The Phoenix Suns had a very tough season last year in the NBA and after getting the number five pick in the draft this season, the team has shown some great potential in the summer league, making it all the way to the finals to face off against the Golden State Warriors on Monday night.
The Suns have made a number of moves this offseason to work on getting better, including drafting players Alex Len and Archie Goodwin while also making the big trade to get Eric Bledsoe and Caron Butler and now the team feels it has a core to build for the future. This summer twins Markieff and Marcus Morris have played very well and Goodwin has been the spark that the team hoped he would be as an 18-year-old from Kentucky.
The Suns play in the summer league obviously doesn't mean success this season, but it does prove that the team has some solid young talent and P.J. Tucker has also shown some great potential. The Warriors have played very well along the way after adding Andre Iguodala earlier in the offseason and they have gotten some solid performances from Kent Bazemore, who is averagine 18.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.7 steals per game as well as Draymond Green, who is averaging nearly a double-double.
The Suns have some hope for the future with their new core and on top of that, general manager Ryan McDonough is looking to make more moves, including possibly trading center Marcin Gortat along with Kendall Marshall, who is reportedly on the trading block. The Suns are looking to trade Marshall to add more depth to the roster and after taking Len in the draft, Gortat appears moveable as well.
Marshall was taken with the 13th selection in the draft last season, but with a new coach and GM in the fold, there is a good chance he will get dealt and that will give Bledsoe and others the chance to step up and make the team their own. Gortat has been mentioned in trade rumors since the team took Len, but since he is dealing with an ankle injury after coming out of Maryland, the team may decide to hold onto Gortat, although they said that they are optimistic about Len in training camp.
Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe, Shannon Brown and rookie Archie Goodwin make Marshall somewhat expendable and the rest of the crew should already have enough minutes to go around for both of them. Marshall played in 48 games last season for about 15 minutes per game as the team went just 25-57 and adding more talent for him could be a good way to help spur the rebuilding process since trading away Steve Nash. Some options could be the Spurs, Raptors, Bucks or Thunder, as each of those teams has needs in each area and could add depth as well. The Suns need to score the basketball more to have any success in the West and the additions of Bledsoe and Goodwin may help that. Goodwin has been fantastic in summer league play and the team have very high hopes for him now due to his youth, skills, raw athletic talent and explosiveness on the court.
