Has Phoenix Finally Found Their Backcourt?

The Phoenix Suns and general manager Ryan McDonough aren’t afraid to think outside the box, and that is exactly what they did with their starting backcourt of Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight. Despite criticism, that investment is starting to pay off for Phoenix, but other parts of the team aren’t performing as well as they had hoped.

The Suns organization loves point guards, and they haven’t been afraid to have a lot of quality ones on their roster. Despite having Goran Dragic, the Suns got involved in a trade with the Clippers and the Bucks in 2013, acquiring young and exciting Chris Paul understudy Eric Bledsoe. There were questions of what Phoenix would do with their logjam at point guard, but the Dragic-Bledsoe pairing thrived, although Bledsoe did miss a good amount of time due to a meniscus injury, but the Suns were the surprise of the league as they came very close to an unexpected playoff appearance.

The following offseason, the Suns decided they still didn’t have enough quality point guards and went out and acquired Isaiah Thomas from the Kings on a pretty reasonable four-year deal. This move was received with a lot less questions and a lot more compliments, but it wasn’t as perfect of a fit as it appeared. Thomas and Dragic didn’t mesh very well, and Dragic became increasingly frustrated with the front office and the direction of the team, resulting in the Suns trading him to Miami as his contract was up at the end of the year. They also made a quick turn on Thomas, trading him away to the Boston Celtics.

But the Suns hadn’t given up on their two-point-guard vision, as they acquired Brandon Knight from Milwaukee at the trade deadline last year to pair in the backcourt with Bledsoe. The Suns signed Knight to a $70 million extension this offseason, making it very clear they were set to make Bledsoe-Knight their long-term backcourt.

14 games into the season, the return on investment is looking pretty good for the Suns, as both Bledsoe and Knight are off to blistering starts.

Bledsoe’s success isn’t much of a surprise, as he has averaged 23.2 points, 5.8 assists, and 4.2 rebounds, all while shooting 48 percent from the field and just under 40 percent from three.

But Brandon Knight’s explosion has come as somewhat of a surprise, especially that he is no longer the first option on offense like he was in Milwaukee. Knight is averaging 21.4 points, 5.4 assists, and 4.5 rebounds, while shooting 44 percent from the field and a career-high 41 percent from three. He has especially been on fire in the last couple of weeks, putting up a triple-double and a 30-point performance against the Lakers on the 16th, and then posting his career-high of 38 points against Denver last Friday.

Knight and Bledsoe have also played well together. The Suns starting lineup, Bledsoe, Knight, P.J. Tucker, Markieff Morris, and Tyson Chandler, has a net rating of 7.0, with an offensive rating of 104.9 and a defensive rating of 97.9. Bledsoe likes to drive to the basket, which sets up Knight for a lot of three-pointers, as he is averaging over six a game. Knight is shooting 44 percent on catch-and-shoot threes, largely set up by Bledsoe.

Despite their electrifying backcourt, Phoenix is off to a 7-7 start. Their biggest downfall is that they aren’t receiving a lot of production outside of Bledsoe and Knight. Markieff Morris has been billed as another important piece in their young core, but he is off to a cold start. Averaging only 13.7 points with a below-average PER of 12.7, Morris has been a disappointment so far, and it raises the question of whether or not Phoenix was right to hold onto him after he demanded to be traded in the offseason.

Normally useful for his shooting and floor spacing abilities, Morris is only hitting 30 percent from three and 41 percent overall. But there is hope for Morris, as he may have had a breakout game against the Spurs, posting 28 points and 13 boards. He also is a big positive on defense, as the starting lineup but with Jon Leuer instead of Morris has a much worse defensive rating of 108.9. Morris is also coming off a bad shoulder injury and is still working up to his top speed. His value has decreased since the offseason, but I don’t think it was high enough to begin with to trade a player with the tools he has.

The Suns look to have finally put together the right backcourt for the future, but questions about Morris’ future and the lack of bench support need to be answered before Phoenix can join the contenders out West.