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As a writer in the offseason, one of my jobs is to look at this roster and make predictions. That means sometimes we can be right on those and look like geniuses. Other times, you can predict something and look like an utter fool. That is what comes with the job, and looking back at my predictions from this offseason made me realize I was right on two of my main ones but completely wrong on one.
As someone who works in this media space, it is correct to ride that high horse when you predict something correctly, but it is even MORE important to recognize when you are wrong. To take that step back and admit that you can make a mistake evaluating something, and that is what we will do in this piece.
Now you may be wondering what that take may be? Well, it would be one that I have preached since writing here, that being the Suns should have traded Royce O’Neale and Grayson Allen last offseason.
Yeah, I know, fire those boos at me, but this is how I truly felt in the summer months leading up to this year. With the team switching directions and pivoting to this youth movement, I expected them to be in the lottery this year. With this in mind, Royce and Grayson are not getting any younger, so move off them to fully reset into a soft rebuild.
I can confidently say I was one hundred percent wrong. Both of these veterans have been exactly what this team needs in role players. They step up when the team needs them most (especially late with injuries) and have both grown on the court this season, fitting this culture perfectly.
That is the best thing about bringing in Brian Gregory as the GM. From the beginning, with his press conferences, he always pushed the narrative of fit over talent for this new style of Suns team, and it has worked better than we all anticipated.
So, how have these guys truly shone this season and set themselves up to be great leaders for this new regime of Phoenix Suns basketball?
Well, first off, they both fit the culture perfectly. Truly, this team, top to bottom, represents an identity of hardworking effort and giving a damn on both ends of the basketball court, and it shows out there on the court. Regardless of whether it’s a close game, you can never count on this team, and a large part of that comes from these two veterans.
Regardless of whether it’s fighting through hard screens, pushing for aggressive steals, making last-ditch efforts to try and get a hand up to contest the shot, making plays on loose balls, or trying to create a play off one, they have embraced that. I can never count them out of doing the little things that do not get noticed on the stat sheet, but definitely impact games.
For example, take the game the other night against the Los Angeles Lakers. A late-game comeback at home that had every fan on their feet from the Royce O’Neale game-winner, but what about their offensive possession before that?
Well, after Austin Reaves tied the game at 108, the Suns had a minute left and had Grayson Allen trying to drive to the basket. Looking for a play where they could use some of their ball movement to free up a shooter, he continued to try to drive with attempts from Ryan Dunn to set a screen on his man. After Dunn got Jake LaRavia off Allen and switched Luka Doncic onto him, he drove, getting by Luka and forcing LaRavia to help. This allowed Allen to pass to Dunn, who then swung it back to Allen for the three. Yet while all this was going on, Royce O’Neale was at the three-point line, just waiting for a shot or an opportunity to crash the glass. With Allen taking the three and missing, O’Neale recognizes this and immediately runs to the basket with no rim protectors in sight. This gives him the easiest give-me rebound and points to give the Suns the lead once again. These types of plays, of just making smart winning basketball moves and knowing where to be or when to time the crash, are key with his veteran presence this year.
I also mentioned their steals and aggressiveness on that end, too. That comes into play with how they like to disrupt the opponent’s tempo and try to push it to their liking. Multiple times over the last few games, we have seen swings of 7 or 8-0 from the Suns generated from these turnovers created by both of these players. They both are also averaging career highs in steals, with Allen averaging 1.4 and O’Neale tying his best at 1.1 per game.
Then you look at the offensive side of the ball, where they have embraced the great three-point shooting that the team excels in. At the start of the year, both players were in the top 5 in 3pt% across the league. Even though they may not be in there at this moment, both have gotten hot at big times for the team this year and have won games single-handedly because of the big shots hit late. Let’s not all forget the game where Grayson Allen beat the record for most threes made in a game with ten. That game was electric, as he dropped 42 points, his career high, and broke not only a personal but also a team high.
Allen’s ability to take command of the offense alongside O’Neale and Collin GIllepsie as of late, with no Dillon Brooks or Devin Booker, is also key to his improvement. One of his struggles heading into this year was his ball handling, but Allen has polished that with more on-ball reps throughout the year. His 3.9 assists per game are his career high, showing that with those reps, he has developed as a playmaker, too. The big key, though, is his driving ability and how much attention he draws on those plays.
One of the Phoenix Suns media members and employees for PHNX, Stephen PridGeon-Garner, has harped on this all offseason and heading into the year. This is where I learned about the impact of Allen’s driving capability and what it brings to this Suns offense. After listening to his takes and watching more and more games, you can see the analysis is spot on. Having these different perspectives and understandings of the game sheds light on areas you might not naturally think about or pay attention to, leading to better basketball discussion. I appreciate Stephen for highlighting this specific part of Allen’s game and breaking it down to raise more awareness of the parts of basketball that are not always mentioned.
So in totality, I was completely wrong about Royce and Grayson heading into the year. I am willing to admit that, and I hope you realize how valuable these two can truly be for the roster this season and heading into the playoffs. I am happy that the Suns kept them post-deadline and did not make a massive switch to pivot this year. Ride this year out with this squad as it surpassed expectations, and evaluate in the offseason when the playing field is open.