Around the Suns - Weekly Roundup - Week 16

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

Week 16: 5-11 February 2024

Week Record: 2-1

Overall Record: 31-22. 6th in the Western Conference.

Games Played and Results:

W - 114 - 106 Vs Milwaukee Bucks

W - 129 - 115 Vs Utah Jazz

L - 112 - 113 Vs Golden State Warriors

Centre of The Sun

The big news for the Suns and of course the whole NBA was the trade deadline.

The Suns didn't make any flashy moves, but they did make a deal and a very clever one at that. Here are the details:

Suns received:

Royce O'Neale

David Roddy

Nets received:

Jordan Goodwin

Keita Bates-Diop

3 Second round picks

Grizzlies received:

Yuta Watanabe

Chimezie Metu

Future pick swap

Royce O'Neale is a great pick up for us. He's shooting 36.7% from 3 and is a reliable, veteran, wing defender.

David Roddy is a young, big bodied wing, who is still on his rookie contract. I can't see him getting a huge amount of minutes for us, but his value is his contract for potential deals in the Summer.

The reason the deal is smart, is that we traded 4 players, who were basically stuck to our bench, for O'Neale who will be a big contributor of the bench and a good contract in Roddy.

The other bonus is that we have 2 free roster spots to sign free agents from the buyout market.

Speaking of signing free agents, while writing this, Woj has swooped in tweeting that the Suns are signing Thaddeus Young.

Young has been linked to the Suns for years, almost every year since James Jones took over the team, in fact. He is a very experienced player and is known to have a good basketball IQ.

As Mike Vigil noted on X, he's likely to play Center for the Suns. His skill set will allow us to play the same offense we do when Nurk is on the floor. We can't currently do that when Eubanks is on the court.

I'm personally unsure how much he moves the needle for us, but I'm hoping I'm proven wrong on this point.

Superstar Watch (Season stats):

Devin Booker - 28.0 Points, 4.7 Rebounds, 7.1 Assists, 0.9 Steals, 50.2 FG%, 38.1 3PT FG% & 2.6 Turnovers

Kevin Durant - 28.3 Points, 6.5 Rebounds, 5.7 Assists, 0.9 Steals, 1.3 Blocks, 53.5 FG%, 44.5 3PT FG% & 3.2 Turnovers

Bradley Beal - 18.7 Points, 4.4 Rebounds, 4.7 Assists, 0.9 Steals, 49.3 FG%, 35.8 3PT FG% & 2.5 Turnovers

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Scorching Suns:

I was spoilt this week, with so many players having good shooting weeks.

Kevin Durant

KD was nominated for NBA Player of the Week, leading the Suns to a 2-1 week.

His stats for the week:

27.7 Points, 9.3 Rebounds, 5.0 Assists, 1.7 Steals, 2.0 Blocks, 50.7 FG% & 26.3 3PT FG%.

Devin Booker

Book missed our game against the Jazz, but averaged 32 points in the 2 games he did play.

His stats for the week:

32.0 Points, 2.5 Rebounds, 5.0 Assists, 54.8 FG% & 28.6 3PT FG%.

Eric Gordon

Gordon had an average week, but his excellent performance against the Jazz raised his shooting stats for the week.

His stats for the week:

9.7 Points, 2.3 Rebounds, 1.7 Assists, 58.8 FG% & 50.0 3PT FG%.

Struggling Suns:

No one really struggled this week, even Okogie hit 66% from 3.

We were sloppy on the defensive end against the Warriors, so that needs tightening up.

Stat Line(s) of the Week:

The Suns went off against the Jazz, with multiple players having their best game of the week against them.

Bradley Beal vs Utah Jazz

Brad could barely miss from 3 against Utah. His stroke looked sweet from the get-go.

Game stat line:

30 Points, 2 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 1 Steal, 11/21 FGs (52.4%) & 6/9 3PT FGs (66.7%).

Kevin Durant vs Utah Jazz

Just another day at the office for KD. It's a shame his 3 wasn't falling.

Game stat line:

31 Points, 8 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 3 Steals, 2 Blocks, 14/23 FGs (60.9%) & 2/6 3PT FGs (33.3%).

Eric Gordon vs Utah Jazz

Gordon stepped into the starting line-up in Book's absence and was hot the whole game, missing only 1 shot.

Game stat line:

19 Points, 2 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 1 Steal, 1 Block, 7/8 FGs (87.5%)& 3/4 3PT FGs (75.0%).

Honourable Mention

Grayson Allen vs Utah Jazz

With Book missing the game, Frank Vogel asked Grayson to take on some more of the point guard duties. He did just that by channelling his inner Steve Nash to the tune of, a career high 14 assists.

Game stat line:

8 Points, 3 Rebounds, 14 Assists, 2 Steals, 2/4 FGs (50.0%)& 2/3 3PT FGs (66.7%).

Upcoming Games:

Only 2 games this week, as we head into the All-Star break. They are back-to-back games, but in our favour, they are at home and the second game is against the Pistons (I've probably jinxed us now).

The Kings lead the season series 2 to 1, so this is an important game for us if we're looking ahead to the Playoffs and potential seeding. We need to win this one, is what I'm saying. They won 6 of their last 10, but lost to the Thunder last time out.

The Pistons still hold the worst record in the league at 8-44, however 4 of those wins have come in the last 10 games and include wins over the OKC Thunder and Sacramento Kings.

Prediction:

I'm expecting 2 wins this week.

Predictions League:

Any Other Business:

Former Suns

Jordan Goodwin was waived by the Nets following our 3-team trade, but he's been picked up very quickly by the Grizzlies, who've signed him to a 10-day contract.

Grayson's Career High

Grayson set a new career high of 14 assists this week. This is way higher than his previous high of 8, which he set last January vs the Wizards.

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