T.J. Warren:
In his rookie year, T.J. Warren fit right in with the Bakersfield Jam, exploding for 40 points on 16-of-27 shooting. Warren added six rebounds, three assists and three steals in his 40 minutes of action.
While the effort did come in a loss, it was quite clear that Warren’s ability to score would translate to the NBA level, which was apparent in his time on both the Jam and the Suns.
#Suns HIGHLIGHT: T.J. Warren with the reverse layup for the three-point opportunity!https://t.co/Qn6Dl2vEYq
— Valley of the Suns (@ValleyoftheSuns) April 3, 2015
Simply put, he finds a way to put the ball in the hoop, and whether or not people know who he is, it’s an easy skill to pick out:
Bball-ref does not have a Suns player with the number 12… Who is this guy??
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) March 30, 2015
i’m still impressed with TJ Warren taking Iguodala to the hole last night with 1:08 left.
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) April 3, 2015
T.J. Warren’s shot chart in his last 3 games (made 75.9% of his shots inside the arc). He’s going to be good. pic.twitter.com/Sql5IZRK2D
— Michael Gallagher (@MikeSGallagher) April 3, 2015
However, before the NBA success, there was D-League success. Warren posted a Player Efficiency Rating of 25.28 in his first season in Bakersfield, and lineups with him on the floor outscored opponents by nearly 15 points per 100 possessions.
Additionally, Warren posted a true shooting percentage right around 60 percent, while scoring an average of 1.34 points per shot.
He finds a way to put the ball in the hoop.
Warren would finish the year scoring in double-figures in five of his last nine NBA games, and he would crack the 17-point mark three times in the last six weeks of the NBA season.
Comparatively speaking, before his D-League stints, Warren scored 10-or-more points just one time in four months, and did so only one time in preseason. It was apparent that his time in Bakersfield helped, even though the groundwork had been laid.
From college, the skills were there. He just needed a chance to develop them. After all, in his final season at NC State, Warren averaged a ridiculous 24.9 points per game, and he got better as the season went on, posting 25.5 points per game in ACC play.
Warren’s senior season PER was a ridiculous 31.3, which is higher than any NBA player has posted over the last two regular seasons. In fact, the only player to beat that in the last six years was LeBron James, who did so in the 2012-13 season. In that season James averaged 26.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game, while shooting 56.5 percent from the floor and 40.6 percent from three.
Next: Now in the NBA...