Great NBA teams get production from unheralded free agents, late-round draft picks, and guys who were castoffs elsewhere. Of course, starpower is still required to compete at a high level in this league, but having non-stars who can wreck a game is essential.
The Phoenix Suns fit this definition perfectly; Devin Booker is about as reliable as they come, but the Suns (21-14) have been so fun this year in large part because Jordan Goodwin, Collin Gillespie, Dillon Brooks, and Jamaree Bouyea have emerged as real rotation-caliber players. Any team in the NBA could have acquired any of those guys — pretty easily, too. They didn't, and the Suns are now reaping the benefits of everyone else's inaction.
Goodwin, in his second stint with the Suns, has almost guaranteed himself a multi-year contract with the team after this season. He's shooting the 3-pointer better than he ever has (36%), and his defensive intensity remains elite. He is, quite frankly, my favorite player in the NBA. He was also barely on NBA team's rosters before this season. Last year, he was on a two-way with the Lakers, but was waived in the offseason. It feels like managerial malpractice for so many teams to sign Goodwin, watch him play well, and then let him walk. Sure, the Suns traded him... But they learned their lesson!
Bouyea has become one of the best two-way deals in the league. He doesn't score a ton and seldom plays over 20 minutes a night, but has a knack for making positive plays whenever he gets on the floor. He looks like a guy who's playing for a standard NBA contract — the fire is there, and it's helped him fit perfectly on this Suns team, where pretty much everyone plays like they're fighting for their lives.
Gillespie is breaking out in a big way in his third NBA season. He's become an essential starter for this team and one of the best shooters in the league... And he's on a veteran's minimum salary. This man is also about to get paid in a big way.
Brooks, of course, is one of the biggest stories of the NBA season. Often viewed as a joke for his on-court antics, he's shown to be so much more than an irritant (although he's still great at that) in his first year with the Suns.
Suns are getting production from players no one else wanted
I don't know how deep the Phoenix Suns will go in the postseason this year. Maybe the surprise run fizzles out as we get deeper into the regular season and the team is unceremoniously dispatched from the first round by an elite team.
But if that doesn't happen (and it looks less and less likely by the day) it will be because of how this Suns team, day in and out, gets production from players who no other team would give the time of day to.
It's pretty fun being the team that gives guys chances to prove themselves — especially when they all actually do prove themselves.