Maybe
Eli Apple Jersey , just maybe, the worst is behind the Phoenix Suns.Their 50th anniversary season was awful, even worse than the two that came before.
For the eighth season in a row, the Suns won’t make the playoffs. The win totals the past three seasons: 23, 24 and – this year 21. That 21-61 mark is the
worst since Phoenix went 16-66 in its inaugural 1968-69 season.
The season devolved in the final months, with injuries depleting the already exceedingly young roster, leaving a contingent of G League transfers to fill out
the lineup in the final days. The Suns lost a franchise-record 15 straight in
one stretch.
Now, everyone involved is insisting, enough is enough.
”I’m done with not making the playoffs,” rising star Devin Booker said as the players cleaned out their lockers and conducted exit interviews Wednesday. ”I’m
serious. This is probably my last year ever not making the playoffs. If that’s
putting pressure on myself, I’m going to take this summer and work that hard so
that it doesn’t happen again.”
His goal is ”turning the franchise around and getting it back how it used to be.”
8”You watch the highlights of Barkley, Nash and them and how alive the arena was,” Booker said. ”So one of my goals is to get it back that way.”
Booker, T.J. Warren and rookie Josh Jackson form the core of the young talent the Suns have accumulated. Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss could be part of
it, too, although their development has been uneven.
But Phoenix needs experienced players
12th Fan Jersey , and not just old guys to cheer on from the sidelines.
”The voice in the locker room or the voice when they’re teaching carries a lot more weight when the person is contributing,” interim coach Jay Triano said,
”not just there as a teacher. … They need those guys on the court to
follow.”
General manager Ryan McDonough agrees the time is come to ratchet up investment. To begin with, Phoenix has the most ping pong balls in the May 15
lottery and a chance at the No. 1 overall pick. At worst, the Suns will draft
No. 4. They will have one, and maybe two, more first-round picks.
”We’ll be one of five or six teams with more than $10 million in cap space,” McDonough said, ”and I think we have the ability to create significantly more if
we want it.”
So the assets are there if they can be translated into needed players, and not teenagers, except that early first-round pick.
Three years of concentrating on acquiring this young talent is long enough, McDonough said.
”If you go beyond that I think the losing starts to set in and the guys start to become accustomed to that and the bar is lower,” he said. ”Next year we’re
going to try to raise the bar. We’re going to try to raise our standards. We
won’t be as young. We won’t have nearly as many young players as we had last
year.”
announced their pick near the end of the draft's
first day. "I know I'm going to learn a lot from him and become a better player,
a better wide receiver. I'm just very, very happy to be in that
organization."
His excitement was tempered somewhat by where he was picked in the draft .
Flashing the confidence that is a trademark of all great receivers
Tyreek Hill Jersey , Ridley was clearly surprised that he didn't go much higher.
game in the closing minutes of regulation before Alabama defeated Southeastern
Conference rival Georgia 26-23 in overtime.
Ridley will also be reunited with Steve Sarkisian
Rick Leonard Jersey , who was briefly the Crimson Tide's offensive coordinator before taking the same role with the Falcons.
"He was real cool," Ridley recalled. "He was trying to get me that ball, I know that."
While the Falcons had no overly pressing needs after their second straight trip to the playoffs, they were looking to bulk up the interior of the defensive
line. Dontari Poe was lost in free agency, signing with division rival Carolina
to leave a hole in Atlanta's run defense.
But with Ridley still on the board, the Falcons decided to address those needs later in the draft. They passed on the chance to draft another SEC player,
Florida defensive tackle Taven Bryan, who went shortly afterward to the
Jacksonville Jaguars at No. 29.
"We definitely had other guys in our sights," Dimitroff said. "They're both very good football players. In the end, we decided to go with offense."
It was a change of philosophy from the last three years.
Since Quinn came aboard as coach in 2015, defense had been the No. 1 priority. The last three first-round picks were all from that side of the line:
defensive end Vic Beasley Jr. in 2015, safety Keanu Neal in 2016 and end
Takkarist McKinley a year ago.
Quinn smiled when asked if it was difficult to pass up another defensive player.
"We were prepared to go a couple of different ways," Quinn said. "When this opportunity came about, we felt it was the best one for our team."
Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at
s://apnews/search/paul%20newberry
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