Phoenix Suns: 3 takeaways from 2018-19 Media Day

2. Expect small-ball lineups and improved 3-point shooting

The Suns have more wings than a biplane, no designated starting point guard and a ton of ex-Houston Rockets. Suffice it to say they’re going to trot out more small-ball lineups than last year, with T.J. Warren often playing the 4 and Devin Booker spending some time at the 1 to embrace his inner James Harden.

Even though he wouldn’t endorse the direct Rockets comparisons, Kokoskov confirmed Phoenix’s plethora of small-ball options at the podium.

"“Conceptually, what we were trying to do is upgrade our roster by adding more shooting and having multiple ball-handlers, which is something you find similar with the Rockets’ system,” he said. “The winners dictate the trends. They’re a good team winning a lot of games, so they have a lot of shooters on the court, they have a dominant 2-man who handles it a lot, so from that perspective it makes sense.”"

Though Trevor Ariza and rookie Mikal Bridges are expected to be two-way wings falling under the coveted 3-and-D umbrella, Josh Jackson (defense) and T.J. Warren (offense) are more one-sided. For all their slashing ability and off-ball movement, neither is a proven 3-point shooter.

Every year at Media Day, virtually every team boasts improved 3-point shooting for one or two of its worst long range marksmen. The Suns were no different, with both Warren and Jackson announcing they had worked on their 3-ball over the summer.

"“His 3-point shooting is just tremendously better, just the form,” Kokoskov said of Warren. “When talking about 3-point shooting, it’s hard for somebody like T.J. who is such a dominant driver and can take the ball to the basket and turn the corner pretty much any time he wants, it’s hard for him to develop 3-point shooting.”"

Kokoskov said he’s been receptive to what the coaching staff is preaching about the importance of adding that area to his game, and an uncharacteristically animated T.J. Warren spoke at length about the tweaks he’s made to his form.

"“Just body control, finishing how I start, holding my follow-through,” he said. “A lot of that went on this summer, so I’m excited to showcase that. “I got up a lot of reps. It was one of the main things I wanted to work on, I didn’t really do anything else. I had a habit of turning my body, kicking my feet when I land. I just wanted to go straight up and straight down.”"

Warren said during the summer he was getting up at least 300-400 shots a day, shooting until his arms felt ready to fall off. McDonough and Kokoskov both noted the diligence has paid off from what they’ve seen during summer workouts.

As for Jackson, the second-year wing is focused on improving his 3-point percentage by 4-5 points, which would put him in the low 30s. Even that would be a welcome sight with Ariza, Bridges, Ryan Anderson and (hopefully) Warren spreading the floor for Ayton.

McDonough says the focus on upgrading the Suns’ shooting was intentional after finishing dead-last in 3-point percentage, but without an established point guard, the versatile wing lineups will come in handy too.

"“If you look at three of the four conference finalists last year in Houston, Golden State and Boston, they had a lot of lineups with three and sometimes even four wings on the court,” the GM said. “I think we have the capability and the desire to put teams on the court like that as well.”"

Jackson in particular could see a bump in responsibility on the playmaking front.

"“One of the things we like about Josh with this roster, with the added shooting we talked about, is his unique ability at his size to get into the paint, break down defenses and either get to the rim, get to the free throw line or spray out to a court that should be more spaced with shooters around it,” McDonough said."

In any case, with additional shooters, internal development and so many wings on the roster, Phoenix should be going small quite a bit in 2018-19.