Phoenix Suns: 5 takeaways from 2017-18 NBA season

3. Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender underwhelm

Normally, one might refer to Marquese Chriss’ and Dragan Bender’s second seasons in the NBA as “sophomore slumps,” but their rookie seasons didn’t exactly give them a high jumping-off point either. In any case, one of these two will need to take a big step forward next year for The Timeline to really start taking shape.

Entering the season out of shape and apparently taking the whole NBA experience for granted, Chriss saw his numbers decline from 9.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game on .449/.321/.624 shooting splits as a rookie to 7.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game on .423/.295/.608 shooting this year.

He racked up nine technical fouls, struggled with staying on the floor due to foul trouble, missed more open dunks than any player with NBA athleticism should and was sidelined for 10 games due to injury.

Bender, meanwhile, inspired even less faith in his billing as the fourth overall selection in the 2016 NBA Draft. Though he missed half of his rookie season due to injury and is only 20 years old, his lack of aggression on the offensive end was alarming — especially on the nights when the injury-depleted Suns needed him to do something, anything, on the offensive end to help out.

Bender finished the year averaging 6.5 points and 4.4 rebounds in 25.2 minutes per game. Though he shot an encouraging 36.6 percent from 3-point range, he only converted 38.6 percent of his looks overall.

For him to become a legitimate NBA stretch-4 or stretch-5, he not only has to bulk up and improve his rebounding, but he has to be able to do more than just shoot from the perimeter on the intermittent occasions when he actually gets the ball.

"“We want him to be more aggressive for sure,” Triano said. “I think as we talked before, he’s going to get physically stronger, he’s going to be a guy that can battle inside better with strength. Rebounding is one of those things.”"

That’s not to say it’s time to give up on either one of them, however. Though Chriss or Bender could find themselves as trade bait this summer, both are only 20 years old, and if a blockbuster trade never materializes, bringing them back for the third years of their rookie contracts is a no-brainer.

Chriss is probably the better player at this point, and he put together a few impressive stretches this year. In a five-game span before his hip injury in January, Chriss averaged 14.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.2 blocks per game, and it looked like he was starting to put it all together.

The hip injury threw off his groove for the next few months, but in 10 games from March 17 onward, Chriss posted 13.7 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.0 steals per game on 50 percent shooting, closing his season on a strong note.

"“I think it’s focus and energy,” Triano said. “With the minutes, he’s working himself into shape where he can play 30 minutes a game and be effective for all 30. When his energy is high and his focus is great, these are the type of numbers he can have.”"

He had his moments of brilliance throughout the year, including his game-saving block in a win against the Atlanta Hawks:

Bender only reached double-figures in the scoring column 16 times this season, but for the month of February he averaged 10.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game on .455/.420/.692 shooting splits, including a career-high 23-point performance in a loss to the Denver Nuggets.

Those are encouraging numbers for a scrawny seven-footer with so little NBA experience under his belt. He also closed the season averaging 13.0 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game in five April appearances, shooting 53.3 percent from the floor and 46.7 percent from deep in that span.

Consistency, strength and assertiveness are still clearly issues, but Bender can spread the floor and put the ball on the floor when he actually looks to score. He won’t be a star, but he’s still very young and could become an effective, two-way glue guy.

Chriss and Bender haven’t displayed much chemistry sharing the court together, which is probably for the best since neither one of them has shown much proficiency at the 5-spot. They both underwhelmed in their second NBA seasons, but it’s still a year too early to lose faith.