T.J. Warren needs to pass the ball more

T.J. Warren is having the best scoring output of his career, but one very important aspect from his offense is still lacking.

Reflecting on the early success of T.J. Warren is one of the few positives that Phoenix Suns fans can be excited about. Warren has enjoyed career highs in most statistical categories including a career high in assists. He has averaged 1.3 assists this season which ranks fifth on the team. Even though he currently ranks in top five in assists per game, Warren has to drastically increase his numbers if he wants to continue to grow his game and to improve the team’s play.

Zach Lowe of ESPN recently released Ten things I like and don’t like, including Simmons’ LeBron-y game, in which he analyzed Warren’s poor assist numbers. Lowe’s analysis was solid and had some good stats, however he did lack depth. Which is fine, because his main focus was not on Warren’s passing woes, but rather the team’s offensive woes when both Warren and Devin Booker aren’t on the floor.

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Returning focus to Warren’s lack of playmaking ability, fans need to know several stats in regards to Warren’s assists numbers. Warren has only reached a season high of four assists in two games so far and in 20 games this season, he’s gone without recording any assist six times. Warren has 24 turnovers on the season, but only six were a result of bad passes. Which means that his passing skills isn’t the main reason why he has turnovers. Trying to get teammates involved won’t hurt his overall turnover rate. Of players still on the team, Warren has the second highest usage rate at 24.8 percent, only trailing Booker. However, the flip side of that is that of the current players that aren’t on two-way contracts, Warren ranks fifth worst in assist percentage at 7.8 percent. Only Tyson Chandler, Troy Daniels, Alex Len and Dragan Bender have a worst assist percentage than Warren. All of the players are big man except Daniels, which makes Warren’s deficiencies even more obvious. To have the second highest usage rate and the fifth worst assist percent isn’t good for arguably the Suns’ second best player.

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T.J. Warren’s assist problem is one that can be easily fixed, unlike his 12 percent 3-point shooting. The Phoenix Suns need to have more players involved than just Warren and Booker. Warren being a little less selfish will definitely help the team improve and it will help him become more balanced on the offensive side of the ball.

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