Phoenix Suns: 5 Midseason Takeaways For 2016-17

At about the halfway point of the Phoenix Suns’ 2016-17 NBA season, here are the team’s five most prevalent takeaways.

At 13-29, the Phoenix Suns have the worst record in the NBA’s Western Conference. They have the worst point differential in the West (-6.0), the third-worst record in the league and coming off a 23-win season, none of this should be particularly surprising to anyone.

Once again, the Suns find themselves in line for a top-five draft pick, only this time, that result was largely expected. With Eric Bledsoe and T.J. Warren coming off season-ending injuries, Jared Dudley and Leandro Barbosa serving as the team’s only free agency acquisitions and the additions of two teenage rookies, this young team was finally heading for a long overdue rebuild.

And yet, even with such lowered expectations, the Suns and head coach Earl Watson have managed to fall short of them early on.

It hasn’t been all bad, of course, especially now that the youngsters are starting to get more burn. But considering how many minutes have been given to veterans like Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, P.J. Tucker and Tyson Chandler so far, the team’s 13-29 mark is even worse than it sounds.

The Suns are technically past the midway point of their 2016-17 NBA season at 42 games, but for the sake of exercise, here’s a look at the five most prevalent takeaways heading into the second half of the season.