Phoenix Suns

Phoenix Suns

The Phoenix Suns bolster one of the deepest rosters in the West with more point guards than they know what to do with. The Phoenix Suns might not be the 7 seconds or less Suns but they are still fun to watch. Goran Dragic is like a Tony Parker lite, Gerald Green bolsters one of the better contracts in the league and has developed a very good jump shot to go along with his incredible leaping ability. Markieff and Marcus Morris or “the twins” look ready to continue their strong shooting and P.J. Tucker is a very nice three and d guy. Eric Bledsoe just signed a max deal but could easily be worth it if he stays on the court. Isiah Thomas is at great value (less than 8 million annually) and could be one of the better pickups of the summer.

Question: How can the Suns utilize all their point guards?

From Left to Right: Bledsoe, Thomas and Dragic

          The Suns already had two of the better point guards in the league in Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic, so what did they do in the offseason? They acquired two more point guards. While it is assumed that Bledsoe will be a shooting guard for much of the game, he will still play a role as a play maker. The Suns signed Isaiah Thomas to a four year 27 million dollar contract. Thomas is a tremendous sixth man and should thrive in Phoenix’s shoot first offense. The Suns now bolster three of the most exciting point guards in the league and they all have contrasting games: Dragic is an elite finisher at the rim and pick and roll mastermind, Bledsoe is an athletic freak (his defensive ability and potential outweighs Dragic and Thomas) and Thomas is a slick shooting point guard who relies on his jump shot and ability to get free throws and can put up points in a hurry. The Suns drafted point guard Tyler Ennis with the 18^th pick in the draft but who knows what kind of impact he will have this season. The Suns also added Goran’s brother, Zoran Dragic. Zoran plays the two but it’ll be interesting to see how many minutes he takes from guys like Eric Bledsoe, P.J. Tucker and Gerald Green.

X-Factor: Miles Plumlee

          If there is one position that the Suns are shallow at, it’s at the center position. Miles Plumlee was impressive last season but will need to shoulder the load for the Suns. The Suns lost Channing Frye to the Orlando Magic in the offseason so expect Plumlee to get more minutes and responsibilities. Alex Len is the de facto backup center but he struggled mightily with injuries last year and has been hurt in the preseason as well. Plumlee is as athletic as his brother and can finish well around the rim. His offensive game is not as defined as other starting centers but he’ll likely be the beneficiary of the many point guards the Suns bolster.

Best Case: The 3 headed monster of Dragic, Bledsoe and Thomas mesh well together and set the league on fire. Suns have an outside chance at the playoffs and could do so if they defend well enough.

Worst Case: Thomas Bledsoe and Dragic struggle to play together and the Suns miss the playoffs yet again.

Bold Prediction: Eric Bledsoe averages 20 and 6.