This piece will be the first of a series showing weekly updates of each of the Phoenix Suns’ rookies (Mike James, Davon Reed, Josh Jackson and Alec Peters) and sophomores (Tyler Ulis, Derrick Jones Jr, Dragan Bender, Marquese Chriss and Alan Williams). This initial piece will include the first 3 weeks.
Earl Watson was rightfully fired after the first week. The second week was a getting to know the rotations for Interim Head Coach Jay Triano. Three weeks in and now judgments can start being made on these youth.
Back of the Bench/Injured Players
Davon Reed and Alan Williams are still in the rehab phase of healing from their injuries and will unfortunately miss most, if not all, of the 2017-18 campaign.
Alec Peters made 1 of 4 trey attempts in 15 total minutes his first week on the team before being sent to play for the NAZ Suns this past Saturday. He came out ice cold, making only 1 of his 12 shots and finishing with a mere 5 points. He was drafted mainly for his shooting so let’s hope this improves.
Derrick Jones aka ‘Airplane Mode’ finds himself buried on the bench to start this season (after the Eric Bledsoe trade, with the NAZ Suns again), and has only played in 4 total games as a reserve averaging 1.8 points in 6.3 minutes. Barring injuries, it does not appear he has much of a role despite the early praise for him in the summer.
Let’s dive into the main rotation rookies and sophomores.