Around the Suns - Weekly Roundup - Week 13

Join us as we review the highs and lows of the last week, as well as previewing the week ahead.

Week 13: 13-19 January

Week Record: 2-1

Overall Record: 21-20. 11th in the Western Conference.

Games Played and Results:

L - 117 - 122 Vs Atlanta Hawks

W - 130 - 123 Vs Washington Wizards

W - 125 - 121 Vs Detroit Pistons

Centre of The Sun

It's the mid point of the season and we are, well, mid.

The big news of the week though is that we completed a trade for Nick Richards, the Charlotte Hornets back-up Centre. This is a good get for us and his skill set is exactly what we've been missing from the position. You can see his Suns debut highlights later in the article. The sad part of this though is that we had to send Josh Okogie the other way. We all knew he was a trade chip after re-signing with us, but it's a shame to see him leave.

I expected our game to be a re-run of our meeting week before - a Suns win, but our energy was awful all game and our defensive scheme seemed to be executed by a bunch of matadors. It was a disappointing showing as Book and KD combined for 66 points on incredible efficiency, but we gave up 20 offensive rebounds, allowing the Hawks to take 14 more shots and that was the difference. Beal also twisted his ankle in this one and would miss the next 2 games.

Next was Beal's former team, the Wizards and this should have been a blowout, but as always we made things difficult for ourselves and kept allowing the Wizards to fight back. We went into the 4th with a 21-point lead, but let Washington cut that to only 3 with 1:06 minutes left. We held on to win though. The game was highlighted by career highs for Ryan Dunn, scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds for his 1st career double double.

Detroit was our best performance of the week. Nick Richards joined us for this one and showed us what having a decent centre can do for us. He had 21 points and 11 rebounds in this debut and according to the Suns he's the 1st player in team history to have 20 and 10 off the bench in their debut for us. Book and KD also had great scoring games, combining for 71. Durant had a terrible 1st half, going 1 for 9. he scored 30 points in the 2nd half, going 12 of 18. Ryan Dunn was excellent in this one, picking up Cade Cunningham full court whenever he was in the game. Because of this, Cade ended up shooting just 7 of 26 for 20 points.

My thoughts on Nick Richards

So far, so good ay?

He understandably looked a bit lost at times, but it was brilliant to have a guy that did not shy away from contact. That mindset allowed him to get to the free throw line 9 times. To put that into perspective, our whole Centre rotation (Nurk, Plumlee & Oso) is averaging just 5.4 attempts per game. Only Nurk has got near that many attempts with 8 in our 1st game of the season.

Something that also stood to for me was that on a few occasions he was the 1st player up the court, beating the Pistons. We haven't had that since Ayton actually cared about basketball. His size and athleticism puts him head and shoulders (yes, this was on purpose) above our other centres - Nurk and Plumlee can't jump and Oso is smaller than all other centres he faces.

One thing he doesn't have over the other 3 is his offensive IQ in terms of seeing the floor and passing. Our offense currently puts our bigs in the short roll and dribble hand-offs, relying on them to make quick and good decisions. I don't think Nick has that in him, so he will be a rim roller most of the time or will sit in the dunker's spot. It's a slight negative, but once again can be seen as bringing something we were missing.

Overall I think he's a good pick up for us. Although he will probably be one of the worst starting centres in the NBA, he's still an upgrade for us, which shows how dire that position is (was?) for us.

Superstar Watch (Season stats):

Devin Booker - 25.8 Points, 4.0 Rebounds, 6.7 Assists, 1.2 Steals, 44.1 FG%, 34.6 3PT FG% & 2.4 Turnovers

Kevin Durant - 27.4 Points, 6.4 Rebounds, 4.2 Assists, 0.8 Steals, 1.4 Blocks, 52.1 FG%, 37.3 3PT FG% & 3.2 Turnovers

Bradley Beal - 17.5 Points, 3.6 Rebounds, 3.3 Assists, 1.1 Steals, 0.7 Blocks, 48.5 FG%, 38.5 3PT FG% & 2.0 Turnovers

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Scorching Suns:

Devin Booker

We have to honour Book here as he scored 35, 37 & 35 in our 3 games this week. His scoring was our catalyst all week.

He should be in the running for Player of the Week.

His stats for the week:

35.7 Points, 4.3 Rebounds, 4.3 Assists, 2.0 Steals, 47.8 FG% & 42.9 3PT FG%

Grayson Allen

Grayson continues his hot streak for the 2nd week in a row! He less attempts, but that only helped his percentages.

His stats for the week:

12.3 Points, 4.0 Rebounds, 1.7 Assists, 1.3 Steals, 60.0 FG% & 69.2 3PT FG%

Honourable Mention

Kevin Durant

Like Book, KD averaged over 30 points this week. He only gets an honourable mention spot due to his struggles from 3 and the free throw line.

His 2nd half against the Pistons is the best he played this week, taking over in the 3rd, which has been a weak spot for this team.

His stats for the week:

30.0 Points, 7.0 Rebounds, 4.7 Assists, 1.7 Steals, 2.3 Blocks, 54.0 FG% & 20.0 3PT FG%

Struggling Suns:

Oso Ighodaro

We don't expect much from Oso on offense and and points he provides are a nice bonus, but he missed lots of shots he's usually make this week and finsed shooting 14%, way down from his season average.

His stats for the week:

1.7 Points, 3.0 Rebounds, 0.7 Assists & 14.3 FG%

Tyus Jones

It's the 2nd week in a row here for Tyus. The percentage isn't as bad as last week, but he's been actively shying away from shots and even hesitating when he's open. He seems to have completely forgot about that beautiful floater he has. I think he could be dealing with some sort of injury

At least he's been contributing with assists this week.

His stats for the week:

7.0 Points, 2.3 Rebounds, 8.7 Assists, 42.9 FG% & 28.6 3PT FG%

Stat Line(s) of the Week:

Nick Richards vs Detroit Pistons

Is this what a serviceable centre is like? If so, we could have solved one of the issues we've had this year. Don't expect these numbers every night though.

Game stat line:

21 Points, 11 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 Steal & 7/8 FGs (64.3%)

Devin Booker vs Atlanta Hawks

Game stat line:

35 Points, 5 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 3 Steals, 12/23 FGs (52.2%) & 7/14 3PT FGs (50.0%).

Kevin Durant vs Atlanta Hawks

Game stat line:

31 Points, 8 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 2 Steals, 2 Blocks & 13/20 FGs (65.0%)

Honourable Mention

Grayson Allen vs Washington Wizards

Game stat line:

21 Points, 5 Rebounds, 3 Steals, 8/12 FGs (66.7%) & 5/7 3PT FGs (71.4%).

Rookie Watch (Season stats):

Ryan Dunn - 37 games, 21 starts

7.6 Points, 3.5 Rebounds, 0.9 Assists, 0.5 Steals, 0.7 Blocks, 46.2 FG%, 32.6 3PT FG% & 0.4 Turnovers

Ryan had a career night vs the Wizards. He hit highs in points (18) and rebounds (11), so he also logged his 1st career double double.

In the 8 games since becoming a full-time starter he's averaged 11.5 Points, 5.8 Rebounds, 52.7 FG% & 41.4 3PT FG%

Also, this from John Voita:

Oso Igodharo - 34 games, 2 starts

4.0 Points, 3.7 Rebounds, 1.0 Assists, 0.5 Steals, 0.4 Blocks, 56.3 FG%, 0.0 3PT FG% (1 attempt) & 0.6 Turnovers

Jalen Bridges - 2 games

0.5 Points, 0.5 Rebounds, 0.0 Assists, 0.0 Steals, 0.0 Blocks, 0.0 FG%, 0.0 3PT FG% & 1.0 Turnovers

Upcoming Games:

Here are the UK tip-off times:

The road trip comes to a close this week visiting the Cavaliers and Nets, then we return home for our 2nd game with the Wizards.

Cleveland are the best team in NBA, only losing 6 games so far. They have the best offensive rating in the league and boast a huge line-up with Allen and Mobley manning the 4 and 5 spots. They are a match-up nightmare for us, however there is some hope, as Mobley is listed as out for our game.

The Nets beat us earlier in the season in an embarrassing loss for us, where we allowed them to shoot 42% from downtown. Their team is different now, having traded Schroder and Finney-Smith and they're in full tank mode, so I'm hoping a revenge game is on the card. They have D'Angelo Russell on the team now and Book always enjoys outduelling his old friend.

Last is the Wizards at home. We beat them this past week and another win for us should be on the way. This time though, I hope we don't give them windows to cut down our double-digit leads.

Prediction:

I'm going with a loss against the Cavaliers, then wins against the Nets and Wizards.

Predictions League:

Other Suns Stuff:

Trade Rumours

Per Marc Stein, the Bucks could get involved as a 3rd team in Jimmy Butler trade scenarios. Most pertinent to us is that they could be interested in trading for Beal, as they showed interest in him previously, before he came to the Suns.

Richards Trade - The Nitty Gritty

The official trade details are:

Suns receive:

Nick Richards

Denver' s 2025 2nd Round pick

Hornets receive:

Josh Okogie

Denver's 2026 2nd Round pick

Denver's 2031 2nd Round pick

Phoenix's 2026 2nd Round pick

Dynamic Duo

The Atlanta and Detroit games this week were the 4th and 5th games this season where Book and KD have each scored 30+ in the same game.

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