Steven is joined by Corban Ford of the Roundball Ramble Pod and co-host of the SportsEthos Washington Wizards podcast to break down the Bradley Beal to Phoenix Suns trade. They discuss the ramifications for the Wizards by trading Beal, including discussing Beal’s no trade clause. They also construct the Phoenix Suns’ roster for the 2023-24 season. Finally, they discuss potential Kristaps Porzingis trade destinations and what the future holds for both the Wizards and the Suns.

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The dynamic duo of Brandon and Justin tackle the Clips win in Dallas. Should Reggie Jackson keep starting? How can the Clips slow down the Mavs three-point shooters? Can Kawhi and PG get some help?

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2018-2019 Record                 Home Record               Road Record

        19-63                                     12-29                            7-34

2019-2020 Record                 Home Record               Road Record

         26-39                                     13-22                            13-17

Fun Facts for the season

-The Suns are currently ranked 13th in the Western Conference but would be closer to the playoffs in the East as their current record would put them in ninth place and only four games back of the eighth seed

-The Suns have done a much better job drafting in the lottery over the past two seasons (Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson) after a very rough, two-year stretch in which they drafted Dragan Bender (2016 draft, 4th overall), Marquese Chriss (2016 draft, 8th overall), and Josh Jackson (2017 draft, 4th overall)

-Devin Booker has had five different head coaches in his first five seasons with the Suns (Jeff Hornacek, Earl Watson, Jay Triano, Igor Kokoškov and Monty Williams)

-Kelly Oubre was a big winner for fantasy GMs as he outperformed his eighth round ADP (according to Yahoo!) with a career year that has seen him produce 5th/4th round value so far this season (8/9-cat leagues)

-Durability was the only factor that limited Deandre Ayton’s fantasy value in 2019-20 as he produced 3rd/2nd round per-game value but fell outside the top-160 in terms of total value as he missed 25 games due to suspension and 10 games due to injury

-Since being given the permanent starting job for the last 19 games of the season in which he averaged 35 minutes per game, Mikal Bridges produced 4th/3rd round and is a name to watch heading into next season

For a closer look at how the season has gone, be sure to check out our Season So Far series. The Suns’ entry can be found right here.

Rosterable in 12-team 8/9-cat leagues (per-game value)

-Devin Booker (2nd round/3rd round)

-Deandre Ayton (3rd round/2nd round)

-Ricky Rubio (4th round/5th round)

-Kelly Oubre (5th round/4th round)

-Mikal Bridges (8th round/7th round)

Showed flashes of fantasy value in 12-team 8/9-cat leagues (per-game value)

-Aron Baynes (11th/11th round from Oct 25 until Dec 28)

-Dario Šarić (10th/10th round from Oct 25 until Dec 28)

-Cameron Johnson (14th/11th round since Feb 7)

Rosterable in standard points leagues

(This is Yahoo’s standard scoring system, we’ll be using them as a reference for the rankings but obviously things will be different in your league if you use a custom scoring format or play on ESPN/CBS/Fantrax)

-Devin Booker (4th round)

-Deandre Ayton (4th round)

-Ricky Rubio  (4th round)

-Kelly Oubre (7th round)

Flashes of value in standard points leagues:

-Mikal Bridges (9th round since Feb 12)

Predicting standard league relevant players for 2020-21 season

-Devin Booker (all formats)

-Deandre Ayton (all formats)

-Ricky Rubio (all formats)

-Kelly Oubre (all formats)

-Mikal Bridges (8/9-cat)

Potential for standard league value for 2020-21 season

-Mikal Bridges (points leagues)

-Aron Baynes (8/9-cat)

-Dario Šarić (8/9-cat)

-Cameron Johnson (9-cat)

Upcoming Notable Free Agents

-Aron Baynes (unrestricted)

-Dario Šarić (restricted)

-Frank Kaminsky (team option for $5M in 2020-21)

-Cheick Diallo (team option for $1.82M in 2020-21)

-Élie Okobo (non-guaranteed for $1.66M in 2020-21)

-Jevon Carter (restricted)

Key Additions

-N/A

Key Departures

-Tyler Johnson (waived)

Upcoming Draft Picks

-2020 first round pick

-2021 first round pick

-2022 first round pick

-2022 second round pick

Ironically, since drafting current face of the franchise Devin Booker in the 2015 NBA Draft, this year’s 26 wins and 13^th position out West has been the team’s best year to date. Now, this is not pointing the finger at Booker, as he is only 23 years old and just starting to scratch the surface of what he can be, but it is an odd, yet interesting number.

Another fact, and not so much odd but telling, is that since Booker joined the Suns, he has had a new head coach every single year of his career. Earl Watson made it into year 2 but was fired a mere three games into the season before Jay Triano took over. Now we can point the finger. And it is pointed directly at the underwhelming front office, and maybe owner Robert Sarver flexing his power a little too much. More on that in a moment.

Have no fear Suns Fans, change has come! While selecting the nearby Arizona product Deandre Ayton over Luka Doncic even after bringing in Igor Kokoskov, who coached Donic for the Slovenian national team, will live in infamy with this franchise forever, the organization is trying its best to right the ship. Allegedly, the call on that pick came down from the top, owner Robert Sarver.

And if those lofty standards (kidding) of the recent past are anything to go by, these new changes have been an improvement so far.

Under New Management

The Suns tried something new and went with first year GM James Jones. Yes, the sharp-shooting veteran who won multiple championships alongside LeBron James, that James Jones.

Jones retired from the NBA after the 2016-17. He was always thought of as a consummate professional with a high basketball I.Q, and he quickly ascended the ladder in the Suns front office after being elevated to interim co-GM in the 2018-19 season when the team fired Ryan McDonough midway through the campaign. Much of that can be tied to the lack of winning, along with the previously mentioned draft blunder.

With Jones at the helm in a full-time and official GM role, one of the first moves he made was to bring in his own guy to lead the charge. That guy would be Monty Williams. The team’s 5^th coach in as many years. Known as a players’ coach, Williams is a former first-round pick himself, having played nine seasons in the NBA for five different teams. Williams has previous head coaching experience, including two playoff appearances under his belt with the New Orleans Pelicans/Hornets.

With a new nucleus in place for the Suns brass, it was time to start building a team around Booker and Ayton. In his first draft, Jones and the Suns were regarded as the biggest question mark of the lottery, as he was seemingly part of countless trade rumors and didn’t necessarily have a preference of who to take. Ultimately, the Suns traded back from 6^th to 11^th and selected Cameron Johnson out of the university of North Carolina.

Jones wasn’t done there though, as he made other draft day moves to acquire veterans Dario Saric and Aron Baynes, adding a first-rounder in Ty Jerome, and most notably shipping out TJ Warren. Still needing some work, especially a true point guard to play alongside Booker, the team tested the free agent market.

Roster Under Construction

Along with trading Warren, a former lottery pick who has had a nice season in Indiana, the team also moved out another former top-5 pick in Josh Jackson and a guy who has shown nice potential in De’Anthony Melton. The draft capital was questionable, but for Jones and the Suns, they liked the faces they were bringing in to pair with their young duo.

Aron Baynes developed a 3-point shot for Australia in the summer after flashing it at the end of his Boston run and that has carried over to a level unmatched throughout his career this season. Dario Saric has been underwhelming, but he’s a guy who has seen heavy minutes in the frontcourt.

Not finished with revamping the frontcourt, the team also signed Cheick Diallo and Frank Kaminsky, while making sure to lock up Kelly Oubre Jr. down for a couple more years.

One thing that the Suns have been lacking for a few years now, as mentioned above, has been a point guard. Someone that can see the floor and dictate the game, and most importantly let Devin Booker go back to his more comfortable role as an off-the-ball combo guard.

The Suns not only did that, but they brought in the best passing point guard on the market in Ricky Rubio. Rubio had a couple of down years fantasy-wise while playing alongside Donovan Mitchell in a slow-paced Utah system, but he’s once again established himself as one of the best assist guys in the league, sitting at 3^rd most with 8.9 assists per game.

Not only has the ball movement and court vision Rubio possesses shown up in his stat sheet, but the Suns as a team sit at first league-wide in assists per game. Even better, they rank first or second in assist percentage, assist ratio, percentage of 2-point field goals made on assists, and percentage of 3-point field goals made on assists. A team that was desperately in need of another facilitator couldn’t have asked for anyone better.

While there are quite a few reasons on why the Suns’ season turned into a disappointment, it’s easy to forget that this team came out of the gates strong and was playing surprisingly well before even more hiccups were dealt.

Ay-Ton went wrong with Deandre

Before we get to what else went wrong throughout the roster, we must talk about the elephant in the room, or better yet not in the room; franchise big-man and 2018 No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton. A guy who was going as high as the top-20 in many fantasy drafts, Ayton was a colossal disappointment for a multitude of reasons. Most glaringly, he only played in a mere 30 games out of a possible 65 and was still out of action up until the season was halted.

Was Ayton a disappointment when he played? He was not.

He was the 21^st and 28^th ranked player respectively in 9/8-cat leagues on a per-game basis. He averaged 19.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.7 blocks and 0.7 steals on 55 percent from the field and 77 percent from the line.

But he missed more than half the team’s games, and a whopping 25 of them blindsided not only his fantasy owners but the entire organization and fan base. Yes, I am talking about how Ayton got popped for PED use after the first game of the season. The 2^nd/3^rd round pick on average had to wait until the latter half of December to get back on the court because he took an illegal substance.

We won’t go into the details on it, but whatever he did, it cost him 25 games and it cost his team much more. To make matters worse, Ayton wasn’t exactly Mr. Ironman when his suspension was lifted. He would miss time on three more occasions throughout the season, including a five-game absence after getting injured in his first game back from suspension.

Ayton would play only 73 minutes and 44 seconds of NBA basketball before the calendar switched over to 2020. And the worst thing about all of this from a fantasy perspective, you couldn’t even stash him on IR while he was suspended; instead owners had to waste a valuable roster to keep him.

And just to pour salt in the wound, the Suns started off the season hot and we are playing their best ball in his initial absence before the previous hiccups appeared. And since we’re already here, and there’s a tiny bit of salt left in the shaker, that Luka Doncic guy, who was expected to be taken with that first overall pick, has blossomed into a rising superstar in only year two.

The Trainer’s Room

As we touched upon, Ayton was off the court for more than half of Phoenix’s games, but he wasn’t the only one to see the trainer’s room as pretty much everyone sans Mikal Bridges, and Devin Booker with only three games missed, saw time on the sidelines.

The first guy to go down was the guy who was filling in for Ayton when the team was hot: Aron Baynes. The Suns started out at 7-4 in their first 11 games, looking like a completely new team. With smothering defense and a team-oriented, ball-movement based offense, they were looking like a well-gelled team. And right at the center of this hot start (no pun intended) was Baynes himself. Showing off his newfound deep ball, along with his tough-nosed defense, rim-protection and overall physical play, the Suns were rolling.

Then Baynes got hurt. The first of multiple injuries to him as he missed 23 games this season. And the Suns were now down to their third string center, fellow newcomer Frank Kaminsky. Kaminsky would himself also get hurt for the long haul, missing half the season with a stress fracture in his kneecap.

But the injuries didn’t stop there – Ricky Rubio and Dario Saric missed 15 games combined. Cameron Johnson only played in 49 games, while deep-reserve guys like Elie Okobo and Jevon Carter missed a few as well.

The biggest blow came shortly before the season was suspended when Kelly Oubre Jr., who turned himself into quite the two-way player over the past year-plus, suffered a knee injury, rumored to be a torn meniscus, that was expected to keep him out for 4-6 weeks.

All in all, pretty much everyone besides Bridges and Booker missed a chunk of time. While the team was hot early, even without Ayton, you just can’t win games consistently in the NBA with guys in street clothes.

The lone positive about all these injuries is that it opened minutes and roles for some of the guys, most notably Mikal Bridges.

Developing the Young Guys

The Suns are one of, if not the youngest, teams in the league, with Baynes the only member of the team in his thirties. Outside of Baynes, only three other players, fellow newcomers Rubio, Kaminsky and Saric, are currently even older than 24. When we talk about youth and potential, the Suns have that in spades.

The nucleus of the team is made up of Booker (23), Ayton (21), and Oubre (24). Along with this core, there’s this year’s lottery pick, Johnson (24), last year’s lottery-acquired guy, Bridges (23), and another first-rounder acquired via trade this year, Ty Jerome (22).

While Jerome didn’t see much playing time this year, the rest of these guys did. Booker led the way, while Oubre continued to build off of the momentum and potential he showed since he was acquired in the Trevor Ariza deal. But it was the mounting injuries that opened up the playing time for Bridges and Johnson that is most notable. Unfortunately, Johnson would succumb to an illness of his own that would derail the momentum he was starting to build with the added minutes.

But things went quite well for Bridges. He started the season as a reserve who saw varying floor time from game to game. Bridges was a reliable defender when out there, but had a limited and inconsistent offensive repertoire that resulted in a few complete bricks on wide open shots. That kept his playing time on the lower side, even in the tough spots where Williams talked about needing Bridges on the court because of his invaluable ability to guard the 1-4 spots.

Slowly things would start to fall into place and by the time the calendar turned 2020, Williams had him on the court playing everywhere. He mainly saw his minutes at both forward spots, but he did earn a few starts at shooting guard when Booker was out, then again when Booker slid over to PG for an ailing Rubio.

Bridges’ minutes climbed up every single month of the season from 18.5 in October to 29.9 in January. It was towards late January when he would earn a spot in the starting lineup, starting the Suns’ last 19 games before the season was suspended. In February, his minutes jumped to 33.4, and in four March games he was on the court for a whopping 40.4 minutes per game. Bridges was a sleeper coming into the season for his ability to go 1/1/1 with steals, blocks and threes, and he proved it when he saw the minutes.

On the full season, Bridges sits with top-95/75 value (8/9-cat), and that’s with the slow start included. In those final 19 games, Bridges crushed it with top-45/35 value.

His shot is still a work in progress, but he was able to finish the season with a 62 percent true shooting percentage and 59 percent effective field goal percentage, while stamping his name into the young nucleus of Ayton, Booker, and Oubre.

Where do we go from here?

That is a question Suns fans have been asking ever since they dealt away franchise icon Steve Nash to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Suns are in a good spot as we sit.

They have Booker locked up through 2023/24. (Though if you read my previous Wolves article, you might be familiar with something brewing on that front, but we won’t touch that in this one.) They have Ayton and Bridges on rookie deals for the next few seasons. They have Rubio around for two more years after this one. And Johnson is around for a while.

They’ll also be loaded with cash this summer with just under $85 million committed to next season and no player options.

At the top of the list is what do they do with Oubre. They signed him to an affordable two-year deal before the season but entering next year that’s already turned to an expiring deal. He’s deserving of a pay raise, and some team is going to give that to him if he hits the free agent market. Do the Suns try to extend him before that happens or will they let it play itself out?

Next up is Dario Saric. He is entering unrestricted free agency. With his underwhelming play this year, he isn’t likely to be a priority and the Suns may let him walk, though he is only 24 and they’ll be short on bodies in the frontcourt with Frank Kaminsky’s team option likely to be declined and Aron Baynes becoming an unrestricted free agent.

Baynes is likely to be a priority for the Suns given that he played the best ball of his career when healthy and gives the team a unique element of toughness that nobody else on the roster can provide, but he is also 33 and may want to go play on a team that will offer him a chance at another championship.

Losing Tyler Johnson’s bloated $19 million contract is going to give James Jones and the rest of that front office a lot of money to play with. They’ll need to bring in more capable players to help Booker sniff his first playoff race, because if he’s in year 6 and the team is still sitting at the bottom of the Western Conference, he might not want to put up with it anymore. Whoops, I’m sorry! I said I wouldn’t mention it in this article, for Suns’ fans sanity, but it slipped. I promise that is it.

It was this time of the season last year when I took the initiative to write about the Toronto Raptors and how their dominance at the beginning of the year didn’t seem to be a pure coincidence.

Sure, I couldn’t imagine the Raptors having the best season in their history, winning their first NBA championship, but all the ingredients were there, and the new chef in town (Nick Nurse) had the recipe for a delicious main course, with Kawhi Leonard of course adding the right amount of sauce when needed.

So, what if I told you that the Suns might be this year’s overachiever?

Rising From the Ashes

Until the past decade, Phoenix had been one of the most successful small market teams in NBA history. From 1975 to 2010, the Suns made the playoffs in all but six seasons, and many of those teams were adored by fans all over the league.

The last few years have been a disaster, with owner Robert Sarver refusing to surrender control of day-to-day operations to basketball people and the fanbase experiencing an interventionist owner with more authority than expertise that often confronted coaches either during games or immediately after, a front office marred by instability, an undermanned scouting department and goats (!) defecating in the office of former GM Ryan McDonough.

The franchise now has its seventh head coach in the last eight seasons and, unsurprisingly, the Suns have not made the playoffs during that time period. Last season was more of the same as Phoenix lost a franchise-record 17 consecutive games, had a slew of injuries and fell way short of their preseason playoff aspirations.

Igor Kokoskov, who became the first European-born NBA head coach after 18 years as an assistant in the league, struggled leading what became a very young team without a point guard, and former NBA player James Jones served as an interim general manager in place of Ryan McDonough, whom team owner Robert Sarver fired two weeks before the season opener.

In Ancient Greek Mythology, a phoenix is a long-lived bird that cyclically regenerates, obtaining new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. Even though the bottom of the barrel is still far away, I assume that Sarver didn’t actually buy into the myth, believing that he has to actually burn his franchise to the ground before it rises back to relevance, and he was, surprisingly, able to persuade Monty Williams (who was heavily recruited by the Lakers as well) to become the team’s next head coach.

New Sheriff in Town

The Suns were expected to have growing pains this season as a young squad with a new coach, but they have been one of the early surprises with a 5-3 record and impressive wins over the Clippers and the then-undefeated Sixers. Scouts and coaches who have watched the team so far don’t expect Phoenix to stay near the top for long and it’s still way too early to tell whether the team can sustain the level of success they had so far.

Still, they seem to pass the eye test as the numbers support their efficiency (11^th in net rating, 8^th in offense and 11^th in defense), while the organizational restructure in the offseason has started to have an impact on what matters the most, winning on the court.

Basketball really isn’t rocket science and the success clearly points to Monty Williams’ addition on the bench, as well as the acquisition of capable veterans like Ricky Rubio, Dario Saric and Aron Baynes to a team with good young players like Devin Booker, DeAndre Ayton and Kelly Oubre Jr. The Suns are off to their best start since 2015 and much of it has to do with the players buying in to the philosophies of a coach who was viewed as one of the top candidates on the NBA job market this offseason.

The Pillars of Success

Monty Williams Setting the Ground Rules

Igor Kokoskov was an exceptional X’s and O’s coach but he found his future hanging up in the air when the GM that hired him was fired just before season’s start. He also lacked the resume to command respect from young players, and without a capable point guard to help him transfer his philosophy on the court he was destined to fail.

Monty Williams is more of a traditional coach who emphasizes the fundamentals of the game, but he is known around the league as an exceptional personality that can help players and franchises to develop an identity. When you walk into the Suns’ locker room this year, each of the following words and phrases have been hung up in bold letters, directly facing the players’ lockers.

Culture – Show Up On Time – Defend – Compete – Share The Ball – Gratitude.

Williams and General Manager James Jones broke down what they expect out of the team each and every day and they have been working to develop these core values into the season. And while the phrases may seem simple, the repetition of each action can be linked directly to the success the team has seen so far this season.

The Suns seem to have an identity (Culture) as the “Valley Boyz,” they look prepared entering each game (Show up on time), they are slowly becoming a top defensive team (Defense), they fight for loose balls and they refuse to lose (other than the Heat blowout, their two loses have each been each by only one point, one being in overtime), they rank second in the NBA in assists with 27.0 per game (Share the ball) and they remain humble, enjoying the victories but getting back to work with the same mentality (Gratitude).

“You can feel the vibe here. It’s different,” Devin Booker said recently in an interview with The Undefeated. “Our team is in a different state than we have been in the previous years. I don’t want to get ahead of myself. … But the culture around, you can feel it. You can feel it in the air. It started with Monty.”

The ‘0.5’ rule

The Suns spent this year’s training camp scrimmaging with a new set of rules where, at the urging of Williams, their central philosophy on offense is quick-trigger decision-making in 0.5 seconds or less. A shot, pass or drive should happen in that time — anything but holding onto the ball. The difference with last year of course is also the personnel as there is a plan in place to get the most out of high IQ players on the court like Ricky Rubio and Dario Saric, as opposed to trigger-happy forwards likes Josh Jackson and T.J. Warren, to whom the Suns attached assets in order to get rid of this past offseason.

Here is an example of how the offense worked last year, with Booker running out the clock before launching tough, contested shots.

The presence of Saric and Baynes, who are both able to stretch the floor, has also helped Booker to get easier buckets closer to the rim. Look at how Rudy Gobert has to keep an eye on Baynes and leaves the paint open, where Booker is able to take advantage of the miscommunication between Donovan Mitchell and Royce O’Neale:

Ricky Rubio as the On-Court Leader

Ricky Rubio certainly comes with his flaws but having a point guard like him in place has made it easier for Williams to ensure that guys are keeping the ball moving and playing within the system. The Suns have displayed a level of maturity and poise that we haven’t seen from them in quite some time and Rubio is clearly the engine of the offense.

In this kind of offense, an early ball screen will give the playmaker space heading downhill while cutters climb to the arc and players find their open teammates as the bigs set some hard screens. This results in, usually, a pretty organic open shot, which is why the Suns rank 7^th in Effective Field Goal Percentage as opposed to 24^th last year. Here is the play with Rubio surrendering the ball after a ball screen and Booker nailing the open triple after Baynes has easily taken poor Grayson Allen out of the equation.

On the other hand, despite his overall field goal percentage being at just .370, he is making an impact in so many other ways. Creating open shots for Rubio is not the focus of the offense, but what’s important is how the point guard has complemented his teammates within the system.

Rubio has looked rejuvenated as a cutter and finisher, making plays rarely seen during his stops in Minnesota and Utah. Look at this quick and smart give-and-go that proves how the Rubio-Booker backcourt has been working better that what many people believed.

The Veteran Presence of Baynes & Saric

While there have been plenty of voices expressing their concern about the sustainability of many advanced metrics, the truth of the matter is that the Suns simply can’t really do worse than last season when they ranked second to last in Defensive Rating, allowing 116.8 points per game, and dead last in Defensive Rebound Percentage. Williams has helped transform this team and the Suns are currently performing like a borderline top-10 defensive team, allowing 108.6 points (compared to 116.8 last year) and grabbing 35.1 rebounds per game (as opposed to a league-worst 31.3 last year).

The unfortunate suspension of Deandre Ayton has empowered Aron Baynes, who is averaging career-highs in rebounds (5.6), blocks (0.9) and assists (3.3), becoming another excellent piece at Williams’ disposal. Baynes’ contribution to the team is not always seen in the box score but the numbers also validate his importance.

The Australian big is obviously a known commodity in the league and the Suns were lucky to get him in a salary dump move on draft night, effectively replacing another high-energy guy and Hoop Ball favorite Richaun Holmes. Look at how Damion Lee clearly opts to go under the screen and avoid the contact with Baynes as Booker gets wide open for the long triple.

They are also forcing 18.6 turnovers per game, good for fifth in the league. Look at Dario Saric on this possession as he forces the ball out of D’Angelo Russell’s hands and then sprints back to the paint to box out so that Baynes grabs the easy rebound.

Fantasy Implications

The Suns have struck gold with the hiring of Monty Williams and the numbers validate the progress of this team, but setting aside the excitement of the new beginning it’s always good to apply a reality test and examine the longevity of the current success.

Ricky Rubio currently ranks 52^nd in 9-cat leagues and while I expected his assists to go up, after the career-lows in both of his two seasons in Utah, the rebounds (7.1) are way up and this has mainly to do with Ayton’s absence and the exceptional boxing out by Baynes and Saric that allows for easy defensive rebounds by the rest of the guys that hit the glass.

Baynes, meanwhile, is in the middle of a career year, averaging career-highs in a few categories and returning top-30 value for the season while becoming a must-add in standard formats. The return of Ayton will most likely send him back to the bench but I believe he has been an integral part of the Suns’ success and Monty Williams will play him enough to guarantee borderline standard-league value. After an exceptional FIBA World Cup this summer, my biggest question was whether Baynes could carry his effectiveness behind the 3-point line into the NBA season and the results have been promising as he is launching 4.3 triples per game and hitting an astonishing .471 percent of those (obviously not sustainable).

Dario Saric, meanwhile, is ranked 138^th for the season, mainly due to his poor shooting and low scoring numbers but his assists (2.1) and rebounds (6.1) are up (definitely not a surprise) while he is averaging a career-high 1.4 steals per game. He has been getting off to slow starts in his entire NBA career and it’s not hard to see his numbers on the offensive side of the ball improving as he develops more chemistry with his teammates.

Hope you enjoyed this week’s article and keep an eye on The Valley Boyz as they make a push for a potential playoff birth in a tough Western Conference. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter @philysstar and stay up to date on all the breaking news and rumors posted on our website and on our Twitter account @HoopBallFantasy.

Stats are courtesy of NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com and are accurate as of November 8

The Warriors’ dynasty is done, the Lakers and Clippers have added major starpower, the Rockets reunited old friends and the Jazz have finally added an elite point guard to the mix. That, and there’s plenty of young teams gunning to assert themselves, ranging from current contenders like Denver to up-and-comers like Sacramento and Dallas. Despite all the player movemnt this summer, the West reigns supreme in terms of quality and it figures to be a dogfight as teams jockey for playoff spots, let alone seeding.

True superteams may be gone for the moment but there are more than enough dynamic duos to tide us over in a season that figures to be pretty unpredictable.

Dallas Mavericks

Fifth and final starter

Delon Wright, Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis and Dwight Powell appear to be locked in as four of the Mavs’ starters. The versatility of that group means that Dallas can go in a couple of different directions with the last starting spot.

If Doncic ends up playing shooting guard the Mavs have a few intriguing small forward options. Justin Jackson got the nod in the team’s first preseason game, but he’s never really emerged as an impact player despite providing passable, invisible minutes. Rick Carlisle favorite Dorian Finney-Smith has held down the starting role in the past but the Mavs may want to maximize his utility as a do-it-all bench option.

If shooting guard is the open spot and Doncic starts at the three, Tim Hardaway Jr., who is recovering from another stress reaction in his left leg, might be the choice. He would also be a valuable primary scorer for a second unit, however, and might not have the defensive chops to fill a complementary 3-and-D role alongside high-usage stars as a starter. Seth Curry or Jalen Brunson could start if the Mavs want a two-PG look, and Wright’s defensive versatility would make it a workable situation.

Denver Nuggets

What’s on the table for Will Barton?

This probably isn’t what Will Barton envisioned when he signed a four-year, $53 million contract. Elevated into the starting lineup, Will The Thrill’s 2018-19 season was marred by an early injury and he was unable to find a rhythm on a well-oiled machine of a Nuggets team after returning in the midst of a tight playoff race. That injury, of course, allowed players like Malik Beasley and Torrey Craig to step up and cement themselves as real contributors, which leads us to today.

Craig is rumored to be the favorite to start at small forward and is a nice defensive fit with Denver’s four obvious starters. While the competition is still on, Barton may be used in the super-sub sixth man role that led to his big contract in the first place.

The question for Denver probably lies further in the future – with cheaper alternatives in relative abundance, the Nuggets already over the cap and set to watch Jerami Grant, Beasley, Craig, Juancho Hernangomez and Mason Plumlee hit free agency, how much can they afford to allocate to Barton? Keep an eye on his deployment throughout the exhibition slate. The Nuggets undoubtedly believe in him as a player but there are plenty of other paths for the team to take if Barton can’t recapture his old form.

Golden State Warriors

How do the Warriors reshuffle their defense?

As you might’ve heard, the Warriors will look different this season. Though D’Angelo Russell won’t be a straight replacement for Klay Thompson on offense (something we’ll dig into more closely soon), the big questions come on the defensive side of the floor.

The Klay-Russell swap is a massive downgrade there, but Golden State will also be without Kevin Durant’s endless length and Andre Iguodala’s institutional knowledge. Sacramento soured on Willie Cauley-Stein because of his defensive lapses. A team whose defensive units used to move on a string will be decidedly different this year.

Add in the potential need for Golden State to work rest into Draymond Green’s schedule, and we might see some very funky lineups over the course of the season. Keep an eye on how players like Cauley-Stein, Alfonzo McKinnie and Jacob Evans hang on defense in the preseason, otherwise we might see Steve Kerr engage in some schematic retooling.

Houston Rockets

Do the Rockets have a real bench or just situational contributors?

The Rockets continue to swing big, this time swapping Chris Paul for Russell Westbrook. Although they continue to boast one of the league’s most talented backcourt, one can’t help but wonder whether the depth problem will rear its ugly head once again.

Last season Houston dealt with a number of injuries that left them severely shorthanded in the early going, and although the Westbrook-Paul exchange should generally ensure fewer missed games, the Rockets’ bench isn’t exactly a strength.

The group of Austin Rivers, Gerald Green, Gary Clark, Thabo Sefolosha, Tyson Chandler and Nene has plenty of weak spots. Though their minutes will be limited in the postseason, can the Rockets assemble a cohesive bench unit that can get them through the regular season without leaving the starters overtaxed? It’s easy to think of scenarios where each of those bench players can play an important role, but there aren’t a ton of second-unit groups that you can throw out comfortably in any matchup. Anyone who can turn in a strong preseason might be able to distance themselves from the pack for a team that’s dying for secondary contributors.

LA Clippers

Landry Shamet’s point guard minutes

Doc Rivers has cited Landry Shamet’s past work as a lead guard when discussing the fact that Shamet will play some point guard this season. The uncertainty of Paul George’s timeline means that the Clippers will be down one of their primary ball-handlers for at least the first few games of the year, and that’s not inconsequential on a team with one true point guard.

Lou Williams can handle some of those minutes behind Patrick Beverley but he’s better suited in a scoring role. The Clippers have already been forced to get a little creative, letting rookie Terance Mann play backup point guard in training camp as well as the preseason opener. If Shamet can play a capable PG, that would certainly ease the burden on everyone else. Any value that Shamet provides beyond spacing will count as a major win.

Los Angeles Lakers

What does Dwight Howard have left?

After a nine-game campaign and dwindling on-court effectiveness in the years prior, it’s safe to declare Dwight Howard a completely unknown quantity. The Lakers seem to be going out of their way to replace JaVale McGee after a surprisingly productive season, and the Howard move and reported camp battle is the largest affront in a series of decisions.

If Howard can still play, even in a 20-minute role, and that’s a big ‘if,’ he’ll give the Lakers an athletic rim-runner that provides a big boost on the glass. That’s not inconsequential for a team that had to add the ancient Tyson Chandler last season. If he can’t, it’ll be a lot of unnecessary drama for nothing. It should be interesting to see how Howard is used, and how much he can make of his time on the floor.

Memphis Grizzlies

Can Brandon Clarke force his way in?

Ever since the draft, Brandon Clarke has been impossible to ignore. He was borderline dominant in Summer League and has continued to impress throughout training camp, and the rebuilding Grizzlies have to be overjoyed with his play so far. If there’s one dark cloud on the horizon for Clarke it’s that Memphis has two frontcourt pillars in Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jonas Valanciunas locked into the starting five.

Although JV may not be a 30-minute per night player, he will start, and he will be a featured offensive player when he is on the floor. That, plus the presence of power forward types in Jae Crowder and Bruno Caboclo, will put playing time pressure on Clarke as he tries to carve out a role. That won’t be a monumental task given Clarke’s play so far and Memphis’ trajectory, but he can start to explore his ceiling quickly with a big preseason.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Robert Covington: Power Forward?

The Wolves are prepared to hand the starting shooting guard job to either Jarrett Culver or Josh Okogie, which will push everyone down a position. Barring a stunning bench demotion for Andrew Wiggins, that means we’re looking at Robert Covington opening the season as Minnesota’s starting power forward.

With the backdrop of Covington’s balky knees, it’s going to be a big challenge for a player who might need to add a little muscle to make it work in every possible matchup. Additionally, that might be suboptimal deployment for a player who has proven to be an All-NBA defender at the wing position. It’s at least a worthy experiment for a team that’s unlikely to make the playoffs while trying to find proper complements for Karl-Anthony Towns.

New Orleans Pelicans

Who loses out on the wings?

There’s an undeniable sense of excitement around the Pelicans this season as David Griffin has done his best to put together a roster that will thrive in an up-tempo attack. Though most of the attention has rightfully fallen to Zion Williamson, New Orleans is facing a bit of a logjam with all of their new acquisitions.

This is Jrue Holiday’s team, which means he’s locked into big minutes split between point guard and shooting guard. With Lonzo Ball in town, he’s likely to start at point guard, with Holiday opening games at the two. That figures to leave J.J. Redick out in the cold, unless the Pelicans opt to go super-small and move Brandon Ingram to the bench. Any way you slice it, someone who is used to starting will be forced to come off the bench. While you’re watching Zion jam on everyone, remember to keep an eye on Alvin Gentry’s rotations.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Andre Roberson

The Thunder have plenty of minutes available on the wings, which means that a healthy Roberson will have a great opportunity to reestablish himself as an elite defender. It has been over a year since he took the court thanks to a devastating injury and multiple setbacks, but his health could have a surprisingly large effect on the bottom half of the playoff bracket.

If the Thunder focus more on development than scrapping for a low playoff spot, Roberson’s presence can still help the team in a number of ways. Perhaps he plays himself into the team’s future plans, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander likely to slide back over to point guard as soon as Chris Paul leaves town (if not before). It’s possible that Roberson becomes a sought-after trade target as the arms race develops, with contenders itching to acquire a lockdown defender. Above all else, it’ll just be good to see him back on the court – it’s hard to root against someone so close to the end of an arduous road.

Phoenix Suns

Power forward battle

The Suns and a faint sense of hope: a tradition like no other. Phoenix went out and added a real point guard, as well as one of the top coaches on the market. Forward progress is being made but there remain a lot of questions to be answered about the team’s power forward rotation, and while there are a couple sensible choices there are a few options that would be Classic Suns.

In all likelihood the job will fall to either Dario Saric or Mikal Bridges. Young, talented players with versatility and upside. Perfect! With Kelly Oubre Jr. at small forward, however, it’s going to be a cramped rotation with these three, who would all benefit from extended minutes. That’s all well and good but the Suns also reached on forward Cam Johnson in the first round, and the organization may force him onto the floor to try and prove outsiders wrong. Mix in talk that newcomers Frank Kaminsky and Cheick Diallo could play some power forward as well (with Deandre Ayton and Aron Baynes consuming the entire center rotation), and it quickly becomes a mess.

Saric and Bridges need as much playing time as possible, but will they get it? And who will get the lion’s share? If Saric can take advantage of Bridges’ knee bone bruise, he can right the ship after a rocky campaign split between Philly and Minnesota.

Portland Trail Blazers

Reworking the forward rotation

The Blazers surprised pundits yet again last season, making it all the way to the Western Conference Finals despite losing Jusuf Nurkic amidst an outstanding campaign. While Portland will always carry a chip on its shoulder, it’s tough to see them authoring a repeat performance – even if Hassan Whiteside shows up on his best behavior and blossoms. Though most of the talk is centered on the improvement of other teams, the Blazers have some serious questions to answer at the forward positions.

Between Al-Farouq Aminu, Moe Harkless and Jake Layman, the Blazers will need to fill 70 minutes per game and 167 combined starts, exclusively at small forward and power forward. The addition of Kent Bazemore figures to help, though he has a mixed track record of success as a small forward. In 2015-16, he played 79% of his minutes at SF and was solid with 11.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.5 threes per game on .441 from the field and a plus-2.3 net rating.

The following year saw him take a step back with 58% of his minutes coming at SF, as he produced averages of 11.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.7 threes on .409 from the field with a minus-1.7 net rating. Bazemore has primarily been a shooting guard since, only appearing as a small forward in 4% of his minutes last season per Basketball-Reference.

The largely untested Zach Collins is expected to start at power forward, and teams will be targeting him as a perimeter defender early and often. Offensively, his .331 mark from distance falls short of Aminu’s .343 mark, and teams will probably dare him to become a volume 3-point shooter with Whiteside dominating the interior. Behind Collins and Bazemore are Rodney Hood, Mario Hezonja and Anthony Tolliver. Portland will be tested against the West’s all-world collection of small forwards and Terry Stotts might need to get creative.

Sacramento Kings

Trevor Ariza’s playing time

For the second straight season, Ariza has chosen to sign on with a team in the bottom half of the West. Last season you could make the case that he was trying to combine a big paycheck with his playing time needs, but this year looks like the beginning of a steep decline. The Kings have added a couple centers and re-signed Harrison Barnes to start at small forward, and Ariza will not be a threat to Marvin Bagley’s minutes at power forward.

Ariza has not averaged fewer than 33.9 mpg since an injury-plagued 2012-13 season, and was over 32.9 mpg in the three seasons prior to that. Unless Luke Walton shoehorns him into a rotation at the expense of younger players (which has caused rifts with Sacramento’s front office in the past), Ariza is going to have to accept a drastically diminished role. That can be a tough adjustment for a guy who can clearly still handle big minutes, as well as one who may be more of a natural fit at small forward than a higher-paid teammate. Keep an eye on how Walton juggles the forward group.

San Antonio Spurs

Poeltl Power

Jakob Poeltl’s season featured plenty of ups and downs. A training camp battle for the starting center spot didn’t go his way, and he would actually sit out three of the Spurs’ first six games, logging just 54 seconds in one of those appearances. Through the end of January Poeltl averaged 14.7 minutes per game. For a player who was thought of as the sort of cerebral hard worker that would fit the San Antonio system, it was a struggle.

Poeltl was able to gain some traction in the wake of Pau Gasol’s foot injury and subsequent release, averaging 19.7 minutes (and 1.3 blocks per game) from February onwards. Though he may always have trouble defending larger players, Poeltl has great rebounding and rim-protecting instincts and can move in space better than a lot of his peers. If he can hit the ground running this season it would be a big development for the Spurs, and it could even be his ticket to the starting lineup. Last season Poeltl averaged 3.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 0.2 blocks in 17.4 mpg through five preseason contests – let’s see if he can do better this time around.

Utah Jazz

Defensive drop-off?

The Jazz are undoubtedly a title contender after adding Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanovic to round out what was already a strong core. They’re far more dangerous offensively and now have a number of ways to topple opponents rather than grinding them down on defense and leaning on Donovan Mitchell for scoring. Although Utah will still hang its hat on defense, this offseason did bring some changes that could leave the Jazz somewhat exposed.

That largely occurs at the power forward spot, where an effective thunder and lightning combo of Derrick Favors and Jae Crowder has been replaced by Jeff Green and some miscast players. Beyond Green, the most likely candidates to see meaningful minutes at the four are Royce O’Neale, Bojan Bogdanovic and Joe Ingles. Though Basketball-Reference credits Ingles with 66% of his minutes at the four spot last season, Bogdanovic and O’Neale check in at 4% and 2%, respectively. With rumors of Ingles moving to a sixth man role so Bogdanovic can start, that would put a pretty heavy burden on either the 33-year-old Green or a player who has extremely limited experience.

Quin Snyder is one of the league’s top coaches and there are few doubts that the Jazz will get it figured out, but the team’s defense might not be on autopilot this season. The preseason should be illuminating in terms of how that unit will need to adjust.