Kevin C. Cox / Associated Press
Of all the unfinished business that the NBA tried to complete with its Disney World restart, the fate of the Phoenix Suns was never in doubt. They were just there, invited to complete the scheme, both after thoughts and non-threats, their retreat into yet another lottery that was already sealed.
So much for that.
With their 130-117 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday, the Suns are now a perfect 7-0 in the bubble and, more importantly, a heartbeat away from qualifying for the league’s postseason tournament.
You read all that correctly.
Not to be lost amidst the euphoria, the fate of Phoenix is not entirely its own. A win over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday would go a long way toward solidifying his play-in appearance, but should also be accompanied by a Memphis Grizzlies loss to the Milwaukee Bucks as a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers at Brooklyn Nets.
It’s worth noting that, whatever happens, the majority of the 2019-20 season explodes outside of Disney. The Suns are still comfortably below .500, more than a stone’s throw or two away from title control – or even playoff lock status. They had to stay perfect just to have a chance at the start of the postseason, where they would, in all likelihood, serve as the first stepping stone for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Still, who cares? They had no expectations of entering the bubble or even a chance at a distance to crack the play-in tournament and postseason. They do that now.
Almost everything about them is a revelation. Devin Booker’s game is not. These past seven games are just a slight exaggeration of how he performed this season. The score, the efficiency, the passing, the bare command of the game – none of this is new. His numbers are, strikingly, not miles from normal:
Indeed, the addition of a trademark moment in victory – a game-winner over both Paul George and Kawhi Leonard – is the most drastic change to his resume. The novelty of its stardom is the scale at which it is recognized and accepted, not that it all exists. Phoenix has a player who can now headline a really good team, just like he did before.
Everyone else, together, is the epiphany. Where the Suns once occupied that pitiful space between reconstruction and sub-community, they instead look as if they have laid the foundation to climb out of the void of the NBA.
Flashes of a better view are sprayed through the rest of the roster, from Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges to Cameron Johnson and Kelly Oubre Jr. But that growth has never combined in the sustainability that Phoenix is now championing. Seven games is a drop in the bucket relative to the grand scheme. For the Suns, it is too far away their longest winning streak of the Booker era.
Crucially, Ayton sees the part of a viable No. 2 at both ends of the floor.
His chances for scoring come both within the stream of the offense and, if necessary, on his own manpower, and he worked more three-pointers into his arsenal. His defense is tighter and well rounded. He has kept unfavorable switches almost all season and has a stronger presence from the backline. Opponents shoot 8.7 percentage points less than their average within six feet of the course when he challenges them.
Bridges’ defense was already a given – perhaps not fully appreciated, but known. His rise has arrived. He looks more comfortable in his own skin, not afraid to attack downhill and less hesitant against uncork-trees. His decision-making about discs is no longer a hidden gem, and he even opted for a pull-up triple:
Johnson, de nr. 11 overall choice in 2019, the performance pressure day impressions have basically surpassed the entire season. His touch outside is for real – his 35.9 percent clip of the bubble is below its season-long mark of 39.2 percent – and he is not diving. Decisions to shoot, dribble or pass are made quickly.
Rubio has long provided an air of stability, one that loses Booker’s burden as they play in tandem and live to limit defense. He’s an imperfect player, yes, but he’s given the Suns a boost earlier.
Some of what happens at Disney will be an outlier. Rubio’s 43.5 percent clip from outside the arc will not hold. Still, Cameron Payne will retire half of his trey forever. Jevon Carter will pick up defensive assignments in the parking lot until the end of time, but his own scoring efficiency – 54.2 percent from distance – will come down.
There is merit to how Phoenix looks three-point, but their top-six defense since the rebound cannot be considered the new standard. Dario Saric’s burning earth is a real surprise.
Is it weird that the Suns do this without Aron Baynes? And Oubre? And on a more macro level, who knows exactly how much the reboot will inform the future. They got iterations of G-League from the Sixers and Oklahoma City Thunder, along with a Miami Heat squad that did not have Jimmy Butler or Goran Dragic.
Are the Bubble Suns for real? That’s TBD. But that does not make what they do less impressive.Ashley Landis / Associated Press
Expensive calls also await the franchise. Baynes and Saric (limited) are heavy free agents. The bank needs long-term relief for shooting, and Payne is probably not the answer.
Phoenix would do well to stay with their current starting five of Rubio, Booker, Bridges, Johnson and Ayton, who have a plus-25.9 net rating, but that complicates Oubre’s fit. He has one more year left on his contract and does not have the playmaking chops after pilot lineups as the primary initiator. Do the Suns shop him? What can they get for him? And what can they often attach to him without mortgaging their future too heavily?
Playing in the West only complicates matters. It’s nice to say that the Suns are on the verge of controversy with full tilt season. It’s another thing for them to do.
Currently, all 15 teams profile themselves next year as playoff hopefuls. A few will inevitably remove themselves from the fury, but the conference will not be worthwhile shallow compared to this season. Phoenix has read too much in false start and non-start before. Doubling up on this core is not without risk.
And yet the nuts and bolts of the bigger picture of the Suns are a problem for another day, at a time when their season is actually over. At the moment it is not. And whether they bowed out for the play-in tournament, lost or earned the right to pester the Lakers for five-ish games, they deserved their preservation.
To be here at all, in a position to even dream about the postseason, is an enviable feat and not to be taken lightly. It does not matter what happened before or that it took an unusual playoff format amid a worldwide pandemic to give the Suns this chance.
They have it, they make the most of it, and thus they have left a lasting impression that, small example to eyes, feels more like a manifestation than a stopgap.
Unless otherwise noted, stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference of Cleaning the Glass and current section in Wednesday’s games. Salary and cap-hold information via Basketball Insiders, Early Bird Rights and Spotrac.
Dan Favale occupies the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale), and listen to his Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by B / R’s Adam Fromal.
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