Ryan Anderson, one of the better shooting big men around, steps onto a Phoenix Suns team in desperate need of shooting.
Ryan Anderson, who was acquired from the Houston Rockets this past summer, is a veteran who fills in a need at the power forward position for the Phoenix Suns.
The Suns ranked last in 3P% last season and were in the bottom third in attempts as well. With a number of moves he has made this offseason, General Manager Ryan McDonough has attempted to address the floor spacing issues that have plagued the team for several years now.
Anderson is one of those few attempts.
The Suns an abysmal 33.0% from deep last season. Anderson, for his career, has never shot that low from 3-point range before, his lowest being 34.0% in 2014-15 with New Orleans. Last season he shot 38.6% and has drained over 40% of attempts twice in his career.
For his career, Anderson averages 38.2% from beyond the arc.
That would be infinitely better than whatever they were getting from their frontcourt this past season.
For new head coach Igor Kokoskov, he’ll be a key piece for how he wants to run his offense where he’ll look to capitalize on the pass heavy schemes involves.
Kokoskov described Anderson as a “huge, huge piece.” It’s easy to see why he’d add value considering where the Suns are at and what he did at his previous stops.
With that said, there are drawbacks that comes with the veteran stretch-four.
For starters, he’s owed around $20 million this year and $15 million the next. It’s not max money but still a big contract nevertheless. If you’re McDonough, who is trying to be a player in free agency next summer, this tidbit is definitely in the back of your mind.
Second, he has defensive limitations which contributed to his demotion with the Houston Rockets.
He was slowly relegated from starter to the bench mob in Houston last season. This included playing a combined 49 minutes in 11 playoff games this year after playing in 336 minutes in the same amount last year.
With teams looking to exploit switches more consistently, Anderson isn’t going to do Phoenix any favors when he’s suddenly being targeted in pick-and-roll/pop situations.
Anderson has his benefits and drawbacks. Looking at it as half-full, the 30-year-old big will be a plus coupled with Trevor Ariza compared to the Chriss & Bender duo from last season.
Prized rookie DeAndre Ayton will certain reap the benefits of having him on the floor as well when Anderson creates space for him.
It also helps that him and his buddy Ariza are reunited.
And does it feel so good? They certainly think so.
Anderson said Ariza has been one of the closest friends he has ever had as a teammate.
— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) September 24, 2018
Overall, he comes to a team where the standards coming from that position are low. Given the chance, he could be a decent player on the team for his role.