Phoenix Suns: Ranking Each Member of the Young Core by Ceiling

Last season, the Phoenix Suns saw their recent draft investments pay off seemingly all at once. Several young players reached new levels with their development, working to fuel their team’s Western Conference conquest.

Taken with the first overall pick during the 2018 NBA Draft, Deandre Ayton finally put his doubters to rest, providing clutch play both offensively and defensively during the postseason. He also finished the regular season once again with double-double averages, but this time at a hyper-efficient rate, hitting from the field at a 62.6 percent rate—the third highest amongst all centers.

Mikal Bridges also put together a much improved season last year. He experienced career-high scoring, rebound, and assist numbers, while hitting from the field and range at career-high rates as well. You simply cannot ask for much more than that from another third-year player.

Adding to the ’18 draft class’s prosperity, Landry Shamet also played well with the Brooklyn Nets. He just joined the Suns via a trade several weeks ago, but contributed heavily to Brooklyn’s near-championship efforts last season, tying his career-high scoring mark with 9.3 points per game.

During the postseason, Cameron Johnson turned from a fan-favorite contributor, to a player on the cusp of starting for an NBA Finals team. He shot an incredible 44.6 percent from range and 50.0 percent from the field during the playoffs, also improving his scoring, assist, and defensive rebounding numbers from his rookie year during the regular season.

Lastly, Jalen Smith comes into the fold. After up for only 27 games, Smith remains a wildcard going forward. However, he certainly illustrated his ability to still play effectively during the Summer League, making the All-Summer League First Team while averaging 16.3 points and a league-high 12.5 rebounds per game.

With all these players, the terms “career-high” and “improved” describe almost all of their 2020-21 campaigns. But the fact of the matter is—they all remain incredibly young prospects, with their best years likely still to come.

Looking at how high they might soar throughout their NBA journeys, each player’s ceiling ranks as such.

Phoenix Suns Young Core Ranked by Ceiling: Landry Shamet

Set to play for this fourth team despite having only experienced three NBA seasons, Landry Shamet must hope to find a permanent home here with the Suns. As a combo guard able to handle the rock yet also shoot at a high volume, the former Wichita State Shocker remains an incredibly versatile and pluggable product.

But going forward, consistency remains the most important thing for Shamet to work on. With the Nets last year, he went through several ugly shooting spells, making him an easily bench-able player given his established niche as a dead-eye shooter.

Still though, when Shamet comes out hot from deep, he often alters a game within a moment’s notice. He also carries some sneaky athleticism, and distributes the ball moderately well.

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But Shamet hits his ceiling before all other players within Phoenix’s young core due to his defense.

With a six-foot-four and 190 pound frame, he already lacks the physical tools to operate as an above average defender. Last year, he allowed the fourth highest opponent field goal percentage on a Nets team that already struggled at the defensive end to begin with.

It was Shamet’s inability to defend well that kept him from starting any of Brooklyn’s final three playoff contests against the Milwaukee Bucks, even a knocked out Kyrie Irving and one-legged James Harden.

However, if Shamet sticks to what he knows and continues to polish his offensive game, a very bright future as a solid borderline starting guard lies ahead him.

Phoenix Suns Young Core Ranked by Ceiling: Cameron Johnson

Cameron Johnson played huge for the Suns last year, seemingly catching up to the draft class before him as far as immediate production goes. With keen defensive instincts, notable athleticism, and a solid jump shot, he embodies a fantastic option to provide energy for Phoenix off their bench.

However, he finds himself fourth on this list due to his lacking inability to create for himself and his age.

With the NBA featuring ball-handling forwards such as LeBron James and Luka Doncic now more than ever, Johnson remains a significant step behind the rest of the league with his inability to run an offense.  A player’s ceiling strictly deals with their future, and with the game’s future calling for small forwards to play this way, it puts Johnson in a tough spot.

Considering how he was drafted ahead everyone else on this list minus Jalen Smith, one might expect him to have more time to grow and develop this needed trait. However, his draft class is misleading. Johnson is actually 25 years old already, making him even older than Devin Booker.

Additionally, very few players learn how to handle the rock and initiate an offense as their careers progress, unlike with three-point shooting or passing skills. So with both the difficulty it takes to develop creative skills at the offensive end and Johnson’s age considered, his ceiling drops lower than one might initially expect.

This means not to dismiss Johnson’s already established talents though. He remains a solid surrounding piece still craved by most teams. With his usefulness, skillset, and clutch play still acknowledge, he owns a Jeff Green-like ceiling.

Phoenix Suns Young Core Ranked by Ceiling: Jalen Smith

Given his small sample size, Jalen Smith clocks in as the prospect with the most difficult future to forecast. Something compelled the Phoenix coaching staff to shelve Smith for an entire year even after selecting him with the 10th overall pick a year ago, which certainly breathes concern.

However, his incredibly versatile skillset still presents him a potentially great player down the line.

At six-foot-ten and 215 pounds, Smith certainly possesses the ideal frame for any NBA big man. He still needs to bulk up to a certain degree, but Giannis Antetokounmpo once looked the same way, and the Suns know all too well how he turned out.

More importantly though, Smith possesses something no other Phoenix big man does—the ability to stretch the floor.

Amidst the NBA’s 3-point centric era, spacing the floor remains the most important thing for modern NBA offenses to try and accomplish. Averaging 2.5 3-point attempts per game most recently during the Summer League, and hitting at a 35.7 percent rate, Smith embodies a serviceable threat as a big man from outside, coinciding with the future of the game.

If he bulks up and continues his modest 3-point shooting, the sky is the limit for this prospect still only 21-years-old.

Phoenix Suns Young Core Ranked by Ceiling: Mikal Bridges

Mikal Bridges started every single game for the Phoenix Suns last year, fully embracing his responsibility to the team. Playing exactly to Phoenix’s design when they moved up to draft him shorty after Ayton, he embodies the perfect wing-stopper to throw out beside offensive-minded weapons like Devin Booker and Chris Paul.

Across all these prospects though, Bridges experienced the biggest jump last year. His scoring rose by 4.4 points per game, his 3-point efficiency rose by 6.4 percentage points, as did his overall shooting efficiency by 3.3 percentage points. He clearly re-discovered the self confidence he once carried as a two-time NCAA champion at Villanova, this time at the professional level.

But Bridges looks destined to continue soaring during the 2021-22 season, and beyond. With guard-level quickness and an absurd seven-foot-one wingspan, he fills out the ideal defensive frame for a wing player. Blessed with these tools, he should only continue to develop at the defensive end as he builds on his instincts with more experience, potentially one day earning NBA All-Defensive First Team honors.

Also over the last few years, the 3-point shot has also aged like fine wine for most NBA players. Having considered this alongside what the Phoenix coaching staff apparently already did for Cameron Payne (+12.0 3P% since joining PHX), watch for Bridges to become an even more lethal threat from outside.

Very few players across the entire NBA possess a higher ceiling than Bridges, who looks like a young Paul George right now.

Phoenix Suns Young Core Ceilings Ranked: Deandre Ayton

With mind-boggling athleticism and agility for a big man, Deandre Ayton represents the game’s next great center. He already added a an all-time legendary NBA play to his career highlight reel with the game-stealing “valley-oop” during last year’s playoff run, and will likely contribute with even more as he grows.

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Ayton stretches out to six-foot-eleven and weighs 250 pounds of pure muscle. At only 23-years-old, he already out-duelled both Anthony Davis and MVP winner Nikola Jokic last postseason. Antetokounmpo surely put an end to that incredible run, but a far as a player’s first postseason run goes, you cannot for a more impressive sequence.

He runs the break incredibly well, and last year finally showed some aggressiveness as a defender, allowing him to utilize his wide frame and record 1.2 blocks per contest. Ayton’s greatest asset though comes with his fantastic shot selection especially for only a third-year player, allowing him to post historic efficiency numbers.

Right now, this all names Ayton as the game’s best pure center, slightly ahead Rudy Gobert, but behind modern day ones like Davis, Jokic, and Joel Embiid. To pass them though, he needs to add the two things they all possess which he does not—a confident jump shot and some minor ball-handling skills.

A greater handle on the rock feels well within Ayton’s reach going into his fourth NBA season, but very few expect him to add a jumper to his arsenal. However, if works at it, look out NBA, you might have an eventual MVP candidate on your hands.