5 Short-Term Goals For The Phoenix Suns

What is success? What determines success at the NBA level?

Does passing an expectation set by an objective third party make a team successful? Can it be possible for a team to succeed while losing over half its games?

As one would imagine, pinpointing success at the NBA level is quite hard to do. For example, if one were to poll Phoenix Suns fans, I think the consensus would be that last year was a failure. However, if you were to take into account that the Vegas over/under for the team (the year before last) was right around 19 wins, while Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose called them the 29th best team in the NBA, the perspective might change a bit.

After all, over the next two years, the team that the Grantland duo referred to as “every bit as depressing as Philly” has put together a combined record of 87-77 (.530), compared to a 37-127 (.226) mark by the Sixers. So I’ll ask the question again in a different way:

Have the Suns been successful these last two years?

This year and the one after that should go a long way as to tell us the answer.

The definition of NBA success seems to be constantly changing. However, if one is to look at the entire situation with some perspective, there’s a case to be made that the Suns have laid the groundwork to become successful over these last two years, whether or not the results have shown themselves just yet.

Two years ago, the Suns were one game away from the playoffs, while last year it was a battle again. In the 2014-15 season, the Suns were in position for a playoff spot before all the nonsense at the trade deadline went down, despite losing multiple games in ridiculous fashion at the buzzer. And it wasn’t an inability to finish that was killing the team. Rather, it was three-pointers and contested twos going in off the backboard at the buzzer that were the culprit.

Middleton is the 2nd player to defeat the Suns with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in the last 7 days. Here's Griffin's https://t.co/AyeDjb0Qr0
— The Pick and Roll 🇦🇺🏀 (@PickandRollAU) December 16, 2014

Beat by a GWBB again.. :( RT @SBNation: BOOGIE BEATER! (via @danecarbaugh) http://t.co/xTyJp73snt https://t.co/RTHB2PwxyE
— Migs / მიგელი (@MigsXIII) February 9, 2015

But to that point, they were hanging on.

When Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas were traded at the deadline, it may have been a bit foolish to think the Suns would continue their previously winning ways. After all, before the trade, the Suns had gone an impressive 68-50 in their last 118 games; that mark would project to a 47-win season, which would’ve been good enough for the playoffs last year, not to mention in four of the last five years.

And it just so happened that in the one year it wasn’t good enough, the Suns won 48 games and missed the playoffs.

Does that make them unsuccessful?

To me, the answer is incomplete.

For a rebuilding team to be successful in the NBA, they need to show signs of growth. And while it hasn’t always been pretty, the team has definitely grown in some areas. Markieff Morris emerged as one of the best clutch scorers in the NBA last year, while others stepped up in other ways; for Alex Len, that meant becoming one of the NBA’s best shot blockers; for T.J. Warren, that meant showing the ability to score against NBA competition at the end of the year, scoring 55 points in his last seven games alone, after scoring a total of 52 points over the first four months of the season.

And for others like Archie Goodwin, the improvements were more modest, but they were still tangible, and continue to be so. And if that continues to be the case, the Suns will be a playoff team (and hopefully an eventual contender), which would without a doubt make the team successful.

However, in some ways they haven’t grown. I don’t think anyone would argue the team had great leadership last year. The Suns were constantly fighting the officials (and sometimes their own coaches), but with the additions of veterans such as Tyson Chandler, Mirza Teletovic and Ronnie Price, one would expect the team’s image to change.

Teletovic was one of the nicest guys in the locker room. Always came by and said hello. His presence will be missed, on and off the court.
— Anthony Puccio (@APOOCH) July 10, 2015

After all, before the addition of Earl Barron, the team had a total of zero players above the age of 30. When they play their first game this year, the Suns’ new number will be five. And if that leadership can make a difference on the team, that’ll be another way that they are successful.

So with that, I’ll present my list of five short-term goals for the Phoenix Suns, before expanding on each of them a bit.

"1. Win 45+ games (Min. 1 Year)2. Get out of the top 10 in technical fouls (Min. 1 Year)3. Young guns show significant signs of improvement (Min. 2 Years)4. Make the playoffs (Min. 2 Years)5. Win a playoff series (Min. 3 Years)"

Goal 1: Win 45+ games

I’ll start by saying there is no excuse for the Suns not to win 45 games this year. Short of a catastrophic injury, winning 45 games should not be problem for a team that had averaged over 43 wins over the last two years, while adding significant talent in the offseason.

The fans have started to grow restless with this team, and if the next year results in a losing season, the groaning will only get louder. If they can win 45 games next season and be in contention for the playoffs the entire year (and perhaps slide in as the seven or eight seed), that’s a success in my book.

Goal 2: Get out of the top 10 in technical fouls

This is actually a pretty big goal as far as I’m concerned. It’s hard to measure leadership in a tangible way, but one way the Suns’ immaturity did show itself last year was in the number of technical fouls the team picked up. The numbers are staggering.

Throughout the year, Markieff Morris, Marcus Morris, Eric Bledsoe and P.J. Tucker combined for 42 technical fouls. 27 of the 30 NBA teams had fewer than 42 technical fouls from their players; 16 of the 30 had 42 or fewer technical fouls from their entire team, counting coach and bench technical fouls.

And perhaps my favorite number: The Morris twins (alone) picked up more technical fouls than the Celtics, Spurs and Lakers, and picked up more player technical fouls than 17 of the 30 NBA teams.

That total is absolutely stunning… Almost as stunning as this montage of how some of those technical fouls occurred…

Only the Suns could get a technical foul in a three-point game in the fourth quarter — on a call that went their way, I might add.

So why should that be expected to change? After all, the Suns lost nine technical fouls when they traded Marcus Morris, but they also added 10 technical fouls right back when they signed Tyson Chandler.

Goal 3: Young guns show significant signs of improvement

Now, don’t get me wrong. Devin Booker, Goodwin, Warren and Len should all be expected to show signs of improvement throughout the season, but that’s not what this goal is about. Each of these players has an area (or areas) that they have been working on, and if they were to show significant signs of improvement, it would be a success.

Take Alex Len for example. Len has been working on his shooting touch and on his pick-and-roll offense this summer, meaning that one would expect those areas of his game to improve moving forward. And for that reason, I put a two-year qualifier on this goal, rather than the one-year I placed on the first two. These four players have areas where they can take a significant step, and while it shouldn’t happen overnight, one would have to expect them to improve over the next couple of seasons.

For Archie Goodwin, that means becoming a better shooter. And it’s worth noting he’s already got the form down.

Before:

Now:

For Devin Booker, that means growing as an NBA player and continuing to improve in the areas of rebounding and defense. His Summer League showing certainly gave fans a lot of hope in that regard. And for T.J. Warren, the goals are similar.

As good as TJ Warren is offensively, he has to improve on D. Neither his foot speed nor his positioning are where they need to be.
— Jacob Padilla (@JacobPadilla_) July 13, 2015

Goals 4 & 5: Make the playoffs and win a series

I think most Suns fans would agree that at the very least, the Suns need to make the playoffs soon, at least if they’re ever going to contend with the current core. And while some might want to see that happen this year, I think putting a two-year limit on this goal is a little more realistic. After all, it may take a little bit more of improvement from the young guns to finally push the team over the hump, but I certainly understand those that disagree.

As far as winning a playoff series is concerned, I’m a little more lenient. Right now, the West is absolutely absurd, and winning a playoff matchup would be next to impossible for this team. Consider the following:

"The Spurs added LaMarcus Aldridge and David West.The Thunder get back all their guys and should be healthy.Golden State won 67 games last year.Houston won 56 games and added Ty Lawson.The Clippers won 56 games and added depth.Memphis won 55 games and added Matt Barnes and Brandan Wright."

At least two of those teams won’t get home court advantage in the playoffs. And at least two of those teams won’t make it out of the first round. For that reason, I think the goal of winning a playoff series can be put off by a few years, though once again, I get the argument on the other side. However, I will say that I expect the Suns to join the Pelicans as the last two teams in the playoffs this year, though teams like the Utah Jazz certainly should not be counted out.

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Author’s Note: These are my thoughts. Now I want to hear yours…

I don’t expect everyone to agree with my five goals for the team. I expect some of you will think they should make the playoffs for sure this year, and I’m guessing some might feel that a change of coach/management/ownership should also be a goal.

I wrote this post with the hopes that it might inspire a bit of discussion among Suns fans. As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments, so please feel free to comment below or send me a tweet (@SChasenKU), even if you totally disagree. Thanks for reading!

Next: Can Devin Booker Make An Impact In Year One?

Goal 1: Win 45+ games

Goal 2: Get out of the top 10 in technical fouls

Goal 3: Young guns show significant signs of improvement

Goals 4 & 5: Make the playoffs and win a series

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