What Do The Suns Do Now?
By Robert Neal
The Phoenix Suns are a work in progress. And it looks like that work will take at least another year. Maybe more.
What have we learned this year about a team that’s the youngest in franchise history – at least down the stretch? Have the players convinced enough of us that the core should remain intact? Are they the future of a Phoenix Suns team that returns to relevancy (and prime time TV)?
I could throw a lot of numbers at you here – a lot of writers do. Advanced metrics can tell you a lot of things these days. And I’m a big fan of letting metrics play a role in determining a player’s skill level.
But let’s go old-school this time. I’m not going to bring up statistics about this or that. Many times statistics can be skewed by who the opponent is, how many times a player makes a big shot down the stretch, or who’s not playing at the time. It’s chaos theory: “Chaos theory is a branch of mathematics focused on the behavior of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions.” If anything describes the Suns – THAT’S IT!
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For example, what does your gut tell you about Marquese Chriss? Stop. Don’t punch up his most recent statistics on Basketball Reference.com. That’s cheating. You’ve seen him play, and play a lot the last couple of months. What do you think? I’ve seen Chriss fly through the air for posterizing slam dunks. I’ve seen him help defensively to swat away an opponent’s layup. He’s 19 years old– there’s no questioning his upside potential. But when I watch, there seems to be something missing. Chriss looks lost on the court sometimes, running around with no apparent plan in mind. Why do I get an uncomfortable feeling when he’s given the ball 25 feet from the basket? Is it because he looks uncomfortable too? You can sometimes feel the self-doubt in his play. You can feel the panic. That’s not a good sign.
Then there’s Alan Williams. The 6’7″ center is all heart. The “Big Sauce” is a big fan favorite. No one tries harder from the floor or the bench to will his team to a win. I’d take 12 more just like him. But will Williams be that missing piece that gets Phoenix over the hump? Maybe. I’d sure like to think so. Sometimes he looks unbeatable under the basket, and sometimes more like a raging bull looking for someone to gouge. That’s not a bad thing. But is he a piece of the prize going forward – or trade bait? I’d keep him.
Tyler Ulis has been a pleasant surprise. He’s clearly skilled at handling the basketball, and he may be the best passer on the team. He knows how to move the ball, which has been a big Suns issue of late. The Suns already let one skilled little guy (Isaiah Thomas) slip through their fingers. They probably don’t want to do the same with Ulis, and he has more upside potential than Thomas ever had. No one expected Ulis to play much in his rookie year, but I’m glad he did.
He has displayed the kind of assets that you can’t measure in a metrics maelstrom. I like the way he moves. Ulis is confident, and he shows it on the court. Like a good chess player, you can see him thinking three moves ahead, with a smoothness and purpose that reminds me of some of the league’s best point guards. I don’t know if Ulis is the player that gets Phoenix back to the Nash-Era-like promised land of yearly deep playoff runs, but he might deserve a chance.
Who doesn’t like Eric Bledsoe and Devin Booker in the Suns back court? For the life of me, I can’t figure out why the Suns couldn’t win more with those two playing together every night, no matter what the front court’s deficiencies. They are skilled, smooth operators. And both are loaded with NBA quality skill sets. But if they couldn’t get more wins this year playing so many games together, will they ever lead this team out of the lottery blues? I don’t know.
Booker is a stud, after all, he just dropped 70 on the Celtics. There’s no question, he’s untouchable
But is Bledsoe? I was heartbroken when they shut down his season so early, but I understood it. The Suns are tanking for a better draft pick–there’s no denying it now. Too bad Bledsoe was the collateral damage in the plot for greater lottery odds. He deserved better. Maybe he deserves to get a shot with another team. I would be sorry to see him go.
So there you are. Throw in some more bits and pieces (Trade Alex Len) and I still don’t know what the heck we have in Phoenix. You have a lot of youth– there is no denying that. But do you stay the course, or trade away your best assets for veteran talent? It’s worked for Phoenix before. It’s how they got Charles Barkley…and the pieces to sign Steve Nash. But with limited options (Trade Alex Len) in free agency, and an owner no one wants to play for, the Suns may have no choice.
It looks like another long summer as the Suns remain on slow burn with a wait and see plan for the youngsters. Maybe they’ll get lucky, and for once the ping pong balls will fall the Suns’ way. I’m not betting on it. No matter where they end up on the win-loss ledger, my money is on the 7th pick. Maybe the 9th. Unless their luck changes, I wouldn’t expect anything better.