Your 2019-2020 Phoenix Suns

[Furlanfufi]

I'm really, really proud of the team. I think everybody contributed, and except that we expect a lot more from Ayton, every player except Kaminski exceeded expectations.

[Superbone]

We know we have Book, Cam, Mikal and Ayton as a core. That's a pretty good core at the moment. Better than any foursome we've had in probably a decade plus a coach who actually knows what he's doing. Looks and feels like really have something sustainable which we can build upon. Haven't said that in a while. Great sharing this wild season with everyone here!

Great post. I agree with just about every word. My only real addition is that I think Rubio should be listed as part of our core. I know that on any given night he isn't likely to be our best player or have our best stats. But his playmaking and leadership really help hold us together and keep our team producing every game. I understand that he's older and probably won't be on the team in 5 years. But as of where we are right now, I think he's a very important player on our roster and definitely part of our core. In fact, if you add him to the "core" you listed, you get our bubble starting lineup, which aligns pretty nicely with the notion of a team's core.

The only question is whether he can continue to take care of his body Nash-like and stay at the same level while continuing to improve his shooting. He’ll need to do that in order to hang with his younger core.

[Nodack]

Rubio has been very important to our success this year. He was the MVP of the World Cup for a reason.

[INFORMER]

Rubio was better than expected.

I was really happy with Kelly Oubre this season. It is always a little scary to give a guy a substantial raise after less than half a season of play, but he improved in almost every area, including his rebounding and 3-point shooting.

I'm also happy with the system Monty has put in. Echoing the other sentiments in this thread, I too thought he could build chemistry, lead a young team, but I didn't have any confidence in his x/o's. That has changed.

The bubble experience was big for this team, and I hope it carries over to next year.

[Democritus]

I think JJ deserves the most credit here. He put this coaching staff and the players together. In this league, you are good as your GM. Way to go JJ.

[ShelC]

We know we have Book, Cam, Mikal and Ayton as a core. That's a pretty good core at the moment. Better than any foursome we've had in probably a decade plus a coach who actually knows what he's doing. Looks and feels like really have something sustainable which we can build upon. Haven't said that in a while. Great sharing this wild season with everyone here!

Great post. I agree with just about every word. My only real addition is that I think Rubio should be listed as part of our core. I know that on any given night he isn't likely to be our best player or have our best stats. But his playmaking and leadership really help hold us together and keep our team producing every game. I understand that he's older and probably won't be on the team in 5 years. But as of where we are right now, I think he's a very important player on our roster and definitely part of our core. In fact, if you add him to the "core" you listed, you get our bubble starting lineup, which aligns pretty nicely with the notion of a team's core.

The only question is whether he can continue to take care of his body Nash-like and stay at the same level while continuing to improve his shooting. He’ll need to do that in order to hang with his younger core.

Yea I was on the fence about Rubio simply because of his age in terms of "team timeline" if that's even a thing. But he's obviously a big part of what we're doing right now.

[ShelC]

This guy is a good account to follow on Twitter for soms Suns stats

[Mori Chu]

Rubio was better than expected.

I was really happy with Kelly Oubre this season. It is always a little scary to give a guy a substantial raise after less than half a season of play, but he improved in almost every area, including his rebounding and 3-point shooting.

I'm also happy with the system Monty has put in. Echoing the other sentiments in this thread, I too thought he could build chemistry, lead a young team, but I didn't have any confidence in his x/o's. That has changed.

The bubble experience was big for this team, and I hope it carries over to next year.

Quite possibly this is the most uniformly positive post I've ever seen from INF.

[Superbone]

I think JJ deserves the most credit here. He put this coaching staff and the players together. In this league, you are good as your GM. Way to go JJ.

Yes, we've got to give young GM Jones some credit too even if he had to make some lopsided trades to get us here.

[Superbone]

Rubio was better than expected.

I was really happy with Kelly Oubre this season. It is always a little scary to give a guy a substantial raise after less than half a season of play, but he improved in almost every area, including his rebounding and 3-point shooting.

I'm also happy with the system Monty has put in. Echoing the other sentiments in this thread, I too thought he could build chemistry, lead a young team, but I didn't have any confidence in his x/o's. That has changed.

The bubble experience was big for this team, and I hope it carries over to next year.

Quite possibly this is the most uniformly positive post I've ever seen from INF.

He can do it!

[ShelC]

Jones and Bower deserve credit for sure. I wasn't a fan of Jones the player but he's always played for winning orgs and has been around winning players, seemed like a smart and put together player which looks to have translated to the FO. Bower also seems solid enough to help him along as a new exec.

[Superbone]

Jones and Bower deserve credit for sure. I wasn't a fan of Jones the player but he's always played for winning orgs and has been around winning players, seemed like a smart and put together player which looks to have translated to the FO. Bower also seems solid enough to help him along as a new exec.

I almost forgot about Bower. He is amazingly quiet behind the scenes. We rarely hear about him.

[INFORMER]

Rubio was better than expected.

I was really happy with Kelly Oubre this season. It is always a little scary to give a guy a substantial raise after less than half a season of play, but he improved in almost every area, including his rebounding and 3-point shooting.

I'm also happy with the system Monty has put in. Echoing the other sentiments in this thread, I too thought he could build chemistry, lead a young team, but I didn't have any confidence in his x/o's. That has changed.

The bubble experience was big for this team, and I hope it carries over to next year.

Quite possibly this is the most uniformly positive post I've ever seen from INF.

I'm just following Shel's rules.

[bajanguy008]

I will be honest I myself forget that we did show decent improvement before the bubble because it's hard sometimes not to only focus on the record
This is some decent perspective

[Indy]

The bubble experience we had, and the way we came together as a team and performed, is one of those steps you can't skip on your way to being a good, to great team. I am so happy the team executed they way they did.

[In2ition]

I thought this was interesting when it comes to Cam Johnson.

[Indy]

I thought this was interesting when it comes to Cam Johnson.

NBA Math had a spread of all rookies this year when it came to points added and points saved. Only 1 rookie added more points than Cam, while also saving more points on defense. Which is great. The other player is Brandon Clarke.

[specialsauce]

After seeing Cams development this year, you guys would still rather have Clarke?

I think it’s a no brainer that Cam is better for this team and has an easier path to becoming a long-time starter in this league.

[Indy]

After seeing Cams development this year, you guys would still rather have Clarke?

I think it’s a no brainer that Cam is better for this team and has an easier path to becoming a long-time starter in this league.

From a stats perspective, the only thing Cam Johnson is better at so far is 3P%. Clarke beats him in everything else, and they played a similar number of games with a similar number of minutes, and started a similar number of games. Yes, I would rather have Clarke right now. I hope that changes soon.

[In2ition]

What I would have loved is if the Suns could have traded for Boston's 20th pick and then taken Clarke there, instead of trading for the 24th pick and Jerome.