Suns fans 2016 Suns Report Cards

[Nodack]

My first basketball thread in forever it seems. I know I will take a lot of crap from my take on the Suns this year but, I can take it like a man. We all know the team by now. Give out your own grades. Take it like a men, or women if there happen to be any I don't know of. I did take into consideration their salaries.

Eric Bledsoe-(C) Injured last half the season. Questions about whether he can distribute the ball and stay healthy remain. I give him a B for his play and knock him down a peg for missing half the year.

Devin Booker-(A+)Has kind of become the face of the franchise already. Has the skills, maturity, character, feistiness to be an All Star someday. Is the youngest guy, best passer and best scorer. Barring injury there is nothing but upside to the guy.

Chase Budinger-(C) I really didn't see enough of him to form an opinion as a Sun and he just didn't stand out as more than a mediocre rent a player for a little while.

Tyson Chandler-(B-) Him and Len worked together well at times I thought. His best play the lob wasn't utilized as well as it could of been thanks to poor passing by others. Would have given him a B but, missed so many games.

Archie Goodwin-(C) Has some serious driving chops and is getting better at the long range game. Had way too many turnovers this season and might have an attitude problem. Has had trouble getting minutes from two coaches down players. If I was Archie I would be worried.

John Jenkins- (B+) Another late arrival but, has some skills. I liked what I saw in the limited minutes. Not sure he is anything more than temporary but, should get a gig somewhere if not with the Suns.

Brandon Knight-(C+) Major unstoppable scorer at times and sometimes shoots you right out of game. Streaky as the say. Has score first, pass if last resort mentality puts him in most people's dog house. Injured a lot.

Alex Len-(B) Len had some monster games and some stinker games. Who knows what goes on in his head? Still, has been a decent at guarding the rim and has a sweet stroke. I say a keeper.

Jon Leuer- (B-) Showed a lot of promise and still does. Has been in and out of the lineup due to injury etc. Seems to get it going pretty well with lots of minutes. In spotty minutes he struggles IMO.Still, a lot of upside. Can score inside and out.

Phil Pressley- Not wasting my time.

Ronnie Price-(B) Seems to be a decent BU PG to me. Scrappy, gets steals, can shoot the three. Bledsoe makes 13+ million a year. Price made 947k this year. Bledsoe hasn't been 13Xs better.

Mirza Teletovic-(A) I was like "who is this schmuck they picked up" at the beginning of the year. He just set the all time NBA record for threes off the bench. Also showed he can go to the basket with a variety of moves. Obviously he is somebody we should want to keep IMO.

P.J. Tucker-(B+) Is the team leader and hustle King. Improved his game inside. Always draws the hardest defensive assignment. Gets a lot of flack here. Isn't Micheal Jordan but, isn't paid like him either.

TJ Warren-(C) Has a variety of unorthodox offensive skills that I like. Down side was defense. Needs to improve that aspect to stay around and being injured lowers your score too.

Alan Williams-(A) Who? Came form North High Phoenix. Must be a PR move but, somebody forgot to tell him. He had a double double in the last game with three blocks. A couple games does not make a career. I think he deserves a shot in the NBA with somebody.

Who to keep and who to discard like a cheap suit?

Booker is the new face of the Suns. He isn't going anywhere.

Bledsoe was kind of the face of the Suns. Bledsoe might be the long term PG. Injuries and the rep of not being a great assist guy could put him in jeopardy.

Len is also supposed to be a cornerstone piece and untouchable.

I like Mirza as a 6th man and think Knight should be a 6th man. Too many. The Black Hole Knight needs a new home IMO.

Everybody else is open for trade bait for me. Goodwin and Tucker are youngs that are part of the future Suns but at this point I wouldn't be apposed to them being shopped if it meant landing a big fish.

Between all our draft picks, cap space and players we have room to negotiate something this off season I'm hoping.

[Ring_Wanted]

Bledsoe: C
Knight: C-
Booker: A
Warren: B-
Len: C+
Chandler: C-
Tucker: C+
Teletovic: B+
Leuer: B+
Goodwin: C-
Price: C

Team performance: F. Problem is the grades could look defensible individually (nobody has totally sucked for long periods), but that's just relative to the talent pool we have on the roster, which has proved to be very limited. Not the same getting a B on these Suns than on the Spurs. And of course, as we know, the whole has been less than the sum of its parts.

[Nodack]

I agree. I have seen some signs of team ball improvement over the season. They did have a ton of injuries and a ton of D League guys filling in the holes. It has been a blessing in a way giving Booker and the other younguns extra playing time. If Bledsoe and Knight had stayed healthy all season would Booker have made near the splash he did in the league?

[Dan H]

I think you've nailed it, Nodack.

Honestly I wonder if we' re not closer than we think. I'd like to move Knight and our two lotto picks to draft Ingram. Run with Len-Chandler-Ingram-Booker-Bledsoe, round out the top eight with Warren, Tucker, and Teletovic. Maybe even move Goodwin if it looks like we can bring Bogdanovic over.

[OE32]

Grades in paren are taking injuries into account - injuries hurt players' value as well as our record and standing in the league, so it counts against them as assets, though not as basketball players per se.

Bledsoe: A-(D). Another season-ending injury, again to the knees. But he was on fire at the beginning of the season before it became clear that this team sucked, at which point, his effort fell off a bit. He was heading for a spectacular season, AASW-style.

Booker: A(A+). He showed a ton, but the lovefest has gotten to be a bit much for me. He's still got a long ways to go in terms of decision-making, defense and efficiency.

Chandler: B(B-). Played really well the last couple months of the season, showed he's still the best center on the roster and still has value in this league.

Goodwin: C+(B-). Showed some flashes, but found his way into the doghouse of two coaches. Ouch.

Knight: D+(F). Another season-ending injury. Didn't seem to earn the respect of his teammates with his often senseless chucking. Didn't improve on areas of weakness, defense and playmaking. Three point shooting took a dive as well.

Len: C-(B-). Got every opportunity to show his abilities on offense, and it turned out there wasn't much to show. Passing improved, but he still has problems catching and keeping the ball. Rebounding improved, remarkably, but shotblocking took a huge step back - these are obviously correlated. Big break out games were followed by brickfests. But he stayed healthy. He's a mediocre center, it appears. But he's still young. Maybe there is offense to come. Full grade bump due to GP.

Leuer: B+(B+). Best season of his career. Showed he's a player in this league - just not a rotation player.

Price: B+(B+). Played very well, given expectations. Improved shooter, great energy on D. Hard to complain.

Teletovic: A+(A+). Probably our best player this season, overall. Pretty shocking. And especially relative to his injury history, he greatly increased his value.

Tucker: A(A+). Heart and soul of the squad. Came with effort every night. This team would have been Sixers bad without him.

Warren: B(D). Shows defense in flashes only. Didn't improve his rebounding. Actually regressed on 2FGs. But his 3FG was a revelation. I think he has a chance to put it all together and become a special player - hopefully, he gets the chance.

Williams: B(B). Does a good Bo Outlaw impression on the bench. What more can you ask for in a 12th man?

[Indy]

Thanks for the thread Nodack. Great idea.

Bledsoe: C
Knight: C-
Booker: A
Warren: B-
Len: C+
Chandler: C-
Tucker: C+
Teletovic: B+
Leuer: B+
Goodwin: C-
Price: C

Since you said you were grading on a curve, I think you are pretty harsh on Tucker and Price. On another, good team, that seems about right. On this team, I think those guys are easily at B to B+ on the year. I am in agreement with pretty much everything else.

Especially this:

Team performance: F. Problem is the grades could look defensible individually (nobody has totally sucked for long periods), but that's just relative to the talent pool we have on the roster, which has proved to be very limited. Not the same getting a B on these Suns than on the Spurs. And of course, as we know, the whole has been less than the sum of its parts.

[Ring_Wanted]

Heh. You have a good eye. Those two were the ones I doubted the most. I felt inclined to give them a better grade, points for effort, but I also took in mind that Tucker shot worse from 3pt and that Price is a tad unproductive on offense for a 20mpg player. Have no problem bumping their grades to B- and C+.

[Mori Chu]

My grades:

Bledsoe: B+
Knight: C-
Booker: A+
Warren: B-
Len: C
Chandler: B-
Tucker: A-
Teletovic: A-
Leuer: B+
Goodwin: C-
Price: B+

Coach Hornacek: C-
Coach Watson: D-

Robert Sarver: D-

McDo: B-

I'm fairly content with every player's contributions except for Knight and Goodwin; very disappointed in those two. Bledsoe wasn't perfect but I think he was generally a big positive contributor before he got hurt. I gave Len a low grade, but I'm not giving up on the guy; he just needs more time to grow and get better. Really wanted to see an "A" season from Warren, but he went from not getting minutes, to briefly getting minutes and exciting all of us, to out for the season. One of the biggest question marks I had this year that I didn't get to see the answer to was, what is Warren going to be? Still very excited about him as a player (and kind of secretly hoping that we don't draft a young stud at Warren's position who will bury Warren in the rotation).

You have to give some points to vets like Tucker, Price, Tele, and Chandler for showing up every night and playing hard despite this team being a dumpster fire.

Unlike some, I'm not pissed to see Isaiah Thomas on fire in Boston. I hated watching him play here, and I don't wish we had kept him. Sure, I wish we had gotten more for him, but it still soothes my nerves not to have to watch him chuck the ball 30 times a game. Knight, you're next.

NO CHUCKERS!

[Indy]

Unlike some, I'm not pissed to see Isaiah Thomas on fire in Boston. I hated watching him play here, and I don't wish we had kept him. Sure, I wish we had gotten more for him, but it still soothes my nerves not to have to watch him chuck the ball 30 times a game. Knight, you're next.

NO CHUCKERS!

Just to be clear, IT takes <17 shots a game to score his +22 ppg.

And if we just would have stopped with the Dragic deal, we would be in so much better shape with IT on the this roster instead of Knight and no pick and <$70M.

[Indy]

Mori, do you really think Tyson had a better year than Len? And Knight was only slightly more disappointing than Len?

[Ring_Wanted]

IT3 over Knight is undisputable. But like Mori, I got fed up with that mess. Regardless of Dragic wanting out, I also wanted to move on from IT. But I salute what he is doing in Boston.

[Indy]

Heh. You have a good eye. Those two were the ones I doubted the most. I felt inclined to give them a better grade, points for effort, but I also took in mind that Tucker shot worse from 3pt and that Price is a tad unproductive on offense for a 20mpg player. Have no problem bumping their grades to B- and C+.

It probably feels like I am the one usually defending these two (and I am sure to some it feels like i am always bitching about these two). I just feel like both of them are actually pretty decent for what they are: 7th (PJ) and 9th (Price) rotation players. We just use them as starters or close to it, and that is on the coaches. And neither are paid like starters. So when they are asked to do that role, and fail, I blame the coach. Sure, PJ steps out of his role too often, so I can see downgrading him a bit, but that is my biggest complaint with him.

[The Bobster]

Unfortunately PJ played the most minutes on the team this year. That's not his fault though.

[Ring_Wanted]

Yep. So many injuries. Warren down was a real bummer. Still have high hopes for him. At worst he is a great scoring 6th man. If he ever focus on D-R and adds some muscle he could play minutes as a new age stretch forward. But we won't have to worry about that, we are getting Simmons hehehe. Lottery scheduled May 17th.

[Indy]

Lottery scheduled May 17th.

As bad as this season has been, that will be the worst day this year for Suns fans...

[Ring_Wanted]

We are getting #2, Philly #1, LAL #3, BOS #4. 76rs take Ingram. Simmons ours.

[OE32]

We are getting #2, Philly #1, LAL #3, BOS #4. 76rs take Ingram. Simmons ours.

Dream scenario, frankly. Philly not getting #4 puts us in a position to trade Knight to them, if they're interested. Can you see -

Bledsoe/Archie/Price
Booker/Bogdanovic
Warren/Tucker
Simmons/Saric
Chandler/Len
+ #13?

I'd love it. Of course, you could also do (if things go well):

Bledsoe/Knight/Price
Booker/Bogdanovic/Archie
Warren/Tucker
Simmons/Sabonis
Chandler/Len

[Indy]

We are getting #2, Philly #1, LAL #3, BOS #4. 76rs take Ingram. Simmons ours.

Dream scenario, frankly. Philly not getting #4 puts us in a position to trade Knight to them, if they're interested. Can you see -

Bledsoe/Archie/Price
Booker/Bogdanovic
Warren/Tucker
Simmons/Saric
Chandler/Len
+ #13?

I'd love it. Of course, you could also do (if things go well):

Bledsoe/Knight/Price
Booker/Bogdanovic/Archie
Warren/Tucker
Simmons/Sabonis
Chandler/Len

So in your "things go well" scenario, we still have BHS?

[OE32]

We are getting #2, Philly #1, LAL #3, BOS #4. 76rs take Ingram. Simmons ours.

Dream scenario, frankly. Philly not getting #4 puts us in a position to trade Knight to them, if they're interested. Can you see -

Bledsoe/Archie/Price
Booker/Bogdanovic
Warren/Tucker
Simmons/Saric
Chandler/Len
+ #13?

I'd love it. Of course, you could also do (if things go well):

Bledsoe/Knight/Price
Booker/Bogdanovic/Archie
Warren/Tucker
Simmons/Sabonis
Chandler/Len

So in your "things go well" scenario, we still have BHS?

My "if things go well" scenario includes our getting Sabonis at #13 - I don't think he'll be there. Can't identify a PG worthy of the #13 pick, so I think it would be a better idea to grab Sabonis if he's there and keep Knight rather than passing on Sabonis, taking Saric in trade and drafting a PG. Some solid SG prospects possibly available at #13 (Beasley, Furkan), but I can't imagine us taking another SG with Booker and Bogdan on board. WWYD?

[Indy]

I am with you in not taking a PG, and likely not a SG. That is, unless we use Bogdan as a trade filler, which I can see us doing to unload someone. I would really, really hope we dump both Knight and Bledsoe.

Understanding that I know very little about all the prospects, but yes, if Sabonis is there I would take him. Obviously I would take Simmons if he is there when we draft, but I really doubt we get lucky like that. I am actually expecting someone to jump into the top 3 that isn't expected.

The real question on my mind is, who do we take at 5 or 6?