Phoenix Suns: 5 early observations from the Jay Triano era

4. Mike James is a real NBA player

Those who diligently watched the Suns’ NBA Summer League team for the past two years probably already knew this, but Mike James can play.

Averaging 12.6 points and 4.6 assists per game on 42.3 percent shooting from 3-point range this season, James assumed the starting point guard job once Eric Bledsoe was sent away from the team. In that five-game span, he’s posting 13.2 points, 4.8 assists and 1.0 steals per game while shooting 47.1 percent from downtown.

"“The one thing Mike has is experience playing basketball in crazy environments,” Triano said after the Kings win. “To play in the Greek league is no joke.”"

Thanks to his experience overseas, James is no stranger to rising to the occasion in big moments. Take, for instance, his clutch basket over the trees in the paint that helped finish off Sacramento:

"“I work on that [shot] a lot actually, like every day,” James said, grinning. “I haven’t actually did it this year and I was kinda nervous when I did it, but yeah.”"

James finished with 18 points and seven assists on 8-of-10 shooting against the Kings, and just a few nights later in Brooklyn, he’d post a new career-high of 24 points, five assists and four steals on 9-of-16 shooting from the floor and 3-of-4 shooting from deep.

Though he’s small in stature at 6’1″, the 27-year-old rookie has been a pure bucket-getter early in the season, whether he’s come off the bench or been in the starting five. His ability to create on step-back dribbles and knock down 3s has been apparent from the start.

He’s only shooting 38.9 percent from the field since being inserted into the starting lineup, but James also boasts a plus/minus of +5.2 and has been an unexpected boon for the Suns.

Only time will tell if he’s capable of being a starting point guard for a winning NBA team, but as of right now, with only a limited sample size to work with, the answer is yes. And even if that doesn’t hold true for the rest of the season, Mike James has already proven he belongs at this level.