Phoenix Suns: 2016-17 Season Outlook
Predictions
The Suns are an extremely hard team to predict for the 2016-17 campaign. When fully healthy, this is a borderline playoff team, especially if the young bench lives up to its end of the bargain after earning plenty of experience in hearty minutes last year.
However, there are too many things that have to go right for Phoenix to even sniff the playoffs. Injury-prone guards like Bledsoe and Knight have to stay healthy and actually show some signs of chemistry together. Booker has to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump despite a lesser role.
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Len has to finally have his breakout year. Dudley has to guard bigger, stronger power forwards all season long. Bender and Chriss have to play meaningful minutes off the bench. Warren has to build on the hype entering his sophomore season while coming off a season-ending foot injury. Watson has to prove he knows enough X’s and O’s to actually coach in this league.
Most of all though, the rest of the West has to experience another off year like in 2015-16, when 41 wins was somehow enough for the playoffs.
In the end, the Suns will probably start tanking too late for most fans’ taste. Once they start losing ground in the playoff picture or someone gets hurt, the minutes for the youngsters will flow, somewhat lessening the blow of once again missing the playoffs.
The Suns are unable (or unwilling) to trade Knight or Chandler, and wind up with a top-10 pick after winning around 33 games — which leaves them regretting not committing to the youth movement sooner and racking up a few extra losses.
Next: 2016 NBA Offseason Grades For All 30 Teams
But in a deep draft, McDonough puts his best skill as a GM to good use, adding another franchise cornerstone for the mix as the Suns prepare to enter the 2017-18 season truly embracing their young core.