It’s hard to know what to expect from a Phoenix Suns team with so many new, young players. These are three bold predictions for the upcoming season.
Coming off a last place, 21 win season, the Suns have nowhere to go but up in the standings, which is almost kind of encouraging. Because of inexperience, things will look really bad at times, but with an influx of new talent and a more competent coach running the show, there will be plenty of positives this season.
But it’s hard to even know who will be on the floor most of the year. Assuming a starting five of Brandon Knight, Devin Booker, Josh Jackson, Trevor Ariza, and Deandre Ayton, there are as many as ten players the Suns would like to give minutes off the bench. Unfortunately, they can’t even have that many players active at a time.
Mikal Bridges will be the sixth man. T.J. Warren, Dragan Bender, and Marquese Chriss should all get regular playing time. Elie Okobo and Shaquille Harrison should compete for backup point guard minutes. Richaun Holmes should get some run as the backup center.
Davon Reed should see time as a strong wing defender off the bench. George King is on a two-way deal and likely to see a bit of playing time at certain points. Troy Daniels is a nice offensive option.
But in reality, most of these guys won’t get regular minutes, and we won’t know who will play until new head coach Igor Kokoskov gives them all a chance and decides for himself. With so much uncertainty, it’s worthwhile to make some bold predictions about how things shake out.
From player success to distribution of playing time to potential trades, here are three bold predictions for the 2018-19 Phoenix Suns.