2019-2020 NBA Season Reviews: Suns
It’s beginning to look a lot like the 2019-2020 NBA regular season is effectively over. Rather than sit around and wait for basketball to come back into our lives, let’s reflect on what the season has dished up to this point.
We’ll take a look at each and every NBA team over the coming weeks, assessing what went right, what didn’t go to plan, and where their journey took them as well as where the team hoped it would take them.
Today, we head West to take a look at three teams that all had playoff/non-playoff streaks that hung around their necks like a millstone: the Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings and San Antonio Spurs.
Phoenix Suns
Record: 26-39 (13th in the Western Conference)
82 game pace: 33-49
Expectations
Expectations were modest in Phoenix. After so many false starts, that’s natural. There were expectations, however. They had a star on the rise in 23 year old Devin Booker, a potential star in sophomore centre Deandre Ayton, and they finally had a real live point guard in Spanish passing maestro Ricky Rubio. What they didn’t have, was certainty.
How would the free agent additions fare? What, exactly, did they have in the hyper athletic Kelly Oubre? Was Monty Williams, in his first head coaching role since 2015, still a effective NBA coach?
Whilst making the playoffs for the first time since 2010 might have been the perfect scenario, merely seeing solid progress was all that was realistically asked of this group.
What went right
There was definite growth in the Valley of the Sun this season. Booker continued his ascension, turning in similar numbers to his last campaign but on a much more efficient basis and in turn earning his maiden All-Star nod. He found allies in the 21 year old Ayton (19 points, 12 boards and 1.7 blocks) and 24 year old Oubre (18.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals). Those three give the Suns a potentially brilliant young core to build their next great team around. They were ably supported by veteran imports Rubio and Aron Baynes – both proved to be astute additions.
Pensioner Rookie Cameron Johnson defied the naysayers to make some solid contributions off the bench. Williams was steady, if not spectacular, at the helm.
What went wrong
The season hit an early hurdle, with Ayton playing a single match before copping a 25 game suspension for PED use. Baynes stepped in admirably but once he went down injured the team was relying on Frank Kaminsky in the middle – that went about as well as you might expect. Ayton and Baynes struggled with injuries throughout the season.
Those two weren’t the only Suns to be bitten by the injury bug: Oubre, Rubio and the disappointing Dario Saric all missed time.
The outcome
Whilst Baynes – for a period the Greatest Shooting Big Man in Basketball – led a brief resistance, the Suns season was effectively torpedoed with Ayton’s suspension and Baynes injury. An encouraging 7-4 start to the season gave way to dreadful 4-15 stretch. In a tough Western Conference, it’s difficult to recover from that sort of run.
The continued maturation of Booker Ayton & Oubre could give Phoenix it’s best core since Nash, Stoudamire and Marion. Whilst they might not make playoffs next season, the Suns are at least heading in right direction.
