Suns players Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker and Alan Williams have spent nearly all of their offseason training in Phoenix while most of their teammates have been in and out or have trickled into Talking Stick Resort Arena in recent weeks. Since mid-August, there have been enough players to run five-on-five, full-court games on weekdays with the help of visitors such as Phoenix native and Philadelphia 76ers guard Jerryd Bayless.
Of the Suns’ 15 contract players (14 guaranteed and guard John Jenkins), only Jared Dudley, T.J. Warren and Leandro Barbosa have yet to arrive. Dudley is training in Las Vegas at Impact Basketball, as he does each summer, but will join his new Suns teammates on Tuesday when nearly all of the team is planning to be there. Warren, coming off a January foot fracture, has remained in his hometown, Raleigh, N.C., where new Suns assistant coach Tyrone Corbin has been working him out. Barbosa, after a busy summer with Brazil in the Olympics, has been told to rest until later this month.
The Suns report officially on Sept. 26 and leave for a five-day camp in Flagstaff, which ends with an Oct. 1 intrasquad scrimmage at Northern Arizona University’s Skydome.
ShelC wrote:On a different note, we hired Mehmet Okur as a player development coach. Kinda like the move since he can work with Bender and Chriss on their perimeter games, as well as Len.
Not sure if it was an actual rumor or just something I wanted to happen, but I remember him being a FA in 2004 and wanting us to sign him away from the Pistons. He signed a 6 year 50 mil deal with the Jazz, we signed QRich.
This seems like a move specifically for Bender, honestly.
ShelC wrote:On a different note, we hired Mehmet Okur as a player development coach. Kinda like the move since he can work with Bender and Chriss on their perimeter games, as well as Len.
Not sure if it was an actual rumor or just something I wanted to happen, but I remember him being a FA in 2004 and wanting us to sign him away from the Pistons. He signed a 6 year 50 mil deal with the Jazz, we signed QRich.
This seems like a move specifically for Bender, honestly.
It seems a strange fit to me. Neither Bender nor Chriss resemble Okur to my eyes. The closest may be Len.
ShelC wrote:I think the perimeter games and playing in the high post could be helpful.
agreed
To me it seems like there is something that doesn't work with a our attempts at playing out of the high post with our current "lead guards" (Bledsoe and Knight) Ullis on the other hand seems perfect for working off of or with a high post. I am hoping Watson can "Zen/Family/not about basketball" it all together it will be interesting to see what it looks like.
On a side note talent wise I think there are several players on our team that can match Booker. If Len, Goodwin, Warren had the right psyche we could be having the same conversation about them.
Not quite sure I agree. Booker has an extremely high basketball IQ, combined with an uncanny maturity and work ethic for someone so young. On top of that, he has actual basketball fundamentals that can be honed. Those 3 may have a couple of those traits, but not all.
This.
Yeah I prob got carried away but i do feel we have several players playing under potential or on the edge of being far greater then what they look like now. If that makes sense? For example Len becoming a double double threat every night THIS season not in the future. I think that is going to depend mostly on his psyche. He has to play like he has the green light all the time. Play through bad games etc etc.
On a side note talent wise I think there are several players on our team that can match Booker. If Len, Goodwin, Warren had the right psyche we could be having the same conversation about them.
Not quite sure I agree. Booker has an extremely high basketball IQ, combined with an uncanny maturity and work ethic for someone so young. On top of that, he has actual basketball fundamentals that can be honed. Those 3 may have a couple of those traits, but not all.
This.
Yeah I prob got carried away but i do feel we have several players playing under potential or on the edge of being far greater then what they look like now. If that makes sense? For example Len becoming a double double threat every night THIS season not in the future. I think that is going to depend mostly on his psyche. He has to play like he has the green light all the time. Play through bad games etc etc.
On a side note talent wise I think there are several players on our team that can match Booker. If Len, Goodwin, Warren had the right psyche we could be having the same conversation about them.
Not quite sure I agree. Booker has an extremely high basketball IQ, combined with an uncanny maturity and work ethic for someone so young. On top of that, he has actual basketball fundamentals that can be honed. Those 3 may have a couple of those traits, but not all.
This.
Yeah I prob got carried away but i do feel we have several players playing under potential or on the edge of being far greater then what they look like now. If that makes sense? For example Len becoming a double double threat every night THIS season not in the future. I think that is going to depend mostly on his psyche. He has to play like he has the green light all the time. Play through bad games etc etc.
I hear ya. We have some young guys who can break out if they can get the right basketball attitude.
The league needs heroes, villains... and clowns. -- Aztec Sunsfan
I want to like Warren and Len, but I'm still not sold on either. There are 3 areas Warren needs to improve in and if he could just become good at 1, i'd be satisfied. Consistent deep threat, playmaker, or lock-down defender. Right now he's good at getting buckets for himself from 15 feet and in. He did show good accuracy on limited attempts from 3 last year, but i'd like to see that again and with more frequency. I'm not too hopeful about him developing much as a play maker or a defender though. He seems to have a long ways to go in that department.
All I want from Len is for him to be a defensive anchor, rebound, finish at the rim, and knock down the occasional mid range jumper. Any post scoring would be just a bonus in my opinion.
Archie needs a change of scenery. It's not likely he gets any playing time this year if everyone stays healthy. Bled/Knight/Book will get the majority of the minutes with the extra going to Barbosa(if we're trying to win) and Ulis(if we're trying to develop the youngsters)
Well, that means more minutes for Warren and the rookies.
“Are you crazy?! You think I’m going to go for seven years and try to get there? You enjoy the 2030 draft picks that we have holding? I want to try to see the game today.” — Ish 3/13/25
I've had the same surgery. It's not THAT serious. If it fixes the symptoms, then the 6 week timetable is pretty reasonable. The problem is, once your disk herniates it has a high risk of recurring.
We will finally see what Warren can do given big minutes. But
What are the odds we start Bledsoe / Knight / Booker? I bet we at least try it, but I don't really now how likely that is to be our day one starting lineup.
The league needs heroes, villains... and clowns. -- Aztec Sunsfan
Man, I'm just thinking about starting Dudley and either Warren or Booker. That puts a ton of pressure on Len and Chandler to get rebounds. We could get killed on the boards this year.
The league needs heroes, villains... and clowns. -- Aztec Sunsfan
I have doubts about the short term viability of any of our front court combos. Dudley/Tucker, Dudley/Warren, Dudley/Bender, Warren/Bender. They're all giving up something in a big way.
I'm guessing Bledsoe-AASE-Warren-Dudley-Chandler for the starting lineup, with Booker and Len as the first players off the bench. And yes, we'll see a lot of the three-guard lineup if Bender and Chriss aren't ready.
“Are you crazy?! You think I’m going to go for seven years and try to get there? You enjoy the 2030 draft picks that we have holding? I want to try to see the game today.” — Ish 3/13/25
I hope Tucker recovers fully and is a productive player for us. But if anything this just opens up a needed starting spot for Warren and gives him a larger role. We have kind of a logjam of tweener forwards and they all could use more minutes. Speedy recovery, PJ.
but i do feel we have several players playing under potential or on the edge of being far greater then what they look like now. If that makes sense? For example Len becoming a double double threat every night THIS season not in the future. I think that is going to depend mostly on his psyche. He has to play like he has the green light all the time. Play through bad games etc etc.
