Chriss and Booker, the future for Phoenix

“I understand the small ball. Small ball is because a 6-7 guy can move his feet and hands like a guard, but now you’ve got a 7-footer [Karl-Anthony Towns] that can do the same. In three years, if someone has two 7-footers that can move their feet, then we’re going back to the twin towers”. That was Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari‘s statement after the Golden State Warriors won the finals in 2015. While the origin of “small ball” goes back a few decades, watching an Nba team win the finals with a 6-7 center certainly brought many people to reconsider their approach. Yet, coach Cal is right: Draymond Green cannot play the ‘5’ for a whole game (and he does not). For small ball to be possible, you need real big men. It might seem counterintuitive, but being taller than the opponents is still an advantage in this game, and you can already hear Red Auerbach reminding everyone that you cannot teach height. But a team’s forwards and centers can play at the rim and make plays off the dribble and shoot threes. They can be Unicorns. And in order to understand small ball, it is necessary to understand modern frontcourt players.

The team that is trying to make Calipari’s vision come true is the Phoenix Suns. Earl Watson is coaching a fascinating roster that is still way too young to be good.

Devin Booker is such a great talent he can already change the course of a single game on his own, at least on offense. And he just turned twenty. At 6-6 with a 6-8 wingspan, he has a lot of work to do to be effective on defense, but he has the tools. He will not have the kind of highlight dunks other guards might have, but it’s not like he lacks the tools.

He is a scorer who can hurt any defense in every way. On isolation, as the pick&roll ball handler, pulling up off the dribble, catch&shoot, stepback jumpers, attacking the paint. He has it all. He should improve his court vision, but even if he does not, he might be a perennial All Star and the most snubbed superstar of his draft class at the same time.

Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender were two of the great mysteries of the 2016 draft. They are an intriguing duo and might end up being one of the most devastating frontcourt pairing in the Nba, with both having the potential to play inside and outside the three-point line. Modern offenses are all about moving the opposing defense, forcing defenders to make mistakes on switches or helps, relying on talent as much as on IQ and reads.

And that’s why Dragan Bender seems to be the perfect player for the modern game. At 7-foot-1, he has been stashed in the small forward spot to protect him from the physicality of the bigger positions, but it’s not like he can not handle it. He came into the league with the credentials of an excellent passer and of a defender who could hold his own on the perimeter and, as forward or center, could switch on smaller, faster guards. In the 10 minutes per game he has been playing so far he seemed like an 18-year-old who is still trying to figure it out, but he is an 18-year-old who just uprooted his life (again) to move to Phoenix, so the early struggles were to be expected. The team has a better offense when he is on the floor, and a worse defense. Everything is as it should be for a rookie. It might be a good idea to play him a bit more, and in the only game he played more than 20 minutes, a loss against Portland in early November, he did a good job defending the pick&roll and occasionally switching on Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, who kept targeting him on defense. Just watch the last play in the video below.

Chriss might be his future partner in crime. At 6-10, he showed good potential on his three-point shot, a tool he has to develop to unleash his athleticism on the court. Unlike Bender, Chriss can jump off the roof, and he proved it plenty of times in Washington last season. He must learn to see passing lanes: he can beat anyone on his first step, but when the help comes, he has to make the right play. As of now, he just keeps going and eventually fumbles the ball or gets called for an offensive foul. Again, he is only 18 years old and that will change. So far, he has been playing 15 minutes per game, but he is already a starter for the Suns.

And no one should forget about 7-1 Alex Len, who is only 23 years old. He is unlikely to have a starting role in the future, but he might easily be a good rotation player (8.9 points and 8.4 rebounds in 24 minutes per game this season). And the Suns might toy with ultra-big lineups with Bender, Chriss and Len on the court.

The Suns have a sure-thing in Booker and a frontcourt with huge upside. They also have two good wings in T.J. Warren and Derrick Jones who might not be stars but could still be part of the core in the future. Warren is in his third year and if he will continue to play as well as he has been doing, he is a serious candidate to the Most Improved Player award at season end. His numbers improved every year, except for those that measure offensive efficiency, making him a volume shooter in his career who can not get it done from outside the arc (30.8% on 2 attempts per game) and still unable to get fouled and live at the free-throw line. Despite everything, he is averaging 18 points per game. His defense will have to improve, but his potential to be in the rotation for a playoff team is there, just like his athleticism. At 6-7, he can get to the rim easily, and he shows great awareness here in spinning back for an open dunk on an ATO play that won the game for the Suns.

When talking about playing above the rim, Derrick Jones is probably the best player at roster for the Suns. He will not find much playing time this season and will be stashed in D-League, but his athleticism is unreal.

Looking at this roster, at the athleticism, frame and height of these players, Tyler Ulis seems to be in the wrong place. Calipari said that Ulis is the best floor general he has ever coached (better than John Wall). That should be taken with a grain of salt, but in a league that has athletic monsters at every guard spot, one wonders what kind of future a 5-10 guard with zero chance to bulk up his small frame might have. Ulis still showed flashes of talents and has been very active on defense (1.4 steals in 11 minutes per game), beside showing off the court vision Ncaa fans know very well. It will be interesting to see what the Suns will do next June on draft night, because of course they will pick in the lottery, and there will be plenty of talented point-guards available. What if the Suns had to choose Lonzo Ball? At 6-5, he might be the shortest player on the court for the Suns, they might have lineups with 5 players who can play both at the rim and behind the three-point line. And Ball, now at UCLA, is showing great court vision and the ability to control the pace and run the offense. That’s a scary thought.

It is impossible to know just yet if Calipari’s vision will come true, too many things could go wrong for this plan to pan out. But if the Suns will be able to develop their players, and it will not be easy or quick, they have the potential to be a superpower in the league for a decade. In the meantime, they’ll be a fun watch on league pass.