Phoenix Suns Offseason

2014 NBA Offseason: Phoenix Suns

As we wait for one of the most highly anticipated rematches in NBA finals history, we decided to shift our focus to the NBA off-season, particularly the Phoenix Suns. Los Suns had a very impressive season after beating all of the pre-season projections from the experts who had them finishing near the bottom of the league. Well the Suns got off to a fast start by pushing the ball and jacking up all kinds of triples, jumping out to a solid record before the All-Star break. Then the old injury bug hit and Eric Bledsoe missed most of the second half of the season, while the talent of the Western Conference knocked them out of the eighth spot and the playoffs. So what do the Suns do now in order to capitalize on such a successful season and get over the hump next year? Well lets focus on three main areas that they need to be effective with in order to do so; free agency, the draft, and training camps.

FREE AGENCY AND TRADES

The Suns biggest two restricted free agents this off season are guard Eric Bledsoe and small forward PJ Tucker. The GM has publicly stated that he will match any reasonable offer to Bledsoe and it is hard to imagine that they will not do everything in their power to bring him back next season. With the backcourt looking solid with the combination of Dragic and Bledsoe, the Suns should focus on upgrading at the other three positions of SF, PF, and C. While the casual sports fan wants to see the Suns break the bank and go after LeBron, K-Love, or even Melo; the pragmatic observer understands that those are pipe dreams and more likely targets will have names like Z-Bo, Hayward, and Asik. So what should the Suns do? What piece are they missing who will push them over the top? I think they should absolutely go after a post who is either a defensive force like Asik, or a buckets and rebound vacuum like Z-Bo. One of those front court players mixed in with the sharpshooting of the Suns and the coaching scheme of Jeff Hornacek would definitely push the Suns from pretender to contender overnight. Also, keep on eye on UFA Pau Gasol who the Suns tried to get this season at the trade deadline, but did not. This team needs a guy who can post up and get buckets when the outside shots are not falling and Pau would definitely fit that need.

NBA DRAFT

The Suns have three picks in this upcoming draft, and although they most likely will not use all three of their picks, if they do they should be targeting one instant contributor

and two projects. They already took a project last year in Alex Len, more on him later, and need to use their top overall pick #14 to get a player who can come in and play some minutes right away. Who should they target? I think the best case scenario would be for the SF/PF Adriean Payne to fall out of the top ten and into the valley of the Suns at fourteen. They could use his outside shooting ability to essentially replace an aging Channing Frye. This and a nice center would definitely improve their front court and allow the Suns to keep their same style of play that made them effective this last season. With their two other picks they should take a flyer on someone and hope that they get lucky with a guy who could become a star one day. Last season they grabbed Archie Goodwin, a late first round pick, who looks like he has the tools to be an NBA player sooner rather than later. They need that same kind of luck this draft with maybe a couple of foreign players which could be kept overseas for a few seasons and then brought over to contribute when they hit their prime. I do not have any names to suggest because I do not watch foreign basketball (this is America!), but I am sure the Suns have some targets in mind, they just need one of them to pan out.

TRAINING CAMPS

So now the Suns have signed a couple of big men, got a nice stretch 4 out of the draft and are ready to start camp on their journey to the Western Conference Finals! But before they crown themselves the champion of the off-season they need to make sure they are developing the players already on the roster coming off of a strong season, specifically Alex Len, Archie Goodwin, and Gerald Green. Len looks like a bust, I hate to say this because I want him to be good, but after going to about 25 home games last season I saw very clearly that Len has a long way to go in order to be even a competent backup center in the NBA. He looked very tentative with the ball when he did catch it, and even then had no idea what he should do with it. This summer they need to work on being aggressive with him, teaching him a couple of post moves and packing some weight on him so that he can bang with other NBA centers. I do not have a ton of hope for that to happen, but it would make for a good story. Archie Goodwin had a solid season last year after being picked in the second round! He did not see the floor that often, but when he did he looked athletic, confident and like he belonged on the court. I would like to see an increase in his minutes as he should only get better and his off-season should be spent just shooting jumpers and playing perimeter defense because those are going to be the things he leans on going forward. Finally Gerald Green had a monster season last year. He exploded on to the scene and at times carried the Suns offense whether they wanted him to or not. The coaching staff needs to make sure that Gerald has not bought in to his own hype and comes back this next season focused and ready to prove that this was not a fluke.

So there we are, a quick and dirty look at what the Phoenix Suns should do this off-season in order to be successful next year. And if by some snowballs chance in hell one of the pipe dreams actually ends up coming true and the Suns get Lebron, Melo, or K-Love than throw this whole plan out the window and start planning a parade route Phoenix, because we have a title to celebrate!!