Chriss Should Be Sent Down to NAZ

Marquese Chriss had a very promising rookie season for the Phoenix Suns. He showed his immense athleticism, a mean streak the team desperately needed, and the tools to become a valuable piece for the future. 

That was before this season.

‘Quese came into 2017-18 overweight, slower, and much less intense than his first year. He loses interest pretty quickly if he can’t get himself going at the beginning of games. Plus, his game has shown no real development from last season to this one. He takes more 3-pointers, makes more 3 pointers, and avoids the paint like the plague. For a player with arguably top-10 athleticism in the entire Association, you’d think he would hang around the basket more than he does.

Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough recently said in a radio interview that Chriss “got a little bit out of shape.” Even from a fan’s viewpoint, it’s obvious that Marquese has played slower and less aggressive so far this year. The weight gain can definitely be pointed to as the main contributing factor for that.

To be fair, he is still only 20-years-old. I know plenty of college juniors that put on weight. Plus, the fact that he’s working hard to get the weight off and get back in shape is another very positive sign.

However, at the end of the day, Chriss is still playing horribly. In my opinion, it would do ‘Quese a lot of good to send him down to the G-League, even if only for a couple of weeks. He needs to get his confidence and his mojo back. Having the opportunity to play 30+ minutes every night and be the focal point of an offense is a great way to do that. Because he is just a 20-year-old kid still, confidence, or lack thereof, has a huge impact on his game, and a few weeks of seeing his shot fall consistently would do wonders for him.

Next: The Phoenix Suns need Kenneth Faried

An argument can be had to send Dragan Bender down as well, but that is an entirely different discussion to be had at this point.

Marquese Chriss, to me, has an incredibly bright future with tons of upside. But at the end of the day, he’s playing slow, passive, and disinterested. He needs to realize that he has to be aggressive, he has to get mean, and if he wants to just get back to where he was last year, let alone progress further than that, and become a better basketball player, then something dramatic has to change.

To me, 3-5 games in the G-League is a great place to get that mean-streak back, and I think the Phoenix Suns ought to take a look at their options and do what’s best for Marquese Chriss right now, before his future is negatively affected by his current struggles.