Phoenix Suns: 5 Reasons To Keep Watching In A Lost Season
Despite the 2015-16 season being lost, here are five reasons for Phoenix Suns fans to tune in for the last 21 games.
Wednesday night, the Phoenix Suns gave up a season-high 23 points to Sasha Vujacic, who nailed six of his seven three-pointers while filling in for an injured Arron Afflalo to help a 26-39 New York Knicks team lead by as many as 36 on the second night of a back-to-back.
It’s been that kind of season for the 14-47 Phoenix Suns.
Though the Suns’ season was virtually lost from the moment Eric Bledsoe tore his meniscus in late December (and arguably even before that, with the team sitting at 12-19 at that point), it has steadily unraveled into new, depressing lows with each passing game.
Last week’s road trip, which saw Phoenix win two straight games and avoid the longest road losing streak in franchise history, was a nice distraction. But in a season where Bledsoe, Brandon Knight and T.J. Warren have all been injured, not to mention the whole Markieff Morris drama and subsequent trade, it’s been hard to find any sort of positives in quite possibly the most miserable season in franchise history.
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To be fair, Suns fans have plenty to be optimistic about moving forward. Bledsoe will be back next year and was in the middle of a career season in 2015-16, averaging 20.4 points, 6.1 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game. The team finally unloaded Keef, will have plenty of cap space this summer in free agency, and general manager Ryan McDonough enters the 2016 NBA Draft with (most likely) three first round picks.
With plenty of young, attractive pieces on the roster, the Suns have committed to a full-scale youth movement, while also maintaining the flexibility to swing a trade for a franchise player if the right disgruntled star becomes available.
But with another 21 games left on the docket and the Suns facing a franchise-record playoff drought of six straight seasons, it’s hard to be fired up about the summer just yet, let alone find reasons to keep tuning in for the remainder of the 2015-16 campaign.
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However, in the interest of saving Suns fans from their depression and borderline masochistic thoughts that have probably become second nature at this point, it’s time to take a look at the reasons to keep watching despite the miserable basketball on display.
I won’t be filling your head with idealistic talk of future draft picks and roster flexibility, Earl Watson-isms about love or nurturing or building a program, or even long shot dreams like Chase Budinger and Alan Williams (though Watson did have some nice things to say about him); only real, tangible reasons for the here and now.
Next: No. 5