National Basketball Association

Phoenix Suns: The Blueprint For Rebuilding The Young Suns

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 12:32 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

Nov 2, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Brandon Knight (11) high fives guard Eric Bledsoe (2) during the second half of the game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Suns defeated the Trail Blazers 118-115. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports

The Phoenix Suns are one of the most exciting young teams, but they still need to continue to rebuild. Here’s how they should do it

About a week into the 2016-17 NBA season, there were three winless teams in the league.

The Dallas Mavericks, who I don’t think anyone saw as being a bottom dweller; the New Orleans Anthony Davis’ and the Phoenix Suns.

With the Mavs getting older and having a top-2 PF to ever play the game in Dirk Nowitzki, they’re not panicking this year. Rick Carlisle has proved he will have them fighting for a playoff spot at the end of the year. The Pelicans are 20 years away from being a year away, which leaves us with a big question mark in Phoenix.

Is this a rebuilding year? Are we paying too much for our key guys that are always injured? Do the Suns have enough prospects to develop into becoming a future contender in the west? I’m about to put on my GM pants and change the direction of the Phoenix Suns.

Jul 13, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Former NBA coach Mark Jackson arrives on the red carpet for the 2016 ESPY Awards at Microsoft Theater. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Finding A New Leader

First thing is first: the Suns need a proven leader who can take control of this team and not settle for mediocrity. Phoenix hasn’t made the playoffs in six years and no one seems to be troubled by that. I know a guy that has been out of the coaching game for a few years and has a major itch to get back.

I know a guy by the name of Mark Jackson. Momma there goes that man.

More from Sir Charles In Charge

Next, we have to take a look at what we’re paying to certain guys based on their production. Our highest paid player this season is Eric Bledsoe. We owe him $14 million dollars this year after he signed a five year, $70 million contract with us in 2014.

He averaged a career high 17 points per game during the first year of his contract, but ever since then he hasn’t been able to stay healthy. He played in 31 games all of last year, but so far this season he is looking great averaging 17-5-6. We’re going to keep Bledsoe around and hope that he is able to stay injury free.

Our next two highest paid players are Brandon Knight at $12.6 million, and Tyson Chandler at $12.4 million. Knight has shown major potential in his career despite having an uncanny ability to get embarrassed in internet vines around the league.

In 52 games last year, he averaged almost 20 points per game along with four rebounds and five assists. That’s great production for a 24-year-old kid who’s still developing his game. He is going to be a valuable combo guard for us off the bench for years to come.

Chandler, however, is getting up there in age. He just turned 34 years old, but its an even older 34 having come straight from high school (his 16th year in the league). His rim protection and rebounding (12.6 rpg) is valuable, but would probably be a better fit off the bench for a serious contender this season.

I think we should be able to trade and get an early second round draft pick for him, at least, and free up $12 million in cap space.

Booker Is The Future

The two pieces I am most excited about during our rebuilding process are Devin Booker and T.J. Warren. Booker is the future of the Phoenix Suns. After stealing him 13th overall in the 2015 draft, he went on to win All-Rookie first team while averaging 14 points per game.

After watching him drop 35 points in a game towards the end of the year last season, we all knew this kid was special. With Devin’s perimeter shooting paired up with .’s athleticism and slashing ability, our wings are the future of the league.

T.J. Warren has come out of nowhere this year and overachieved what anyone in our front office thought he could do. He is averaging almost 25 points per game while Warren’s bringing down six rebounds. Watching him slash to the rim and finish above rim protectors is something he has always had, but mix it with his new developed ability to pull up and shoot the mid range jumper makes him a nightmare to guard.

Jared Dudley is a valuable floor spacer. He’s a veteran who doesn’t make many mistakes and is shooting 50 percent from behind the arc. His value also goes up because of his ability to play the SF or stretch-four. $10.4 million is a little high for my liking, but hopefully he can stay around that 50 percent clip from three and be our knockdown shooter.

P.J. Tucker is coming off the bench this year making $5.3 million. After our 2016 draft, his value to our team plummeted. We drafted a lot of young talent at the SF and PF position, which is why we’re going to trade Tucker and see what we can get for him. I think a team would be in the market for a strong slashing wing player who has NBA experience.

Next, we have Alex Len who is still on his rookie contract. We owe him $4.8 million this year, and with our decision to part ways with Chandler via trade, we will depend on him to develop into a similar long rim protector who can rebound. Only 23 years old, Len is still learning how to be an enforcer down low so he is a work in progress. Having said that, i think we need to target a legit center in this upcoming draft.

We really love our 2016 draft results. Drafting Dragan Bender 4th overall, then trading up to draft Marquese Chriss with the 8th overall pick. These two picks are a huge chunk of the identity of the future Suns. Bender, at 7-foot-1 can play some center for us, but is also versatile enough to play a stretch 4 in some sets.

He has the ability to step out and hit threes, with an underrated passing ability. He is a young playmaker with promising upside. Chriss is a physical freak at 6-foot-10 with extreme length. He will play power forward for us and be a problem on the offensive and defensive boards for opponents.

The Offseason

Having a top 5 pick due to finishing near the bottom of the NBA last season, our front office will try to continue dominating the NBA draft. We will be keeping our eye out for Duke Center Harry Giles, and N.C. State PG Dennis Smith Jr. This will help us solidify a solid athletic center, or maybe help out at the point with Bledsoe’s health being a question mark.

More from Sir Charles In Charge

This upcoming free agency class has the potential to be special. We will be very active, needing a big name veteran presents preferably at the center or power forward position. We are under the cap, and got rid of Tyson’s $12 million contract which gives us more flexibility when going after a big name.

Blake Griffin, Nerlens Noel, and Kyle Lowry are the three big name free agents we are targeting in the offseason. Blake Would help our teams athleticism incredibly, as well as being able to play in the pick and roll/pop. He has the ability to hit the open mid-range jumper, which marquese Chriss could learn from.

Nerlens would help us out at our biggest need, the five. Noel is a proven tenacious rebounder and rim protector, but due to injury and being on a team with 36 big men, it was hard to stand out.  Kyle Lowry would come in and be an upgrade from Eric Bledsoe, with his ability to stay healthy and be a more consistent perimeter shooter.

Giving our young guys another year to develop, as well as adding one of those three big names in free agency would skyrocket our teams potential. Having another A+ quality draft in 2017 on top of that is crucial.

There is no question the 2016-17 Phoenix Suns have potential in certain spots. This roster could be a fun one to watch grow into the future. With the right moves in rebuilding during the season, continued draft success, and making a big splash in free agency, the future is bright for the Suns.

This article originally appeared on

share

Get more from National Basketball Association Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

National Basketball Association