1. Start By The End Of The Season
Again, it’s highly unlikely that a strong Summer League and training camp will be enough to usurp Tucker for the starting small forward spot on opening night. But over the course of an 82-game season? Anything can happen.
With such a rebounding deficiency at the power forward position, the Suns need P.J. Tucker’s rebounding. They need his stout wing defense, they need his defensive versatility with the way he can defend 3-4 positions and they definitely need his three-point shooting.
But Tucker certainly doesn’t have the kind of ceiling that Warren has, and if the Suns’ young 3 proves he’s close to tapping into that potential already, it’s not out of the question that he winds up stealing the starting spot later on in the year.
T.J. Warren goes from good finish to rookie season into a very good summer league: 4 games, 56.9% FG, 20.3 PPG. Suns have to be encouraged.
— Scott Howard-Cooper (@SHowardCooper) July 16, 2015
You can only put so much stock in Summer League, but Warren has proven an undeniable knack for putting the ball in the basket any time he’s gotten extended minutes. At times last season, he looked like the smartest offensive player on the floor with the way he was cutting and making it look easy around the rim.
Warren very clearly has areas of his game that need to improve, and since this will only be his second season in the league, it’s unreasonable to expect this 22-year-old to emerge as a star in 2015-16. But with enough minutes, Warren might be able to prove himself worthy of the starting job down the road.
It may not actually happen until 2016-17, but that shouldn’t stop Warren from making it his goal. Because if T.J. Warren does take the starting job away from Tucker at some point this year, it means he’ll be having one hell of a sophomore season, which can only be good news for Phoenix Suns fans.
Next: Phoenix Suns: Grading The Offseason