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Should T.J. Warren Start Over P.J. Tucker In 2015-16?

By Gerald Bourguet

Apr 14, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns forward T.J. Warren (12) against the Los Angeles Clippers at US Airways Center. The Clippers beat the Suns 112-101. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 14, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns forward T.J. Warren (12) against the Los Angeles Clippers at US Airways Center. The Clippers beat the Suns 112-101. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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T.J. Warren
May 14, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (left) hugs Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge (right) talk after game five of the second round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at AT&T Center. The Spurs won 104-82. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports /

The Lay Of The Land

The Golden State Warriors aren’t going anywhere. Neither are the Houston Rockets, and even if DeAndre Jordan leaves the Los Angeles Clippers this summer, it’d take some major dismantling to prevent Chris Paul and Blake Griffin from being a top team in the NBA again next year.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will be healthy again next season (fingers crossed) and the New Orleans Pelicans are only going to get better as Anthony Davis stakes his claim for interstellar domination. Even the Utah Jazz had a tremendous second half of the season with their young core clicking following the Enes Kanter trade.

That leaves us with the Memphis Grizzlies, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks, all of which have a number of important free agents this summer.

The Mavs seem like the unlikeliest candidate to regroup and make the playoffs again next season, and the Blazers may be in that same boat if LaMarcus Aldridge leaves in free agency. But the Grizzlies probably have a good shot at re-signing Marc Gasol and if you think Kawhi Leonard and Tim Duncan are done as Spurs, you’re kidding yourself.

So even if the Mavs, Blazers and Grizzlies all fall off the map, that leaves the Suns to compete with Oklahoma City, New Orleans and Utah for the three other playoff spots. And even if they did earn a postseason berth, they’d be looking at an early first round exit.

Bledsoe, Keef, Len and the rest of the young Suns players all have tons of room for growth in 2015-16. But are they going to grow that much to make the Suns anything other than first round fodder? By that line of reasoning, it still feels hard to justify playing Tucker with the goal of a first round playoff exit rather than playing Warren with the goal of long-term development.

Next: This Summer

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