Phoenix Suns: 2013-14 NBA Preview

2012-13 Vitals

25-57, Last in Pacific Division, Last in Western Conference
95.2 PPG/101.6 OPP PPG

Goran Dragic is smiling here, but the Phoenix Suns didn’t have much to be happy about last season. Photo Credit: prideandvegudice, Flickr.com

2013-14 Roster

Michael Beasley – SF
Eric Bledsoe – PG
Shannon Brown – SG
Caron Butler – SF
Goran Dragic – PG
Channing Frye – PF
Diante Garrett – PG
Archie Goodwin – SG
Marcin Gortat – C
Gerald Green – SG
Malcolm Lee – SG
Alex Len – C
Kendall Marshall – PG
Marcus Morris – PF
Markieff Morris – PF
Alex Oriakhi – SF
Miles Plumlee – PF
P.J. Tucker – SF

Offseason Additions

Eric Bledsoe (Trade), Caron Butler (Trade), Archie Goodwin (Draft), Gerald Green (Trade), Malcolm Lee (Trade), Alex Len (Draft), Alex Oriakhi (Draft), Miles Plumlee (Draft).

Offseason Subtractions

Jared Dudley, Hamed Haddadi, Wesley Johnson, Jermaine O’Neal, Luis Scola.

Projected Starters

PG – Eric Bledsoe
SG – Goran Dragic
SF – Caron Butler
PF – Markieff Morris
C – Marcin Gortat

Season Outlook

Boy, if those last few paragraphs didn’t depress you, nothing will. It’s hard to examine the Phoenix Suns’ roster for the upcoming season and not wince a little bit. The Phoenix Suns are already coming off their second-worst season in franchise history and swapping Luis Scola for Gerald Green certainly won’t help in that regard. Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe will make up the league’s most under-appreciated backcourt, but their inability to defend bigger and stronger guards will probably justify the lack of attention they receive.

Unfortunately for Phoenix, that second-worst record last season might not look so bad a year from now. It doesn’t help that the Suns actually have a very good reason to finish with an even worst record this year: the ultra-loaded 2014 NBA Draft class. Finishing at the bottom of the West is a necessity for a team that’s starting the rebuilding process for what seems like the 10th time in the last three years. Forget Andrew Wiggins, because the 2014 draft class is so deep and talented that Phoenix would be entirely happy with a top-three pick.

Credit new general manager Ryan McDonough for restarting the rebuilding process the right way: Stockpiling assets in the form of draft picks and moving pieces that won’t be a factor a few years down the road. The Scola trade looks bad on paper until you remember the draft pick included in that package. Getting rid of fan favorite Jared Dudley doesn’t seem like a good idea until you realize the Suns are bringing in Eric Bledsoe, an incredible athlete with plenty of potential to be a star. The Suns are getting younger and looking to rebuild through the draft. Though I question the Alex Len pick, it’s entirely possible that he heals up and surprises us all. So although this upcoming season will be nearly unbearable for fans looking for reasons to buy tickets, looking to improve the future two to five years down the road is more important than trying to be a fringe playoff team in a loaded conference.

Eric Bledsoe is a nice addition moving forward, but he won’t turn the team around in one season. (Flickr.com photo/Keith Allison)

Best-Case Scenario

I’d like to say that the best-case scenario for the Suns goes something like this: The Goran Dragic-Eric Bledsoe backcourt works like gangbusters and somehow finds a way to defend other team’s guards with their quickness; Alex Len gets healthy ahead of schedule and exceeds expectations, delivering on his potential and then some; Caron Butler shows no signs of his age and turns in another productive season; Markieff Morris has a breakout season and his twin duplicates his play off the bench; Marcin Gortat benefits from open looks given to him by a deadly backcourt and shows more effort on the defensive end; and Kendall Marshall stops turning the ball over so damn much.

But the chances of all that happening are about the same as the odds that Michael Beasley has smoked his last blunt: impossibly unrealistic. So for Suns fans this season, the best-case scenario is really the same as what would seem like the worst-case scenario — another dismal season resulting in a finish at the bottom of the Western Conference standings. I hate tanking, but with as loaded as the 2014 NBA Draft class is and how unsatisfactory the current Phoenix Suns lineup is, it really makes the most sense.

Worst-Case Scenario

As someone who despises teams that tank at the end of the regular season when they realize they won’t make the playoffs, it makes sense for teams that had no hope of qualifying for the postseason at the start of the year. The Phoenix Suns certainly fit that category. So as much as it will be difficult to watch this season, finishing with 20 to 25 wins is really in the Suns’ best interest. The Western Conference is absolutely loaded, so the playoffs are pretty much out of the question unless Jeff Hornacek finds a way to steal All-Star talent “Space Jam”-style.

There’s no point in beating around the bush. The Suns are a bottom feeder team in the West and even though they won’t start off the season trying to tank, chances are they won’t have a choice in the matter. Most teams’ best-case scenario is winning a lot of games and making the playoffs. But for this season, with this roster and upcoming draft class, the Phoenix Suns’ worst-case scenario would be doing just that.

Predicted Finish

22-60, Last in Pacific Division, Last in Western Conference