Phx-Suns.Net

Are the combination of Brandon Wright and Alex Len enough to keep Oklahoma City out of the playoffs?

As of today, Phoenix has a 2.5 game lead over over Oklahoma City. Even though the Pelicans are lurking, the Suns' primary competition is likely to come from a now healthy Thunder. As last year’s surprising contributor Miles Plumlee continues to fall off, Len has usurped his role as the first option at center. The team has gone 10-5 since inserting Len into the starting lineup and defensive rating of 98.2 when the second-year big man is on the floor -- a number that would put them third overall in the league if it held up for an entire season.

Whereas Len is emerging as a defensive force, the addition of Wright, who will presumably take Plumlee’s role as Len’s backup, will boost Phoenix’s offense considerably. Though Plumlee and Wright have similar games, Wright has far more skill, length and athleticism and is also far more reliably at catching and finishing than Len. They’ll team to form a nice 1-2 punch where one or the other can finish games depending on what is needed on a particular night.

And despite being a non-shooter, Wright can create a Channing Frye-like effect for the Suns dynamic guard trio of Isaiah Thomas, Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe to take advantage of. Wright is such an explosive threat finishing on the roll that any big man guarding him is hesitant to leave his body -- similar to how they were with Frye, just at a different area on the floor. So even though Wright isn’t a “stretch big” he can act as a floor spacer for Suns team that has really missed Frye’s presence offensively.

Wright is such an explosive threat finishing on the roll that any big man guarding him is hesitant to leave his body

Indy wrote:So I know this is only a few minutes into what will be a (very) short tenure with the Suns, but does anyone think that was a bad, or even mediocre, move by the Suns?

Shabazz wrote:Ryan McDonough will be on The Beat on NBATV at 3 PST.

Indy wrote:No. And he isn't all the time now. He just gets into his moods and likes to rile people up. Those moods are just more often now. Which is a shame, because he can offer some good insights.

Indy wrote:Well, to be fair I think Green does a good job of finding cutting big men and actually passing to them. But in general I get the point.

So I know this is only a few minutes into what will be a (very) short tenure with the Suns, but does anyone think that was a bad, or even mediocre, move by the Suns?

carey wrote: https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/status/554641660848922625

Indy wrote:Well, to be fair I think Green does a good job of finding cutting big men and actually passing to them. But in general I get the point.

So I know this is only a few minutes into what will be a (very) short tenure with the Suns, but does anyone think that was a bad, or even mediocre, move by the Suns?

SDC wrote:

Indy wrote:Well, to be fair I think Green does a good job of finding cutting big men and actually passing to them. But in general I get the point.

So I know this is only a few minutes into what will be a (very) short tenure with the Suns, but does anyone think that was a bad, or even mediocre, move by the Suns?

it wasnt a bad or mediocre move since the suns gave up little, but it was a little bit a pointless move since it doesnt address what the suns need at the bigs position.

SDC wrote:

Indy wrote:Well, to be fair I think Green does a good job of finding cutting big men and actually passing to them. But in general I get the point.

So I know this is only a few minutes into what will be a (very) short tenure with the Suns, but does anyone think that was a bad, or even mediocre, move by the Suns?

it wasnt a bad or mediocre move since the suns gave up little, but it was a little bit a pointless move since it doesnt address what the suns need at the bigs position.