Early Expectations for the Suns Summer League
By Adam Maynes
The Offense
Discussed ad nauseum last season was the Suns’ lack of motion in the half court. And while the Suns offense did begin to show glimpses of a Warriors and Spurs-like philosophy later in the year, it still left much to be desired. In fact, I will continue to hit this dead horse point, Dragan Bender could have built a hotel in the corner three spot due to all the time he spent there not moving. This is statistically evidenced by the fact that the team hovered around 7th in the league in isolation plays for a large part of last season. They ended up 16th in the league overall which is a credit to the offense’s evolution (and undoubtedly Tyler Ulis running the point), although they finished with 7.1% of plays ran in isolation, which is still overall 1% more than the aforementioned powerhouse offenses, and 3% more than league (leader) Charlotte.
It would be nice to see the Suns Summer League offense at least take the next step forward in the pro team’s evolution and show that there will be even more passing and movement when all is said and done. Granted the Summer League is comprised mainly of players who will not make the Suns’ opening day roster, however just knowing that the plan will be to have a more fluid and open offense would be a relief as fans set their sights on the regular season.