Around the Suns - A Go On My Suns! blog - Week 16
- Matt Elvy
- Feb 10
- 6 min read
Join us as we review the highs and lows of the last week for the Phoenix Suns, as well as previewing the week ahead.
Week 16: 2 - 8 February
Week Record: 1-2
Overall Record: 31-22. 7th in the Western Conference.
Games Played and Results:
W - 130 - 125 Vs Portland Trail Blazers
L - 97 - 101 Vs Golden State Warriors
L - 103 - 109 Vs Philadelphia 76ers
Centre of The Sun
The big event last week was, of course, the trade deadline.
As expected, it was a quiet one for the Suns, but the move they did make, made a lot of sense for the team.
The full trade details are:
Suns Receive:
Amir Coffey
Cole Anthony
Bucks Receive:
Nigel Hayes-Davis
Ousmane Dieng
Cash Considerations from Suns
Bulls Receive:
Nick Richards
With the moves made in the off-season (trading Durant, waive and stretching Beal, etc) the Suns were around $220K over the salary cap, so it was inevitable they'd make a move to get under this. Being under the cap at the end of the season means the team avoids the 'repeater tax', which puts larger tax levies on teams who are over the cap 3 season in a row. Amir and Cole's salaries vs Nick and Nigel's bring us about $2.5 million under the cap.
The writing has been on the wall for Richards for a while, as his regression coincided with Oso's improvement. He has only seen the court for 3 garbage minutes this year, with all other garbage time minutes rightfully going to Maluach. We traded for Nick at last year's deadline, hoping he'd bring energy to a sleepy team and he'd evolve into a starter after escaping Charlotte, but he is the player he is now and definitely not a starting centre. Our trade for Mark Williams (the person he used to back up in Charlotte) showed that even more.
Nigel Hayes-Davis going out was a disappointing one for me. He seemed like a really great guy and has a brilliant story of his basketball journey. He has been ineffective for us though and rarely gets playing time, so in terms of on court he isn't a loss. It's highly likely that the Bucks will waive him, but I've seen multiple articles online about European teams ready to offer him big money to go back there. He was last season's Euroleague MVP after all.
Amir Coffey is certainly an upgrade over Nigel. He'd been bolted to Milwaukee's bench this season, but it was only last season that he was playing 24 minutes off the Clippers' bench, averaging just under 10 points. Amir was with the team and suited up for our loss to Philly, but didn't get into the game. Even if he only plays sparingly, or the minutes that Nigel had, he raises the talent at the position.
Cole Anthony has not joined the team and as soon as the trade happened Gambo was saying he didn't expect him to at all and this does make sense. We are already a guard heavy team and at this point Anthony isn't better than any of the guys we have. If he is waived it gives us more money flexibility, which will enable us to sign Bouyea and/or Livers to full contracts or even chase someone on the buyout market.
I don't like giving grades for trades or signings, so I won't, but I am happy with this simple move from the Suns. The chemistry on this team is fantastic and moving some of our key guys for a borderline star player could have really mess that up. We also need to consider that we still haven't seen this team fully healthy. We still haven't seen what it's like with Jalen, Book and Grayson all together at full strength. Better to stay the course and have a proper amount of time to evaluate at season's end. My only real concern is if Mark or Oso have to miss any time. Does that force Maluach into the line-up or do we go small? Neither solution is ideal, especially if it comes near or in the Playoffs.
Game results were mixed this week. We had a good outing against Portland, with great shooting across the board and excellent games from Collin, Grayson and Mark. The 3 of them combined to score 78 points, with Collin and Grayson hitting 14 3-pointers. Jordan came off the bench and caused havoc for everyone he marked, while also contributing 16 points.
Against Golden State, we weren't able to take advantage of a team where their key players were either out injured or sent away to other teams at the trade deadline. Our usual pressure on defence was lacking and we couldn't get our 3's to fall, with many being contested and rushed. They played a lot better in the 3rd quarter and built up a good lead going into the 4th, however, with a couple of minutes remaining in the game and us already giving up a double-digit lead, Grayson would go down with a knee injury. It was essentially over from there.
Optimism returned for our game against 76ers as Booker would be returning from his ankle injury. Although the offense flowed better, we still struggled to hit shots from 3, making only 11 of 46 attempts. The 76ers also had assistance from the referees in this one, as Embiid flopped his way to 33 points. Booker let him know how ridiculous Embiid is being 7-foot and flopping the way he does. It led to a double technical.
Other Suns Stuff
3-Point Contest
Although he's having a down season from 3, Book has committed to compete in the All-Star Weekend 3-Point Contest. It's extra practise I suppose!
Grayson injury
As mentioned above Grayson went down with a knee injury against the Warriors. He will be re-evaluated after the All-Star break according to the Suns.
Superstar Watch (Season stats):
Devin Booker - 25.3 Points, 4.0 Rebounds, 6.3 Assists, 0.9 Steals, 45.6 FG%, 30.7 3PT FG% & 3.3 Turnovers
Ad Break:
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Scorching Suns:
Now this is a solid Centre rotation!
Mark Williams
Highlighted by his 24 point, 11 rebound performance against Portland, Mark had a double-double in all 3 games this week.
His stats for the week:
15.3 Points, 10.7 Rebounds, 1.0 Assist, 0.7 Steals, 0.7 Blocks & 74.1 FG%
Oso Ighodaro
His stats for the week:
5.7 Points, 4.3 Rebounds, 2.7 Assists, 1.0 Steal & 61.5 FG%
Struggling Suns:
Dillon Brooks
Oh Dillon, from Western Conference Player of the Week and having my "Scorching Sun" position last week, the shooting struggles from the team started with our primary scoring option (with Book unavailable).
Of course the PPG number is high, but the percentages make you wince, along with some of this week's shot selections.
His stats for the week:
21.0 Points, 4.0 Rebounds, 1.3 Assists, 1.0 Steal, 38.1 FG% & 25.0 3PT FG%
Stat Line(s) of the Week:
Collin Gillespie Vs Portland Trail Blazers
A career high for Collin in the points department. He also tied his career high in 3-pointers made with 8 and logged 10 assists making a double-double.
Game stat line:
30 Points, 4 Rebounds, 10 Assists, 3 Steals, 10/17 FGs (58.8%) & 8/14 3PT FGs (57.1%)
Jordan Goodwin Vs Portland Trail Blazers
Game stat line:
16 Points, 10 Rebounds, 3 Assist, 5 Steals, 6/9 FGs (66.7%) & 2/4 3PT FGs (50.0%)
Rookie Watch (Season stats):
Khaman Maluach - 22 games, 0 starts
1.1 Points, 0.9 Rebounds, 0.1 Assists, 0.0 Steals, 0.4 Blocks, 40.0 FG%, 0.0 3PT FG% & 0.5 Turnovers
Rasheer Fleming - 29 games, 0 starts
2.4 Points, 1.3 Rebounds, 0.2 Assists, 0.2 Steals, 0.2 Blocks, 34.7 FG%, 22.0 3PT FG% & 0.2 Turnovers
Koby Brea - 2 games
2.0 Points, 0.5 Rebounds, 1.0 Assists, 0.0 Steals, 0.0 Blocks, 33.3 FG%, 0.0 3PT FG% & 0.0 Turnovers
Upcoming Games:
After trading away Anthony Davis and Russell, the Mavs are in full re-build mode and looking to get a good pick in this year's draft and despite 2025 number 1 pick Cooper Flag having an excellent rookie season, they are not stacking up wins.
It feels like we should have had all our match-ups against the Thunder, but we have this final one. Overall we've done well against the reigning champs (apart from that blowout). Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is currently out injured, but they are still a very dangerous team with Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and friends. Considering how close we've kept most of the games, I think we have a good chance in this one.
Prediction:
2 wins for the Suns
Predictions League:
Here are the league standings after week 16.
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