2012-2013 Season Review
Record: 25-57
Scoring Margin: -6.48 (28th)
The Suns were a hot mess this past season. Based on points per 100 possessions they were the second worst offense, "bested" by only the disastrous Wizards. At least DC was a top 10 defense, poor Phoenix was in the bottom third defensively as well.
Team Strengths
Free agent point guard Goran Dragic was good (PER 17.5), but certainly not good enough to be a franchise player. He's a good scorer and distributor, but only shot 32% from distance.
Marcin Gortat is a decent rim protector and does a good job on the boards and scoring on putbacks. Louis Scola is a highly skilled big who struggles to guard his position. Jared Dudley is a terrific glue guy but fairly useless on a team this bad.
Looking ahead, they'll potentially have decent cap space in the summer of 2014.
Team Weaknesses
Direction. In this post-Nash era, nobody knows where they Suns are going. Certainly not their players and coaches. Establishing a winning culture and attitude is paramount here. Interim head coach Lindsay Hunter is a well respected veteran player, but his chops as a coach are as yet unknown. Can he turn this thing around?
If they win the lottery...
If this section feels repetitive across teams, that's because it is. The Suns won't be good any time soon so Nerlens Noel is the type of long-term prospect they could start to build off.
If they don't win the lottery...
They will likely have a top 6 pick.
Ben McLemore will probably get a long look even at #1 for them. Michael Beasley failed terribly as a primary scoring option last season, and McLemore would be an instant upgrade.
Anthony Bennett could do a lot worse than learning the ins and outs of the power forward position from Louis Scola. If he can add a few tricks from the offensively crafty Argentinean to his athletic frame, he could be dangerous.
Victor Oladipo has the type of winning character, toughness, athleticism, and defensive willingness that coach Hunter is craving. He wouldn't provide the offensive punch they need right now, but Oladipo might be the best pick to help change the team culture.
Otto Porter has so much talent, if the guys above are off the board he's a no-brainer as an asset moving forward.
Alex Len is the seven-footer du jour and could be a nice long-term project.
Dark Horse Alert
If they decide that Dragic isn't the answer at PG, they might consider drafting Trey Burke and try to trade The Dragon. His contract is semi-palatable for an above-average starter (3 years $22.5M).
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