Phoenix Suns: 5 takeaways from 2017 NBA Summer League

The Phoenix Suns have wrapped up their time at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. What did we learn about the team’s youngest players who participated?

With a 2-4 record, the Phoenix Suns weren’t exactly the talk of the 2017 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. Just a year removed from Tyler Ulis‘ late-game heroics and two years removed from an appearance in the championship game, this year’s Summer Suns were unable to find the same level of team success.

However, even for a squad sporting a couple of franchise building blocks on its roster, the point of Summer League is hardly to put wins on the board.

For the coaching staff and for the fans alike, the biggest purpose of Summer League is to evaluate the rookies and young players who figure to be a part of the team’s core for years to come.

Bearing this in mind, how did the No. 4 overall pick Josh Jackson impress? How did a beefed up Marquese Chriss and a more confident Dragan Bender fare? And what about Phoenix’s other healthy rookie, Davon Reed?

Though it’s never a good idea to read too much into Summer League results, it’s not wise to completely ignore them either. Here are five takeaways for the Phoenix Suns from their time in Sin City.

5. “Time” is the operative word in #TheTimeline

One Summer League was never going to change this, even if the Suns had won all their games by 30 points en route to the Las Vegas championship, but the past six games hammered the point home: This isn’t going to happen overnight.

While that’s unfortunate news for a fanbase entering its 50th season without an NBA title and what looks like the eighth straight year without a playoff appearance, the emphasis of #TheTimeline movement is “time.”

https://twitter.com/MikeLisboa/status/884524545184497665

Phoenix may have had two Summer League players who saw court time as rookies last year (including one starter), a proven overseas commodity in Mike James and the No. 4 overall pick in the draft, but they only went 2-4 in Summer League overall.

The reason? Dragan Bender (19), Marquese Chriss (20), Josh Jackson (20), Derrick Jones Jr. (20) and Davon Reed (22) are all still extremely young. Tyler Ulis (21) and Alec Peters (22) didn’t play due to injury, and as a primer for the upcoming season, it’s worth noting that key players like Devin Booker (20), T.J. Warren (23) and Alan Williams (24) are all under the age of 25 as well.

#TheTimeline is very exciting for a Suns organization that’s rarely opted to build this way, but inconsistent Summer League performances served as a nice reminder that the fanbase of the league’s fourth all-time winningest franchise is going to have to embrace patience for a few more years.

4. Davon Reed better than expected

With most mock drafts projecting Miami’s Davon Reed to go somewhere near the end of the second round, it felt like a bit of a stretch for the Suns to take him 32nd overall on draft night. However, if his Summer League performance is any indication, he should live up to the billing of a serviceable second round selection.

In six Summer League appearances, Reed averaged 14.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. He was shooting 40.4 percent from the field until a 4-for-15 shooting night plummeted his percentages. Though he only made 10 of his 35 three-point attempts, those numbers should improve with time.

The most important thing is he looked confident shooting the ball, with a fluid stroke that may eventually give Phoenix the knockdown shooter it needs off the bench to spread the floor.

From the potential with his shooting touch to his smart defense, Reed was mildly impressive in his first NBA Summer League. He was never going to steal the spotlight from Josh Jackson or Dragan Bender, but he played his part and looks like he could become a steady presence for a very young second unit.

In the second round of any NBA draft, that’s really all you can ask for.

3. Marquese Chriss needs to slim down

Perhaps the biggest surprise of Summer League for the Suns was how much bigger Marquese Chriss got over the last few months — and not all of it appears to be muscle.

While it was encouraging to see Chriss bulk up and use strength and newfound size to his advantage down low, he also appeared to be about two steps slower, making his already lackluster defensive awareness a downright liability for the Summer League squad.

Chriss was almost entirely helpless defending the pick-and-roll without the same athleticism to recover from the mental mistakes you’d expect from a 20-year-old who only played 21.3 minutes per game as a rookie despite being named the “starter.”

While no one should imply Chriss’ ankle injury was caused by this unexpected change in body mass, it probably didn’t help matters. Even if they’re completely unrelated and it was just a fluky tweak, Chriss needs to slim back down to go back to being the athletic freak he was just a few months ago.

I mean, remember this? No way the Marquese Chriss we saw in Summer League could still do this:

In three Summer League games, Chriss averaged 10.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 5.3 fouls per game. He shot only 33.3 percent from the field and missed all seven of his three-pointers. With all the concern over Dragan Bender’s NBA future, it’s Chriss who needs more work right now.

This is all contingent on his recovery process, of course, but Chriss needs to slim back down and let his body develop naturally.

He’s already got the quickness to compete at this level and the burst to out-jump anybody in the gym; now he needs to put on muscle mass more slowly, letting his 20-year-old body develop in due time rather than packing on 15-20 pounds in one summer.

2. Josh Jackson looks like the real deal

Josh Jackson didn’t play in the Suns’ final consolation game Friday, but the five-game sample size he provided was enough to assure fans he’s going to be good.

Averaging 17.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks per game, the No. 4 overall pick in the draft displayed many of the strengths that were expected of him from all the pre-draft scouting reports.

He’s a well-rounded player who contributes in nearly every stat column; he has a lightning quick first step; he’s got great vision and passing ability; he’s a tenacious and versatile defender; he crashes the boards hard; he’s athletic and can get to the basket; the list goes on and on.

However, even if he only shot 42.5 percent from the field, he also displayed some impressive one-on-one moves to create space and either launch that unwieldy jumper of his or attack the rim.

Jackson’s biggest weakness — perimeter shooting — also reared its head, with the Kansas product connecting on just three of his 16 attempts from three-point range (18.8 percent).

That being said, the jumper wasn’t going to fix itself overnight, and Jackson certainly wasn’t shy about hoisting shots. When he was aggressive and got to the basket, good things usually happened.

Whether it was a 21 and 15 double-double or a pair of fear-inducing dunks, Jackson was a clear and constant Summer League standout.

Overlooking the production and the trademark afro that makes him look like Stretch from NBA Street, Josh Jackson still would’ve been impossible to ignore for that competitive fire that fuels his game.

The scouts weren’t kidding about that feistiness being a huge part of his game.

As if that downright mean chase-down block wasn’t enough, Jackson stares down his victim afterward — even as the play heads in the opposite direction.

Suns fans are going to love this kid, and other fanbases are going to grow to hate this young, plucky squad that doesn’t give a damn about the feathers they’re going to ruffle in victory or defeat.

Josh Jackson’s strengths and weaknesses were on display at Summer League as advertised, but even with that lackluster jumper of his, the Suns’ newest rookie was able to make a strong opening statement on both ends of the floor.

Reading into Summer League successes and failures is a fool’s errand, but there’s no question that Josh Jackson is already looking like the real deal.

1. Concerns about Dragan Bender were premature

Again, a few successful Summer League games does not make for a successful NBA player. But after a nearly widespread panic over Dragan Bender’s underwhelming rookie season, it was good to see him put together a few reassuring, well-rounded performances in Sin City.

In fact, Bender looked leagues better than Chriss, averaging 14.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. The offense ran through him through spells, with his playmaking and court vision leading to easy buckets, even if he wasn’t always the one getting the assist.

Even more encouraging, Bender got better as Summer League went along. He ended his five-game stint in Vegas with 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists while shooting 8-for-16 from the field.

To be fair, Bender still has a long ways to go before he establishes himself as a legitimate NBA player, let alone a starter on a future playoff team. He averaged 5.2 fouls in his 31.4 minutes per game, only made 39.4 percent of his field goal attempts and connected on just 10 of his 35 three-point attempts (28.6 percent).

However, Bender looked comfortable and confident on the court — two things that weren’t always the case during his rookie season in which he averaged 3.4 points and 2.4 rebounds per game on .354/.277/.364 shooting splits.

Not only did Summer League give the Suns more opportunity to play their Chriss-Bender frontcourt of the future together, but it also gave Dragan a chance to showcase his versatility, basketball IQ and defensive presence.

The efficiency and long range shooting touch will come in time. But Bender has added mass to his slender frame (and not at such an alarming, overnight rate like Chriss), he had no problem being aggressive and his well-rounded play was a boon for the Summer League squad on both ends of the floor.

Next: 2017 NBA free agency tracker - Grades for every deal so far

It’s easy to look at Bender’s rookie numbers or the fact that he missed nearly half the season and be disappointed with his status as a No. 4 overall pick, but Suns supporters should be all in on the Dragan’s future at only 19 years old.