Phoenix Suns Season Review

 

Team Record: 33 � 49 (10^th in the Western Conference)

 

Season Highlight:

 

The Phoenix Suns had an interesting season, they went into the season in the midst of what appeared to be a long rebuild.  However, in true GM Laddas style, he improved his roster to make it far more competitive in most games and the Suns became a team that you would actually have to game plan for a little.  The highlight of the season would have to be making it to the 10^th seed and then winning both of his Play�in games to make it into the playoffs.  We saw the Suns beat the Pelicans in the 9-10 match up and then also beat the clippers in the 7-10 match up to win a spot to go to the playoffs.  The prize for winning both of the play-in games. Going up against the juggernaut that is Portland.

 

Season Lowlight:

 

For a team that didn�t have super lofty goals coming into the season, it�s hard to really pick a lowlight for their season.  I guess we could go with the fact they got swept in the first-round vs the Blazers.  The playoffs are a different beast when it comes to getting wins, the game planning and gamesmanship from the GMs in this league is better than ever and Jmac is one of the best we have when it comes to post season success, it was always going to be an uphill battle for the suns! Forgive me if I have forgotten something that would be better suited to a season lowlight.

 

Best Trade:

 

Phoenix Send: Anfernee Simons, Caleb Houstan, Kevin Knox, Pho 23 first

Phoenix Receive: Brandon Ingram, Mia 24 2nd

 

I love this trade for the Suns not only for securing the services of Ingram, but also for what it set them up for later with moving Ingram on.  Simons, Houstan and the first are all okay pieces, but I don�t believe any of those pieces have the all-star / all-nba upside that Brandon Ingram has.  Although Ingram has been slightly underwhelming from a 2k sense in comparison to his NBA counterpart, the thought of what he could/should be in 2k is enough to make this deal and hope 2k figure his build out at a later point.  Love Ingram

 

Worst Trade:

 

Suns Send: Wendell Carter Jnr

Suns Receive: Tor 23 First, Pho 23 first

 

Now, I don�t necessarily believe this is a bad deal for the suns at all, could they have squeezed more value out? Potentially, yeah. It�s hard to find a �worst trade� candidate on the suns transaction page as they all seem to make sense or have a direction that GM Laddas was trying to align with.  I just think Wendell could�ve probably gained him a bit more value, but these picks may have also projected higher once upon a time too.

Other Notable Trades:

 

Phoenix Send: Saddiq Bey, Aleksej Pokusevski, ATL 23 first

Phoenix Receive: Myles Turner, 2023 NY first

 

This is a nice deal overall; the Atlanta Hawks severely underperformed this past season and this pick would not have been projected to be pick 6 at the time of this trade.  Turner coming in I assume made WCJ expendable, hence the previous deal mentioned above.

 

Phoenix Send: Jaylen Nowell

Phoenix Receive: Nick Richards

 

I�m not sure on the exact specifics of this deal, I believe this is it though.  Richards was a monster last season for the suns and arguably a key cog in their late season push into the 8^th playoff spots.  Nowell has underwhelmed and even been waived in NBA of late, so another good deal for the suns.

 

Suns Send: Toronto 23 first, Minnesota 24 first, Toronto 25 first

Suns Receive: Cole Anthony

 

Cole is a great young player, but no matter how you look at it 3 firsts is good value for Cole even though they all project to be late round picks.  Cole has been looking good this season for the Magic in the NBA so far, I�m not even sure he�s still in Phoenix in the NSL, however.

 

Free Agency:

 

The suns do have a few holes to fill in FA, but it�s mostly just depth pieces and end of bench guys they need.  I think their starting unit and 6^th / 7^th man is mostly set in stone.  They will need to make sure they retain Max Strus, as they have a lot of other deals lined up off the back of his sign and trade.  They also have Jaxson Hayes who I believe is an RFA, so will be an auto return?
I imagine the Suns will be after a little bit of guard depth as they do have a lot of wings and a couple of bigs.  Could also see them making a play for a workman type big as well.

 

 

Star: Brandon Ingram?

 

I�m having a hard time figuring out who the star would be for the Suns as the transaction page is very busy lol. I have picked Ingram as the star for this season even though he only played 28 games for the Suns.  He was a huge part in their late season run.  Ingram posted handy averages of 20.2 points per game, 4.8 rebounds per game and 2.6 assists per game.  Somehow, 2k can�t seem to get Ingrams build quite right in 2k, as he has typically been quite inefficient and this season was no different, in his Phoenix tenure his splits were 38/41/87.

You�d expect better efficiency from the floor for Ingram.

 

 

 

Flop: Austin Reaves Trade

 

This has a case to be the worst trade the Suns made, but I opted for Wendell just cause of big man impact.  Reaves has become something none of us expected, so it�s hard to hold this one against Laddas.  Reaves would look damn good in this Phoenix squad now.  

 

 

Draft Grades:

 

Colby Jones � A

Chris Livingston � TBD

 

Colby Jones is a guy I really liked in the 2^nd round of this year�s draft, if you had a second-round pick, you probably heard from me on Draft Day as I was trying to get in to the second-round pick to draft this guy.  Really like what he�s about.

 

The Roster:

 

C: Karl Anthony Towns / Jaxson Hayes

PF: Bol Bol / Obi Toppin

SF: Jaden McDaniels /

SG: Shaedon Sharpe /

PG: Zach Lavine / Collin Sexton / Miles McBride

 

I believe this is going to look far different after the Max Strus Sign and Trade along with the ripple effects of that deal and other deals Laddas has lined up.

 

Concluding Thoughts:

The Suns are young, they�re fun, they�re athletic and they�re going to be a good watch this season.  The emergence of Jaden McDaniels is going to be a key to the Suns success this season, he�s got some tasty af ratings and in his build / size he should be e menace, I�m super excited to watch him this year in Phoenix.

1.  

Best of luck Laddas!