National Basketball Association

Phoenix Suns: 5 Midseason Takeaways For 2016-17

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 9:49 p.m. ET

Fansided, Gerald Bourguet/FanSided via Hoops Habit

Jan 16, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Eric Bledsoe (2) and Devin Booker (1) react in the third quarter against the Utah Jazz at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Jazz defeated the Suns 106-101. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

At about the halfway point of the Phoenix Suns’ 2016-17 NBA season, here are the team’s five most prevalent takeaways.

At 13-29, the Phoenix Suns have the worst record in the NBA’s Western Conference. They have the worst point differential in the West (-6.0), the third-worst record in the league and coming off a 23-win season, none of this should be particularly surprising to anyone.

Once again, the Suns find themselves in line for a top-five draft pick, only this time, that result was largely expected. With Eric Bledsoe and T.J. Warren coming off season-ending injuries, Jared Dudley and Leandro Barbosa serving as the team’s only free agency acquisitions and the additions of two teenage rookies, this young team was finally heading for a long overdue rebuild.

And yet, even with such lowered expectations, the Suns and head coach Earl Watson have managed to fall short of them early on.

It hasn’t been all bad, of course, especially now that the youngsters are starting to get more burn. But considering how many minutes have been given to veterans like Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, P.J. Tucker and Tyson Chandler so far, the team’s 13-29 mark is even worse than it sounds.

The Suns are technically past the midway point of their 2016-17 NBA season at 42 games, but for the sake of exercise, here’s a look at the five most prevalent takeaways heading into the second half of the season.

Jan 8, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns center Alex Len (21) attempts the steal the ball from Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) during the first half at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Cavaliers won 120-116. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

5. Suns Are Making A Mistake With Len

I’ve written this so many times it’s basically the equivalent of screaming until you’re blue in the face, but here we go on more time: The Phoenix Suns need to be starting Alex Len at center.

Not because he’s necessarily deserving, but because this front office needs to figure out what the hell it has in its seven-foot Ukrainian before he enters restricted free agency this summer.

So far, all we know about Alex Len is what he is right now — a bumbling and unathletic center who takes too many midrange jumpers, often gets inside his own head when it comes to his offense and probably commits too many fouls still.

However, we’ve also seen him put up starting-caliber numbers in the limited instances when he’s been given ample minutes. He’s got softer hands than people realize, he has shot-blocking potential and at age 23, he could be a part of the Suns’ long-term plans.

The problem is that’s “could” instead of “should” or “won’t.” There’s no definitive answer since we only have a rough outline of what Alex Len might be. Right now, he’s a largely flawed player being reduced to backup minutes and not being given his chance to truly grow. But what could he become if he finally got his fair shot at the starting job?

In his 10 starts this season, Len put up 9.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in just 26.4 minutes per game on 58 percent shooting — more than respectable numbers for a starting center. In his 30 games off the bench, Len has averaged 7.3 points, 5.7 boards and 1.3 rejections in 19.0 minutes per game.

Having Tyson Chandler as a mentor is great, but now Len needs the chance to fly the nest already. Let him either prove he can be the rim protector this young core needs, or reveal himself as a backup.

Len being a restricted free agent gives Phoenix the upper hand, but the front office also needs to have a better idea about his market value, his value to this team, and his long-term fit in a frontcourt that already includes promising youngsters Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender.

Can Chriss and Bender thrive together at the 4 and 5? Is Len simply a backup? Could he be an average NBA starter at the center spot? We honestly have no idea, and playing Tyson Chandler 30+ minutes a night isn’t helping matters.

Jan 16, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker prior to the game against the Utah Jazz at Talking Stick Resort Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

4. Booker Back?

For awhile there, it looked like Devin Booker was experiencing the dreaded “sophomore slump.” Following a 2-for-13 dud against San Antonio on Dec. 28, Booker was averaging 18.8 points per game on ugly .404/.325/.822 shooting splits. The offense wasn’t getting him good looks, Watson was having him run too many isos and many of his shots were contested attempts from the midrange.

In the 10 games since, Booker has looked a lot more like the player who entered the 2016-17 campaign with all that preseason hype. He’s managed to bump his averages back up to 20.4 points per game on more respectable .422/.350/.833 shooting, and has been scorching hot over his last seven games in particular, averaging 28.7 points per game on .515/.486/.878 shooting splits.

That span has included tying his career-high of 39 points in back-to-back games — the latter of which was a three-point win over Kawhi Leonard and the Spurs.

Okay, so maybe it took a trip down to Mexico City for Booker to drop his 39 in back-to-back contests, but the three-ball has been falling, he’s been getting to the hoop a lot more and though 7-10 games is a small sample size, we saw Booker get hot a few times earlier in the season too.

The difference between those flashes in the pan and this recent streak is the consistency. If he can continue to string together this 20-point-and-beyond performances the way he has been the past few weeks, it’s safe to say everyone will forget about his early struggles in November and December.

Jan 5, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Dragan Bender (35) and Dallas Mavericks guard Pierre Jackson (55) fight for the loose ball during the second quarter at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

3. Rooks Still Need More Minutes

We should give Watson credit: He’s made more moves geared toward the youth than people would care to admit. Hindsight is 20-20, but don’t forget that Devin Booker starting over Brandon Knight was not a guarantee heading into training camp.

Watson made that call. He also made the call to start Marquese Chriss over Jared Dudley; to start giving more of Knight’s minutes to Tyler Ulis; and to start T.J. Warren over P.J. Tucker, and keep him there even after Tucker returned healthy.

However, we also can’t go overboard giving Watson credit since many of these decisions have revealed themselves to be no-brainers.

Chriss is still only playing 18 minutes a night despite being the starter, Dragan Bender’s 12.9 minutes a night is unacceptable considering he has more claim to the starting job than Chriss, and we’ve already covered how Len should be getting way more time than he is. It also took Watson way too long to bump Warren back into the starting five after he returned from his head injury.

Even with some of Knight’s minutes heading the rookie’s way, Ulis is still only averaging 9.4 minutes per game. He hasn’t cracked 15 minutes since Dec. 29, and that’s inexcusable when Knight isn’t playing and Booker is suddenly playing 37-40 minutes a night.

It’ll take time for those rookies’ averages to increase, of course, but any night where Tucker and Chandler are logging 30+ minutes in a loss is a night where at least one Suns rookie is missing out on valuable learning opportunities.

They’re all still young, but the more they can learn now, the better Phoenix’s core will be when it’s time to start contending again. Bender, Chriss and Ulis are all project rookies who need time to grow, make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. This issue is starting to get better, but there’s still clear progress to be made.

Jan 19, 2017; Cleveland, OH, USA; Phoenix Suns head coach Earl Watson during the first half against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

2. The Playoffs Are Not The Goal

Despite their paltry 13-29 record, the Phoenix Suns are still somehow only 4.5 games out of the eighth seed in the Western Conference.

While it’s tempting for such a competitive, veteran-heavy bunch to keep pushing for a playoff spot, especially under a first-year head coach trying to prove himself, the postseason is the last thing the Suns should be aiming for — a fact that anyone who’s actually watched this team play can verify.

Playoff experience is almost always a great thing for youngsters, sure. But the Suns stand to gain absolutely nothing from a first round slaughter at the hands of the Golden State Warriors or San Antonio Spurs. It’d be over in four games and there’d be no learning experience to be found in such a massacre.

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It has to sting for general manager Ryan McDonough to look at the standings, since even a .500 record would be good for the playoffs in the West this year. Remember, first season in 2013-14 saw the Suns win 48 games and still miss the postseason. They’ve been building from the middle ever since.

It also has to burn for a franchise that once had Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire to be reduced to a team that hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2010. But the Suns desperately need a full-scale rebuild, not some half-assed attempt to back into the postseason. Like the bird for which the city was named, Phoenix needs to go down in flames before it can rise from the ashes.

To that end, the four-game gap the Suns should be trying to cover is the one separating them from the Brooklyn Nets and their NBA-worst record, not the eighth seed in the West.

“Tanking” is a word no fan base likes to hear, and no one is suggesting the Suns should be throwing games, resting players or not trying in general. But we’ve already covered how the youth movement needs to take precedence now, so what’s wrong with feeding the youngsters the hearty minutes they need while also accepting the losses that come with them?

This is a rebuilding squad, and the natural thing would be continue losing, avoid some random hot streak in February or March, cash in on another top rookie talent in the 2017 NBA Draft, and add to a promising young core of Booker, Bender and Chriss.

Jan 3, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Eric Bledsoe (2) and center Tyson Chandler (4) run up the court in the first half of the NBA game against the Miami Heat at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Suns won 99-90. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports

1. Time To Ship Out Some Assets

The natural tank will be underway once the youngsters are getting hearty minutes, but that goes hand-in-hand with the front office’s responsibility to ship away some of its older talent at the trade deadline.

From P.J. Tucker to Tyson Chandler to Brandon Knight to even Eric Bledsoe, the Suns have plenty of players who could help a playoff team. Tucker and Chandler are experienced vets who could lend defense, rebounding and all-around hustle. Knight deserves the chance for a fresh start. Bledsoe is a star who just deserves better in general.