Going into Phoenix Suns training camp and the preseason, there could be potentially some competition at several positions on the team’s depth chart.
During the preseason, the Phoenix Suns and their fans have plenty to look forward to during this rebuild of a season. Young rising star in Devin Booker should be taking his next step in becoming a superstar and the great draft class that will be available next summer to add to the team. Still, there are potentially several questions going into the regular season in regards to the depth chart.
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Starting Small Forward
The Suns are in a tough place at this position. On one hand, they have a player in T.J. Warren that has shown legit flashes of becoming an above averages scorer. On the other, they just drafted Josh Jackson fourth overall and unlike Warren, Jackson has a much better chance of becoming a two-way star in the league. It depends on what the Suns staff wants in their starting lineup, another scorer or a staunch defender.
The question the Suns have to answer is does the guy they just gave a $50 million four year extension to deserves the job or the guy they drafted fourth overall? According to Scott Bordow of azcentral, that even though the team loves Jackson’s defense, he will still have to win the starting job from Warren. Personally, I’m going to stick to my depth chart projection at small forward earlier this summer and say that Jackson wins the job at the end of the day.
Starting Power Forward
This competition could be a little bit more cut and dry. Marquese Chriss played consistently for the Phoenix Suns while starting for the club last season. Dragan Bender on the other hand was sidelined with injury and was limited to playing time. However, Chriss’ starting job is not secure either. They both are still just going into their second season and Bender has a much higher ceiling than Chriss does. Bender did get to play more competitive basketball, because he played for his home country of Croatia in Euro FIBA. That extract experience playing in FIBA can definitely help the young big man grow. There is something fans should also note when comparing these two players.
| Rk | Player | G | GS | MP | FG% | 3P% | 2P% | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dragan Bender | 43 | 0 | 574 | .354 | .277 | .483 | .364 | 1.4 | 5.0 | 6.5 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 4.6 | 9.2 |
| 2 | Marquese Chriss | 82 | 75 | 1743 | .449 | .321 | .520 | .624 | 2.0 | 5.2 | 7.2 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 2.2 | 5.4 | 15.6 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/27/2017.
Besides shooting percentages in general, they have very similar per 36 minutes stats. If Bender shows improvement in his shooting this preseason, the competition for the starting power forward position could easily heat up.
When it is all ironed out, personally I think Chriss keeps his starting job, however fans shouldn’t be surprised if Bender pushes for more playing time this season. If Chriss struggles at all and Bender showed improvement, Sun’s fans shouldn’t be surprised if head coach Earl Watson makes a change.
Backup Shooting Guard
This may be one of the more intriguing battles in camp that won’t get that much attention. The Suns had to trade for a quality shooting guard in Troy Daniels from the Memphis Grizzlies, based on the teams injuries at shooting guard this summer. Daniels is a solid shooter from behind the arc with a career average of 40.6 percent. The Suns need a floor spacer so bad, but could Daniels see his time given to another? Out of all the shooting guards at the Suns training camp, none are better than Daniels. However, if Watson really wants to focus on the team’s developing talent, then he will turn his attention to small forward Derrick Jones Jr. I have mentioned before that Jones could see time at the shooting guard position this season. Jones has some improving to do, but if he shows up to camp and preseason really wanting that job then don’t be surprised if he snags the job from Daniels.
Daniels still has the better shooting history and the team did just trade for him, so fans shouldn’t be surprised if he begins the season as the backup to Booker. Still, Jones could make things tough on the journeyman shooting guard.
Phoenix Suns fans should watch out as these position battles play out. These potential position battles could add intrigue to the Suns upcoming season. Either during the preseason or regular season, fans should expect a shake up at the depth chart position.