National Basketball Association

The Phoenix Suns You Should Own In Fantasy Basketball: Part 1

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Phoenix Suns fans, it’s that time again. The NBA season is about a month away, which means it’s prime time for fantasy basketball drafts.

Yes, you are not supposed to draft with your heart, but it is fun to own one of your favorite team’s best players in any fantasy sport. If the opportunity presents itself, there are plenty of Suns to consider taking in a fantasy basketball draft this year.

The Phoenix Suns only have four players in ESPN’s top 100 list, but there are always a few guys to think about stashing away on your bench for later in the season.

Plus, we are here to analyze everything. Whether it’s a keeper league, standard, rotisserie (roto), or a 14 team league (yes people actually do those), here is a ranking of the top 12 Suns players you should consider drafting in fantasy basketball this year, along with their projected 2016-17 statistics.

Note the rankings will be broken up into three parts, with four players covered in each article.

12.) Tyler Ulis

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Although unclear how much playing time Tyler Ulis will get in his rookie campaign, the point guard impressed at the Las Vegas Summer League. With 14.5 PPG and 6.3 APG, Ulis was third in the event in assists, only behind Tyus Jones (6.8) and some guy named Devin Booker (6.5). Maybe Suns fans have heard of him.

Ulis will likely go undrafted in most leagues, but if history repeats itself and someone in the Suns backcourt goes down with an injury, Ulis could be one of the best waiver wire pickups this year.

2017 PROJECTION: 5.7 PPG, 1.1 SPG, 2.5 APG, 1.2 RPG, 45.9 FG%

11.) P.J. Tucker

Always a stat sheet stuffer, Tucker has value in almost any league, especially rotisserie where, although he falls to 11 here because of the potential of limited minutes.

He will be having to share time with T.J. Warren, who will likely have the starting small forward job to start the season given Tucker’s recent back injury. There is also the newly signed Jared Dudley, plus rookie top-10 picks Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender. Tucker might be the odd man out of the rotation this year.

If Tucker gets traded to another team like Adam Maynes suggests, Tucker’s value may double. The 31-year-old veteran, known mostly for his scrappy defense, was the only Phoenix Suns player to average at least 1.0 steals per game, 2.0 assists per game and 6.0 rebounds per game last season. For now, Tucker is only recommended for deeper, rotisserie leagues.

2015-2016: 8.0 PPG, 1.3 SPG, 2.2 APG, 6.2 RPG, 41.1 FG%

2017 PROJECTION: 7.2 PPG, 0.9 SPG, 1.8 APG, 5.4 RPG, 44.5 FG%

Aug 11, 2016; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Brazil guard Leandro Barbosa (19) reacts during the men’s preliminary round against Croatia in the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games at Carioca Arena 1. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

10.) Leandro Barbosa

The Brazilian Blur is back to the Phoenix Suns.

The 2006-2007 Sixth Man of the Year helped the Golden State Warriors win back-to-back Western Conference Championships in the same, comfortable role he always has been in: coming off the bench.

Still an electric spark plug, Barbosa can flip the switch and be a game changer. He did so in the NBA Finals this summer, scoring 14 points in 19 minutes on 4 of 6 shooting in game six.

Barbosa will likely play a little bit more than last year’s 15.9 minutes per game he played in Golden State. A career 38.8 percent three-point shooter, Barbosa has shown no signs of slowing down, shooting over 38 percent in two of the last four seasons.

While not having Steph Curry or Klay Thompson creating open shots for Barbosa may hurt his fantasy basketball stat line, Barbosa will have Devin Booker, Jared Dudley and plenty of other three-point shooters on an improved Suns’ roster.

It would not be shocking to see Barbosa get a lot of run, especially with some of the Suns’ young guns, as head coach Earl Watson may want a veteran serving as a second coach on the floor with them.

Playing about 20 minutes per game on a team that will not put pressure on him to score, Barbosa will have a slight uptick in value this year, and can be owned in deeper leagues, or in any league that includes field goal percentage, as the 33-year-old is poised to have an efficient year.

2015-2016: 6.4 PPG, 0.6 SPG, 1.2 APG, 1.7 RPG, 35.5 3PT%

2017 PROJECTION: 9.2 PPG, 1.0 SPG, 1.4 APG, 2.1 RPG, 38.9 3PT%

Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Dragan Bender (right) greets NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number four overall pick to the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

9.) Dragan Bender

Most fourth-overall draft picks would certainly be drafted in the top 100 of fantasy basketball drafts, but with this pick, comes more uncertainty than most. Bender is listed as the fifth-best Suns player, and 176th on the ESPN fantasy draft board.

Unless we are talking keeper leagues, prospective Bender owners should take more of a wait and see approach. Bender, who has played in limited time overseas, struggled in the Las Vegas Summer League, totaling 8.6 PPG, 1 APG and 5.6 RPG on 27.5 percent shooting. He also shot 26.5 percent behind the three-point line.

While this is also a small sample size, and not too much should be drawn from it, owners should keep in mind that Bender was drafted fourth overall because he is a long-term project.

Growing pains will come with Bender, however his fantasy upside could come after the All-Star break. Much like Devin Booker’s rookie year, Bender will surely improve with steadily increasing minutes.

Bender can be drafted in most standard league’s around the 13th or 14th round, especially for anyone in head to head leagues with playoffs, as Bender could turn the corner and give a team that extra push into the playoffs or championship round.

Stay tuned for part 2, coming soon.

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