9. Will the Suns be a top-five fastbreak scoring team in 2016-17?
The Suns franchise is known as a fastbreak team, something fans have grown to expect since the late 1980s. For a fastbreak team, transition points are the defining statistic, and even in a down year like 2015-16, the Suns averaged 14.4 fastbreak points a game, good for 8th in the league.
This season with the addition of high flyer Marquese Chriss, the growth of T.J. Warren as a transition player, as well as the presumed health of Eric Bledsoe running the point, the Suns should be able to improve upon this statistic – with the positive side effect of raising the total per game scoring average as well.
8. Can the Suns break their streak of four years without an All-Star?
Devin Booker winning the All-Star Weekend three-point shooting contest was discussed earlier, but can a Phoenix Sun make the roster of the Sunday All-Star game?
Just as a quick reference check, they do not likely have a front court player either good enough or popular enough to be voted in. And now that no “center” position is available to be voted on by the fans, it is unlikely that by some quirk Tyson Chandler or Alex Len are selected.
More from Valley of the Suns
- Ranking the Phoenix Suns’ 5 holiday games in 2023-24
- Zion Williamson gets compared to Phoenix Suns legend
- Suns player preview: Bol Bol can be the perfect role player
- Former Suns’ guard shows he is officially done with Phoenix
- NBA insider guarantees Suns’ rival won’t make blockbuster trade
But the Suns do offer three solid guards with All-Star potential in Booker, Bledsoe, and Knight, the three players on the roster with the greatest chance for selection.
Presuming that Knight stays on the bench, he will be the most unlikely of the three to be elected for the game. Whereas Devin Booker, based on LeBron James’ extremely high praise this offseason, will certainly receive the most national attention, giving him the best opportunity through name-recognition alone.
However, if healthy, both Eric Bledsoe and Booker will have a fairly decent shot of being selected by the Western coaches, if their stats approach what they are capable.
Last year, the West boasted six guards on its All-Star roster: Starters Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook, and Kobe Bryant, and reserves Chris Paul, James Harden, and Klay Thompson. Barring injuries, the only player on that group who will not be returning is Kobe Bryant, leaving a potential guard spot available should six make the roster again this season.
If Devin Booker is designated as a shooting guard/small forward, there is a very plausible argument that if he is leading the Suns in scoring – especially if he is pushing 20 points and 3-4 three’s per game, that he would be selected.
Furthermore, if Bledsoe too is averaging near 20 points per game, and over seven assists, then (likely in the event of an injury to Curry, Paul, or Westbrook), he too could be a likely choice to make the roster.
It must also be noted that Damian Lillard was not on last year’s Western Conference roster, the West’s biggest snub. Look for there to be a popular push to include Lillard this year.