2016–17 Phoenix Suns season

2016–17 Phoenix Suns season
Head coach Earl Watson
General manager Ryan McDonough
Owner(s) Robert Sarver
Arena Talking Stick
Resort Arena
Results
Record 0–0
Place Division: T–1st (Pacific)
Conference: T–1st (Western)
Playoff finish TBD

Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com

Local media
Television Fox Sports Arizona
Radio KTAR

The 2016–17 NBA season is the Suns' 49th season in the NBA.[1] It'll also be their 24th season the Suns will play in the Talking Stick Resort Arena (second season where it was named that when it used to be called both the America West Arena and, most recently, the U.S. Airways Center beforehand). Not only that, but it's also their first season where they provide D-League affiliation with the nearby Northern Arizona Suns that's located in Prescott Valley, Arizona.

Key dates

Offseason

Draft picks

Main article: 2016 NBA Draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality School / Club
1 4
1 13
1 28
2 34

The Phoenix Suns once again have three first round picks and one second round pick this season. They own their first selection in the first round (which is currently projected to be somewhere between Pick 1 and Pick 7 this year), while their second first round pick (which is stuck in Pick 13 for the fourth time in six years) was had by the February 18, 2016 trade deadline with the Washington Wizards trading it away to them (similar to what happened in the 2014 NBA Draft) along with the temporary additions of power forward/centers DeJuan Blair and Kris Humphries in exchange for removing Markieff Morris from the team due to his incessant demands of wanting out of the team after an earlier trade involving his twin brother occurred on July 2, 2015. Not only that, but the Suns also got their third first round selection from the Cleveland Cavaliers due to an earlier trade involving the Boston Celtics, where they got the Cleveland Cavaliers' first round draft pick that Boston acquired in an earlier trade alongside the also-temporary addition of Marcus Thornton in exchange for Isaiah Thomas. The lone second round pick they have is also the pick they had on their own accord in spite of having a continuously declining record (done in by injuries and other turmoil involving the team placed throughout last season, which included the aforementioned trade that Markieff Morris demanded during that season) in the process. The Suns were also initially planned to getting the Minnesota Timberwolves' second round selection for this year (which would have been Pick 35), but traded it away in a different trade with the Boston Celtics (back when it was still considered a first round draft pick) in order to get Brandan Wright on the team.

Free agency

Players Mirza Teletović, Jon Leuer, and Chase Budinger; as well as the returning Ronnie Price all became unrestricted free agents as of the end of the 2015-16 NBA season. In addition, both shooting guard John Jenkins and power forward/center Alan Williams also have player options that could potentially make themselves unrestricted free agents as well, so long as the team ends up declining their player options before the free agency period begins and the NBA Summer League ends respectively. In addition to that, the Suns also have to convince their 27th pick from the 2014 NBA Draft, Bogdan Bogdanović, to leave his current team in Fenerbahçe Ülker to play in the NBA early before the salary he gets from the team rises exponentially next season due to him no longer being bound to the rookie scale deal.

Coaching changes

The Suns had initially planned to start a coaching search after their previous season ended. Some of the candidates that were linked to the Suns at the time as potential new candidates included Luke Walton, Mike D'Antoni, Jay Wright, and Dan Majerle, just to name a few examples. However, because of overwhelmingly positive support from both the team's players and the front office alike (which included an improved performance throughout the last two months of the season), Earl Watson would earn his new three-year deal to become the full-time head coach for the Suns, effective as of April 19, 2016. During Earl's re-introduction conference as full-time head coach, fellow players (at the time) Devin Booker, Brandon Knight, Mirza Teletović, and Ronnie Price all showed up to the event in support of the move, with the rest of the roster also expressing profound support of the move. On May 5, 2016 (the exact same day Senior Adviser Lon Babby resigned from his duties with the team), three assistant coaches the team had throughout last season in former Phoenix Mercury head coach Corey Gaines, replacement assistant coach Bob Hill, and player development assistant coach Irving Roland would not have their contracts renewed after the season the team had last season, with Chris Darnell taking up the absent player development role leb by Irving.[2]

Front office changes

Two weeks after announcing that Earl Watson would be the full-time coach of the Suns, former president of basketball operations and senior adviser Lon Babby announced his resignation from his duties with the team after his six year tenure with the Suns. At the same time, assistant video coordinator Ross Geiger would not get his contract renewed himself.

Roster

Phoenix Suns roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From
G 2 Bledsoe, Eric  (C) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1989–12–09 Kentucky
G 1 Booker, Devin 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 206 lb (93 kg) 1996–10–30 Kentucky
F 10 Budinger, Chase (FA) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 209 lb (95 kg) 1988–05–22 Arizona
C 4 Chandler, Tyson 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1982–10–02 Manuel Dominguez HS (CA)
G 20 Goodwin, Archie 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1994–08–17 Kentucky
G 23 Jenkins, John 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1991–03–06 Vanderbilt
G 3 Knight, Brandon  (C) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 189 lb (86 kg) 1991–12–02 Kentucky
C 21 Len, Alex 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 260 lb (118 kg) 1993–06–16 Maryland
F/C 30 Leuer, Jon (FA) 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 228 lb (103 kg) 1989–05–14 Wisconsin
G 14 Price, Ronnie (FA) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1983–06–21 Utah Valley State
F 35 Teletović, Mirza (FA) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 242 lb (110 kg) 1985–09–17 Bosnia and Herzegovina
G/F 17 Tucker, P. J. 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1985–05–05 Texas
F 12 Warren, T. J.  6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1993–09–05 North Carolina State
F/C 15 Williams, Alan 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 261 lb (118 kg) 1993–01–28 UC Santa Barbara
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Nate Bjorkgren
  • Jason Fraser (player development)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • (DL) On assignment to D-League affiliate
  • Injured

Roster • Transactions
Last transaction: 2016–05–06

Player statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game

References

  1. ↑ 2016-17 Phoenix Suns
  2. ↑ http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2016/05/05/phoenix-suns-not-renewing-2-assistant-coach-contracts/83992902/
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