The worst record in the NBA means the Suns’ tank went right
By Adam Maynes
When the Phoenix Suns clinched the worst record in the NBA, it meant that things have actually gone right for the first time in a long time.
When you speak to NBA fans about the Phoenix Suns, a common retort towards your fandom is that “the Suns suck.”
That may be, but it’s an intentional suck, and they’re doing it extraordinarily well.
Throughout the Ryan McDonough era, the Suns have struggled to find an identity, something that they can claim as their persona, the image for how they want to be recognized. Suns fans in particular have struggled to both identify it and defend such a team-wide personality as well.
Phoenix Suns
However, beginning with the 2016-17 season, when McDonough began the tank in earnest, their identity became more clear: Lose for the Lottery.
The tanking landed them Josh Jackson, a swing guard/forward with tremendous upside, with the ceiling of a Clyde Drexler, and certainly the ability to be the best player in his draft class.
By not signing any serious free agents or making any rash trades to add quality albeit minimal talent following the draft, McDonough kept to the rebuild-through-the-draft approach intact and focused on losing again for one more season.
And losing they did.
Phoenix has lost so much, in fact, that that losing has become their identity: hence, the argument that the “Suns suck.”
But what outside fans do not appreciate is that McDonough and the Suns lost masterfully.
The tank-job carried over from last season and thus began immediately with game one in October; they stayed within firing distance of the worst record in the NBA the entire season; and by the post-All-Star break when it was necessary to almost never win again, they literally almost never won again losing 35 of 39 games (so far).
Fortunately serious enough “injuries” crept up at the right time to assist in the losing, as Tyson Chandler, T.J. Warren, and Devin Booker were each eventually shut down, while Josh Jackson and the returned Alan Williams too missed plenty of playing time over the second half stretch further assisting in the lack of talent on the court producing losses against teams that Phoenix may have actually had the ability to defeat on occasion should they had ran out a full compliment of talent.
The losing this season was masterful.
Much like last season when the Earl Watson trotted out the youngest starting lineups in NBA history, Jay Triano has had to do much of the same this year – especially due to injuries to several of the veteran players – playing ten total players with less than two years experience, and seven players who spent time in the G-League this season as well.
Yet, often competitive even against far superior teams (although still regularly blown out), the Suns kept losing and losing, watching their magic number to clinch the worst record in the league shrink day-by-day, eventually leading to their securing the league’s worst record on April 8, the first time in the franchise’s history since 1968-69 (their inaugural year – exactly 50-years ago), providing them with the best odds at the first overall pick in the Draft Lottery (25%), and a guaranteed top-4 pick.
In other words, Ryan McDonough accomplished exactly what he set out to do this season: the Phoenix Suns lost until they won, and now with another guaranteed top-4 pick in a very talented draft (by most accounts), they will be in the position to add another talented young player, one who is a potential game changer.
Throughout their history it seems that whenever the Suns needed a break they never got it. In 1969 they missed out on Lew Alcinder. They later drafted George Gervin only for him to choose the ABA over the NBA. They missed out on David Robinson, forced instead to draft Armen Gilliam. John Paxson nailed that 3. Amar’e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw were suspended. They missed out on the Atlanta Hawks’ pick in 2007 (Al Horford was selected). They lost 59 in 2015-16 and didn’t have the worst record. They lost 58 in 2016-17 and still didn’t have the worst record.
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Then finally they lose 61 (and counting) in 2017-18, and own the league’s worst record with the best odds at drafting first overall.
For the first time in franchise history something has fallen the Phoenix Suns’ way, and they were in control of it.
So the next time an NBA fan says that “the Suns suck,” just remember: it was an intentional suck, and all of us in our fandom can finally admit that this was exactly what they wanted to do – and thus far, it has worked out perfectly.
At least until the lottery on May 15.
36 days and counting.