Phoenix Suns top five players of the month: Youth is trending up
In the first month of 2018, a couple of the Phoenix Suns’ young players have shown their first real signs of improvement this season.
The beginning of a new year is usually when individuals take time to start over and several Phoenix Suns’ players decided to apply that to their game. There were several young players that have shown improvement in their games that makes the Suns’ future shine bright. January showed fans of the possibilities with this inexperienced roster moving forward.
No. 5
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For the second straight month, Troy Daniels comes in at number five on this ranking. Daniels even started several games this month as well. He averaged 9.9 points, 1.3 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 0.1 blocks and 0.3 steals this past month. He also averaged a season high in playing time this month at 22.2 minutes per game. Daniels continues to provide much needed floor spacing for the Suns while he shot 40.9 percent from behind the 3-point line in January.
No. 4
After winning the first player of the week award for January, Marquese Chriss was sidelined with injury for most of the month. Once he did return, it took a few games for Chriss to knock off the rust and it wasn’t until the last game of the month he was able to regain his form from the beginning of the month. He averaged 9.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.0 block and 1.7 steals in January. He also had his first two double-doubles of this season during this past month.
No. 3
Josh Jackson showed why he was the fourth overall pick in last summer’s draft. During January, Jackson averaged 14.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.4 blocks and 0.5 steals. It appears that after being benched in the first game of the month Jackson turned on a switch that allowed him to play at a whole new level. During this past month, Jackson hit a career high with 21 points twice. His improvement didn’t go unrecognized either, he earned honorable mention in two player of the week awards during January. Hopefully this wasn’t just a flash, but a sign of sustained offensive success for Jackson in months and seasons to come.
No. 2
T.J. Warren has been a scoring ace for the club all season long, which has earned him the number three spot on these rankings once and number two ranking twice. He also had a player of the week award this past month. Warren produced solid averages in January with 21.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.7 blocks and 1.2 steals. Warren showed improvement in his scoring, 3-point shooting percentage and assist averages with reaching season highs in each category during the month of January.
Honorable Mention
Shock is the term to best describe the reaction when Isaiah Canaan broke his ankle.
O MY GOSH HIS LEG!!!🙏🙏
— Valley of the Suns (@ValleyoftheSuns) February 1, 2018
Before the injury, Canaan was having a good season with the Suns and had a decent month in January with the club. He was number three in last month’s rankings and got a honorable mention during a player of the week award in January. During January, he averaged 7.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 0.1 blocks and 0.5 steals. It may not have been a spectacular month for Canaan, but he provided solid minutes as the backup point guard. We all at Valley of the Suns wish him a speedy and successful recovery.
No. 1
Although transition to the starting point guard position may not have been the smoothest of changes, Devin Booker has done a solid job at it and has had All-Star worthy play during January. Last month he averaged 23.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 0.2 blocks and 1.2 steals. As the team’s starting point guard this month, Booker recorded his third double-double of the season against the Houston Rockets with 31 points and 10 assists. As the season continues, fans can only hope Booker can continue his high play while in the new role at point guard.
Next: Defining Chandler, Resident Veteran
Players like Jackson and Chriss are showing improvement in the new year, while Booker takes on a new challenge to be the primary playmaker for the Phoenix Suns. As the rest of the season continues, Suns’ fans should hopefully see consistent improvement from this young core moving forward.