Who Is The Core?

Dull Season May Answer Long-Term Questions

Can Otto Porter and Anthony Bennett truly be cornerstone pieces?

The offseason hype got pretty hot this searing summer in Phoenix. With the acquisitions of Mitch McGary and Anthony Bennett lauded and continued improvement from Otto Porter, the stage appeared set for improvement in what has been a terrible Suns squad since the CSL's inception. Fast forward five games later and only a 1 point road loss to Philadelphia was a defeat by less than 19 points, and even that was the only other loss loss than 20 points. It's been awful, awful basketball.

Raw talent and youth yields such a mixture of on court incompetence, and it's a problem compounded by the fact that there's no legitimate starting point guard worthy of a good team, and by the Suns running a 1 in/4 out offense for the first time ever on a Jestorball team - a feat previously unthinkable to anyone who has ever heard the prickly Phoenix GM rant about how stretch 4s have ruined the beauty of the paint game and dominant control inside.

Does the future really hold promise, or is the empty cupboard indeed still barren as the desert Phoenix sits in?


Otto Porter has been a rare bright spot in the slopstorm of Suns basketball

Otto Porter has been on fire recently, and almost singlehandedly carried Phoenix to its first win by blasting the 76ers for 38 points, 10 rebounds and a steal on 16/25 shooting, 4/5 from behind the arc. Thus far he's averaging 21.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and a steal on 48.4% shooting/52.4% from behind the 3 point line, stopping 73.7% of drives and forcing 2.8 turnovers. He already has 4 blocks in 3 games, compared to 7 of all of last season, and appears to be making major strides in his second year of play. While he's the #1 option right now, the Suns front office sees him as a #2 or #3 scorer on their ideal team, functioning as a two-way, ball secure glue guy at the 3 while they find better passers for their backcourt. He's reportedly been on the block, but is the player least likely to be moved given his performance, and is perhaps the surest bet to stay long-term.


Anthony Bennett has been abysmal

You can blame some of his struggles on a strained hamstring, but by any measure, Anthony Bennett has been a colossal bust so far. Granted, this draft class was Andrew Wiggins and everyone else sucks, and AB15 is rawer than a chafed carrot, but that still doesn't excuse his 12th man level awfulness. Rumor has it another West bottom-feeder is interested in the UNLV alum, but Jestor makes it a policy to never trade players when their stock is below their expected future value, and Bennett's stock couldn't be any lower than what it is now - he's quite simply failing at every single facet of the game. Throw in that he's a hybrid forward, and it's very possible, perhaps even probable, that he ends up playing elsewhere once he starts picking up his game.


Will the real Mitch McGary please stand up?

Expected to break out this season, particularly in an offense designed around him, Mitch McGary has instead been maddeningly inconsistent in the first five games - a microcosm of his Jekyll/Hyde rookie year. For every 30 point,8 rebound, 7 block on 13/22 shooting out (Pistons), he puts up ice-cold 4 of 15 nights for 12 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks, 5 turnovers (Jazz). But the flashes of talent are there, and despite the unreliability, he's still averaging 17.2/9.8/2.6 in points, rebounds and blocks, even if his 44.6% shooting is by no means even close to Jestorball big man acceptability. The Suns staff believes it all goes back to the lack of a worthy starting floor general, and that once they get one, the Wolverine star will explode like he's capable of.


Don't look for Kendall Williams to start at point guard ever

Despite all the cry and hue for Kentucky Wildcat Andrew Harrison over AB15 at #3 in the draft, the Suns didn't believe in Harrison's shooting or his ability to be more than a combo guard, so they passed on him and took Kendall Williams as a combo guard instead. So far the former Lobo has been precisely that, playing at both PG and SG. The results have been frankly disastrous, with the only positives a team high 1.4 steals per game and a sterling 0.8 PA/SF. Efficiency? Not there. Ball security? Not there. But he also comes in nearly as raw as Bennett, and despite all the calls for Vasilije Micic at #10 instead, the Suns still believe Williams will end up the better all-around combo guard when all is said and done, able to fill a Jameer Nelson role off the bench, but with ideally much better shooting. Certainly better defensively than the V-Man.


Alessandro Gentile - the lone 2nd round pick to make the roster

Last up, second round pick Alessandro Gentile. D-League level raw, but Phoenix sees someone who can be a smart 3 point gunner off the bench at the 3, backing up Porter once he develops his scoring and passing instincts and corrects his shooting mechanics. Sure he's shooting 20% right now, but he's hitting 40% from downtown and the Suns will cultivate the Italian into a gunner where he'll flourish as a reserve zonebuster and hopefully develop his defense to ordinary levels.

Had the team been successful in landing Isiah Thomas, they would have beaten the 76ers and perhaps stolen one of the other games - point guard is, after all, the single most important setup in the offensive schematics Jestorball runs. Instead, they'll let their already formidable cap space accumulate and hopefully make better use of their draft picks - the interim management did no scouting whatsoever and so there was only limited information to go on.

Speaking of which:

Phoenix Suns 2015 1st
Los Angeles Lakers 2015 1st (Top 5 protected)
San Antonio Spurs 2015 1st
Phoenix Suns 2015 2nd
New York Knicks 2015 2nd
Phoenix Suns 2016 1st
Orlando Magic 2016 2nd
Phoenix Suns 2016 2nd
Denver Nuggets 2016 2nd
Phoenix Suns 2017 1st
Phoenix Suns 2017 2nd

That's a lot of cheap labor available in the second round picks.

Roster Spots
13 this season
-5 (Udrih/Teletovic/Motiejunas/Arthur/Perkins)
+4 (1st/1st/2nd/2nd)
12 heading into next FA
-2 (White/Iverson)
+4 (1st/2nd/2nd/2nd)
14 the FA after next

So Phoenix doesn't need to worry about bodies, and with the wealth of cap space and all the youth they have available, they'll be able to pick and choose their spots carefully as they go about building this empty cupboard roster to their liking. Indeed they may decide, as they did this year, that only 1 or 2 of these 2nd rounders are worthy of a contract, and instead leave spots open with which to lure FAs when the team has improved enough not to have to overpay - Porter and McGary are only in their 2nd season after all, and there's two more offseasons before the Suns need to worry about extending them, and by that time they'll have a better idea of where Bennett and Williams stand in the overall picture.

I'm not seeing Williams as being all that raw, my scouts don't see too much in him as far as potential goes. I think Bennett is just in a slump, and that he could pick it up, especially offensively. He'll be limited as a rebounder and defender, but he could easily be a solidly efficient scorer. Porter is a beast, and is playing very well for you. My scouts show Porter still has quite a bit of potential.

My scouts are showing KW as having 10/12/9/10/12 to go in Pass/Handle/Defense/DI/IQ which to me says raw.

Then again, they also see zero potential for Porter and Bennett, so I think Gary did something insane to the potential evaluations in this version. There's always been scouting error, but never as ridiculous as what we're seeing in 3 (See the Kemba Walker trade discussion as an example).

Incidentally, that wackiness re: potentials evaluations really nerfs trading for me and makes it a lot less fun.

Yeah, definitely a bit rough. Oh well.

Yeah there are big differences in what we see in potentials. Though I believe the potentials you yourself are seeing are the most accurate ones. At least for Schröder etc their potentials didnt change since I got them. So if you are looking for a trade ask for a screenshot. So you should have an idea about what you get back.

See I don't believe that about the potentials you see yourself being the most accurate. If that was true, Bennett should have been a 2nd round pick, not #3 overall.

Jestor (PHX) wrote:See I don't believe that about the potentials you see yourself being the most accurate.  If that was true, Bennett should have been a 2nd round pick, not #3 overall.

Okay, no idea how you define a second round pick.. but for me Bennett doesnt look that bad.. though he has not that much potentials left. Anyway, thought you drafted him because of his great handling and Inside/Outside game because it fits into your system? 
Nevertheless I believe potentials your own coach sees are the most accurate ones. Changed my coach during offseason and the potentials of Schröder and co. didnt even change by a point. Even not after the TC. For me a prove your own coach knows "nearly" the truth.
Just what I noticed. Im still hoping for some of my guys to have better potentials, too.

Because his overall potential that I'm seeing on my screen is 2nd round talent/a guy that drifts from vet min contract to vet min contract, *maybe* gets to LLE level in the right setup.

It's clearly too early to call Anthony Bennett a bust (though it would be funny if he ended up like his real life counterpart as one of the worst top picks in the draft), but looking at Julius Randle and what you could've had with him... he's clearly performed better up to this point. He's had 2 really good games vs. San Antontio (21 pt, 10/14 shooting) and against you (17 pts, 7/11 shooting).

I've gotta wonder if you regret taking Bennett over him yet. I didn't scout either of them, so no clue who looked better there, but from an outsider, it seemed you let your real life attachment to UNLV players attract you to Bennett, which may have blown up in your face.

From what I scouted of Bennett, he had #1 option scorer/shooter potential and he was being pegged as a Top 10 pick at absolute worst. We needed a #1 scoring option who could shoot so he fit the bill.