two-steal performance against the Golden State Warriors, in a game the Suns lost on a game winner with less than a second left. Wright’s big-time performance put the Suns in a position to steal one away from the NBA’s best team at home, and while they were unable to get the job done, his effort definitely deserved to be commended.

A common thread of all those games is that Wright shot at least 50 percent from the field in all of them. Wright would hit that mark of shooting in 64.1 percent (25-of-39) of the games he recorded a field goal attempt in, and he would even shoot 100 percent from the field on four separate occasions with the Suns, including one game against Brooklyn where he shot 5-of-5 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line.

In that game, Wright added eight rebounds and three combined blocks and steals, while remaining turnover-free in 25 minutes. By the way, the Suns won that game by eight:

Think about that: In roughly 10 percent of his games, Wright was perfect from the field in Phoenix, and for the season as a whole, he was perfect from the field in 14 of the 75 (18.7 percent) games he played in. There were other areas that he was perfect too.

Wright remained turnover free in 35 of the 40 games he played in while with the Suns. Essentially, for every eight games he played, he committed a turnover in just one of them. That number certainly showed up in wins, where he averaged 0.3 turnovers per game, compared to a “terrible” 0.6 turnovers per game in losses on the year.

If it isn’t painfully apparent, yes, I’m being sarcastic. That mark is absolutely fantastic. No two ways about it. Absolutely fantastic.

Next: Final Grade