Remember the Phoenix Suns' three point guard experiment?

Back in the 2014-15 season, the Phoenix Suns attempted to have three of their best players occupy the same position and share some court time as well.

The Phoenix Suns were the surprise team of the 2013-14 season. Their 48 wins marked a 23-game improvement from the prior year, slotting them in a playoff spot they held until the final days of the regular season before falling short.

Leading the surge was Goran Dragic, the league’s Most Improved Player after posting a career-high 20.3 points per game. Alongside him was Eric Bledsoe, able to realize his potential after two years spent behind Chris Paul on the LA Clippers before being traded to Phoenix in the summer of 2013.

They were an unlikely pairing but brimmed with promise. Of every one of Phoenix’s two-man combos to log north of 800 minutes that season, Dragic and Bledsoe’s 10.1 net rating was the best.

In a game drifting further towards the perimeter, the Suns were in good hands, with their backcourt drawing praise as one of the league’s future best. First-year head coach Jeff Hornacek took their offense from 29th to 8th on his way to a runner-up finish in the Coach of the Year race.

Having just missed out on the postseason, the pieces were in place for the Phoenix Suns to return to the place it hadn’t been since 2010.

While the Suns were taking the league by surprise, Isaiah Thomas was setting himself up for a payday. A restricted free agent in the summer of 2014, the former last pick of the 2011 Draft had furthered his progression to 20.3 points and 6.3 assists per game for the Sacramento Kings.

Thomas had earned Sacramento’s starting point guard spot. The Kings had unattractive options in his absence. Along with the ability to match any offer, there was hardly any reason to think IT would sign anywhere else, much less with the team in no need of depth at the 1-spot.

The sign-and-trade was a low-risk one for Phoenix at just four years and $27 million with the reward being a player of Thomas’ caliber, even if he scarcely filled any shortage the Suns had.

With Thomas alongside Dragic and the newly re-signed Bledsoe, the Suns were, as Lee Jenkins — previously of Sports Illustrated — explained it, “embarking on a small-ball experiment not even Mike D’Antoni dared to try.”

Having three ball-dominant scorers was nothing new in NBA dynamics. Rarely have they occupied the same position as Phoenix’s Big Three that was anything but — Dragic is 6’3”, Bledsoe 6’1″ and Thomas 5’9″.

The most prominent past example came from the same franchise more than 15 years prior. The 1997-98 Phoenix Suns had Kevin Johnson, Jason Kidd and Steve Nash, each playing no fewer than 21.9 minutes a night.

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They won 56 games but didn’t dare trot out their trio of past and future All-Star point guards. Too many questions, from how to share the ball to who defends the taller wings, came into play. Not to mention the notion of doing so was deemed silly at a time were positional guidelines were rigidly followed.

Those issues weren’t as prevalent for these Suns. Dragic and Thomas were adequate floor spacers. Bledsoes’ 220-pound frame made slightly more qualified to stay in front of opponents larger in height.

Phoenix wasn’t planning on inserting all three into the starting lineup. But it wasn’t as opposed to watching them share the court as traditionalists might have been, trotting them out and reaping the unprecedented benefits.

“In this league, at this position, you get no breaks,” said former Los Angeles Lakers point guard Ronnie Price. “Every night you have issues. Against them, it’s more issues because you have three guys who can rush the ball up, and weakside pick-and-roll becomes just as dangerous as strongside pick-and-roll.”

Bledsoe, Dragic and Thomas averaged 17.0, 16.2 and 15.2 points per game respectively. Dips for all compared to the previous season but nothing out of the expected drop off that comes from sharing the wealth.

Bledsoe proved to be the linchpin for the backcourt’s success. His net rating alongside Dragic was 3.6 and 3.1 with Thomas. Dragic and Thomas, meanwhile, only broke even.

Good times saw all three combine for 57 in an opening-night victory over the Lakers and 58 a week later, albeit in a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. Stretches also occurred where each would take turns resting on the backburner with limited minutes and even fewer looks.

While not a rousing success, Phoenix’s miniature-ball demonstration didn’t self destruct. Across 54 games, they were 29-25, tied with the injury-riddled Oklahoma City Thunder for the final playoff spot.

Tyler Ennis, Goran Dragic, Isaiah Thomas, Eric Bledsoe and the logjam that is the #Suns' point guard spot. http://t.co/5vpnMmtVNm
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) July 17, 2014

Their offensive rating dipped slightly compared to the prior year but was still good enough to hold the identical eighth slot in the league. More importantly, a pace of play ranked seventh in 2013-14 shot up to second-best in 2014-15, spurred by the triad of ballhandlers who ensured the speed rarely slowed.

The trio managed 187 minutes of simultaneous playing time across 37 outings. As expected, Phoenix’s offense in those ranges would’ve ranked tops in the NBA with a pace of play that far exceeded the league-leading Golden State Warriors — 106.5 to 99.3.

Equally predictable was the woes experienced at the defensive end with a rating worse than all but one other team.

Remember the Phoenix Suns’ three point guard experiment?

By Daniel Lubofsky | Jun 12, 2020

Back in the 2014-15 season, the Phoenix Suns attempted to have three of their best players occupy the same position and share some court time as well.

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