While the 2019-20 NBA season has been unusual for all, the Phoenix Suns have made some big steps from their tanking days, this season has been an example.
This season has been the definition of a roller-coaster, with a whole lot of ups and downs for the riders. For the NBA, this season has arguably been the most eventful since the creation of the sport. Yep, even more eventful than those lockout seasons. From COVID-19 forcing the NBA to postpone and possibly cancel the season, to the unfortunate and sudden passing of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, a dark low for all sports fan equally. For Phoenix Suns fans, at least, this rollercoaster has been a fun one.
It started off great, in most perspectives. The 26-39 record doesn’t tell the story of the Suns, who actually managed to make a solid improvement to their squad. Most players who were returning from last season made great advancement, whether defensively or offensively. We saw how dangerous this team can truly be at full strength, and it wasn’t too obvious why some fans considered the Suns to be a playoff threat early on in the season.
It’s a stretch to consider them a playoff threat, especially now, but when you get some pretty commanding wins over the Philadelphia 76ers and the LA Clippers, you’ve earned a lot of respect. There were some lows that lingered over the team like a cloud, such as Deandre Ayton getting suspended, and the whole injury issue that plagued the team.
We’re going to grade every Suns player based on their season, terrible or not. Every player must have played at least ten games to qualify, so that means no 10-day contracts. We’ll do this from F to A+, and I’m grading these players based on their improvement from last season and how much of an impact they had on the team.
So, let’s get to grading every single player from the Suns’ season.