Phoenix Suns: 5 areas for improvement for youngsters

Mistakes are to be expected of a young team, but the Phoenix Suns need to address these five problem areas if they want the rebuild to go anywhere.

The Phoenix Suns are technically only five games out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference, yet — and this shouldn’t be a newsflash for anyone — they’re not a good basketball team. At 11-22 and sporting the league’s second-worst point differential, the Suns are well on their way to a franchise-record eighth straight season without the playoffs.

Another not-so-surprising update: No one should’ve expected anything different. The Suns were already an extremely young squad heading into the season, and that was before they traded away their starting point guard and best two-way player in Eric Bledsoe.

Devin Booker has made massive strides as he looks to make “the leap” in Year 3, but he’s been sidelined by a groin injury and his supporting cast of Josh Jackson, Dragan Bender, Marquese Chriss and Tyler Ulis has largely disappointed. Alex Len has been solid off the bench, but as his unrestricted free agency approaches, the seven-footer’s long-term future in the Valley isn’t guaranteed by any means — leaving #TheTimeline looking to Booker as its lone savior.

Bearing all this mind, the Suns have shown some improvements over the last few weeks under interim head coach Jay Triano. They’re 11-19 since Earl Watson was fired, and 9-14 with a healthy Booker on the floor.

The problem is, there are quite a few correctable mistakes that this young group needs to address over time, lest they become bad habits that force a long-beleaguered fanbase to give up on #TheTimeline altogether. Here’s a look at the five biggest areas for improvement with this young Phoenix Suns team.