SR – NBA Bubble Breakdowns: #20 Phoenix Suns

Day three of our 22-team countdown continues this Friday, as we move another step closer to the restart of the NBA season on July 30. Picking back up on things for this list, the next team that’s already headed East to Orlando isn’t all that far from the first two teams mentioned on this list, in terms of having to fight for a playoff spot in the most adverse of ways as one of the outlying teams barely invited to the restart. For the first time on this countdown, however, the squad talked about today will be out West.

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Phoenix’s Season In Review (26-39, 13th in West)

If there was a way to describe the Suns’ season in entirety with a cliche’, it would probably be just pure bad luck. What started out as a promising campaign to kick off Monty Williams’ new tenure as the head coach of these Phoenix Suns, turned into another dragged out, wasted opportunity to improve their luck, and climb out of the lottery pick pit they’ve been confined to since 2010.

The beginning of the year was surprisingly adjacent to the regular misfortune Arizona’s premier basketball franchise felt each year, regardless of them not having DeAndre Ayton for the season’s first 25 games due to a positive diuretic test of a banned substance. Going a steady 4-2 with some key wins against the visiting Clippers, Grizzlies, and Sixers, It looked like it finally clicked for Devin Booker’s Suns, and for the likes of newly-acquainted Suns, Kelly Oubre and leading assist man Ricky Rubio, this superfluous chemistry had remarkably developed.

And here comes the proverbial crossing of the black cat’s path: Ayton’s return from his abrupt suspension, and Phoenix’s failure to get back to a .500 record for the rest of the season, thus keeping them down in the 13th spot in the West.

Granted, had DeAndre Ayton not tested positive for that substance back in October before the new season even tipped off, Phoenix probably would have been in more of an esteemed position to reach a playoff seed for the first time since Steve Nash and Shawn Marion did it back in 2010. Still, the Suns have had a couple of flurries of success here and there, as they are still focused on getting more substantial pieces around their two stars in Ayton and Booker while remaining as competitive as they can be as one of the 22 chosen teams scheduled to play in Orlando later this month.

As is the case every year, Devin Booker hasn’t let the fact that he’s never sniffed the surface of just reaching the possibility of obtaining a ninth spot in the West close enough to challenge for a playoff seed at any point during his five-year career break his stride. Otherhandedly, Booker has been up to his usual terrorizing of defenses across the NBA, averaging numbers that only an all-star can put up on a consistent basis (26.1 ppg., 4.2 rpg., 6.6 apg.) So it was only right for the league’s voters to get him into the February classic All-Star game for the first time in his career…right?

Not technically, but kinda. Sure.

Devin Booker wasn’t exactly voted in but was rather chipped in last-minute as an alternate for the injured Damian Lillard, so had it not been for Lillard sustaining a lower-body ailment just nights prior to the All-Star game, Booker would’ve been snubbed again. And how distasteful of a choice would it have been for one of the more perilous isolation scorers in the NBA for yet another year?  To put it in the perspective of just how good Booker’s season is: taking into account that he’s played the second-least amount of games in his career (only 62 games), he’s having the second-best statistical season of his career when it comes to putting the ball in the basket.

Of course, not every star is complete without a productive supporting cast. Before Ricky Rubio ever ventured into the Suns’ facility, nary did he ever have a season where he averaged less than seven assists per contest. In fact, the playmaking chores presumably left for the Suns’ versatile guard in Booker to integrate into his game were promptly inherited by the Spaniard the moment he signed that three year, $51 Million deal with Phoenix this time last year.

That assist per game stat bumped up a little higher this year, now that Rubio’s been averaging around nine dishes per game – the second-highest amounts of assists per game he’s had in his career. And around him were two other key assets that promulgated those numbers all season long: Kelly Oubre Jr., and former Celtics big man Aron Baynes.

Oubre, who signed a two year, $30 million extension with the Suns last July, has been the best second option the Suns could ever ask for. He’s having a career-best season, averaging 18.7 ppg and shooting 35.2% on 3-pointers and is the Suns’ No. 2 rebounder. (6.4 rpg.) And Baynes, who is having a career year from downtown averaging a shooting percentage of over 37 percent of his attempts, has transformed into what looks like a stretch big in the most unlikely of ways.

Some memorable games and moments during Phoenix’s up and down year include their statement-making upset of the current #2 seeded Clippers back on October 26, in which Devin Booker dropped 30 on an incomplete Clippers team that was missing Paul George, Ricky Rubio’s return to Utah that showed him breakout from his usual pass-first role and explode for 22 on February 24, Aron Baynes’ sinking nine threes in a surprising 37-point night from the big Australian against the Blazers, and their 36-point beatdown of the then newly-formed “Small-Ball Rockets” back on February 7 in which Booker and Oubre combined for 72 points.

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Phoenix’s Roster For Season Resumption: Forward thinking is the best thing when your playoff chances are slim.

It’s going to be a case of the same old meat and potatoes for yet another conclusion to a season: Booker (26.1 ppg., 4.2 rpg., 6.6 apg.) left to fend for himself as the team’s most provisionary and under-supplied roster member during the home stretch of a season that’ll likely conclude before they get another chance at reaching for a postseason berth.

Therefore, it probably wouldn’t make much sense to haul Booker on the floor for 35-40 minutes a night on a team he knows he won’t have a good chance of making the playoffs with. However, it will be intriguing to see whether or not head coach Monty Williams plugs in his younger guys in the hopes of giving Booker the perfect ratio of rest and participation, considering that the next season, which won’t be too far away from September’s conclusion of the Orlando games, is on the doorstep.

Kelly Oubre won’t be in Orlando because he’ll be tending to a torn meniscus, announced in his official opt-out of play just days ago. It stinks too, considering the fact that Oubre has undoubtedly had his best season as a pro, averaging 18.7 ppg., 6.4 rpg., and 1.5 apg. in a brand new system that’s catered to his skillset like the perfect fit of a glove. Suns fans wouldn’t have minded seeing Oubre and Booker tandem hoop eight more times this year, especially when you factor in just how seamlessly the two have meshed on and off the court in a matter of a year.

In his place lies even younger, less experienced talent in Mikal Bridges. (8.7 ppg., 4 rpg.,1.8 apg.) Other than his absence, there practically aren’t many changes to this roster, for the exception of additional guard Cameron Payne subbing into the final roster spot left vacant by Oubre.

At the center position still lies the progressing first-overall pick from 2018 DeAndre Ayton (19 ppg., 12 rpg., 1.9 apg.), who will be looked at to not only add trim protection and lengthy perimeter defense when switched onto guards off Pick N’ Roll sets but also be aggressive enough to play bully ball on the block and knock down shots off pick n’ pop sets.

Aside from him in the frontcourt will likely be Aron Baynes (11.5ppg., 5.6 rpg., 1.6 apg.) who can also efficiently stretch the floor with his three-ball and defend the rim. And at the guard positions aside from Booker will be Rubio, who’s floor spacing will have to be key in order for Phoenix to challenge the remaining visiting Western teams still vying for a playoff spot.

Phoenix’s youthful depth will have an integral role in not only assisting the starters to give more productivity to a roster that needs it on the offensive end but further develop and get the minutes necessary for growth to experience the level of play that they’re expected to meet at the highest level of competition.

Rotational parts like perimeter lockdown guard Jevon Carter (4.6 ppg., 2 rpg., 1.3 apg.) and Elie Okobo (4 ppg., 1.6 rpg., 2.1 apg.) will be trusted to control the tempo of the floor while Rubio sits, and others like former UNC standout Cameron Johnson (8.1 ppg., 2.9 rpg., 1.1 apg.) and rookie/national championship-winning Virginia guard Ty Jerome (3.5 ppg., 1.5 rpg., 1.5 apg.) will get the nod from Monty Williams to be primary ball-handlers and scorers. Also with Oubre’s absence, do expect to get some Tariq Owens (1.3 ppg., 1 rpg.) sightings off the bench during their eight-game stretch.

The backups to Ayton and Baynes will be Frank “The Tank” Kaminsky”, (11 ppg., 4.9 rpg., 2.2 apg.) Cheick Diallo (4.8 ppg., 2.9 rpg., 0.5 apg.) and former Sixer and stretch wing Dario Saric. (10.1 ppg., 5.9 rpg., 1.9 apg.) Along with the blend of youthful and veteran guards, these prospective Suns will all obtain valuable minutes to contribute and improve not only their games in what’ll probably be a season for them that may not include a play-in tournament but their senses of equanimity under the tight duress of their collective playoff hopes teetering with every loss they take.

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Phoenix’s Schedule, At A Glance

Another hard schedule for a roster that may not look as competitive as the rest – check.

Phoenix’s eight-game stretch to finish out their season doesn’t look all that simplistic to get any type of above-.500 record out of when you take a gander at who they have to face right away.

The Suns have a rather simple introductory game to start out the Orlando stretch with a date with the non-contending Wizards, and then their schedule spikes in difficulty. For the rest of the time there, they’ll be tasked with getting wins against five other playoff-qualified squads who all have twice the amount of star power than them. Dallas is first up, and Monty Williams must collaborate with his assistant coaches to build up a gameplan to slow down Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis. Right after that, they’ll have to play Kawhi Leonard and Paul George’s Los Angeles Clippers.

Two days later, their turbulent Eastern road trip starts with a slight reprieve, as they will play an Indiana Pacers team that’ll be without Victor Oladipo. After that, they’ll be matched up with Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, and the rest of the Miami Heat.

But wait, it gets worse.

A duel with the season-surprise Oklahoma City Thunder will be next on the calendar and down a man, no one knows how the Suns fare against a three-headed monster that can out-hustle you on the defensive end as well as give you problems in the halfcourt while trying to stop their guard-conducted offensive attack. To finish off their season, games against the tall, lanky Philadelphia 76ers and a final game against Dallas caps off their regular season in Orlando.

This time should be used as a means of readjusting their focus on future seasons, and their recalibration in getting all of their core pieces on the same page so that Suns GM James Jones can feel confident about the direction that his franchise is moving toward.

Suns fans are going to see some things switched up come when it’s time to play. Monty Williams could try a bunch of things, like maybe having Devin Booker be the guy bringing the ball down the floor to run the point, letting DeAndre Ayton make his own shot off the dribble as well as give him the green light to pop the three from the top of the key, keeping Dario Saric on the block and occasionally moving him to the corner, or extend Mikal Bridges’ positioning on the floor to resemble that of a shooting guard.

It’ll be an assessment, rather a slew of experiments for these progressing Suns, so whatever their record looks like at season’s end, they’ll have a clear picture going forward on what Monty Williams’ Suns can look like years from now.