There have been a few Suns players that have outdone themselves this season, and others that have not been meeting expectations.
What began as a turbulent season has begun to look like a promising one for the Phoenix Suns. After trading for Kevin Durant a year ago at the trade deadline and Bradley Beal last summer, the team’s depth took a big hit and many doubted whether they could have legitimate championship aspirations.
Those doubts were only magnified when the Suns began the year with injury troubles and other inconsistencies, stumbling to a below .500 record after their loss to the Mavericks on Christmas. But as we know, things have turned around in a big way since then.
Phoenix now sits at 33-22 headed into post All-Star competition, and sit at fifth in the stacked Western Conference. To this point in the season, there have been several standout performers that have gone beyond what their expectations were, while some others are falling short of what was expected of them.
Exceeding expectations: Royce O’Neale
The newest Sun and the lone acquisition for the team at the trade deadline, Royce O’Neale comes to Phoenix and looks to be provide exactly what they have been looking for: more depth at wing and a solid contributor who can make timely shots and defend at at least a solid level.
O’Neale may be a little on the older side at this point in his career, but he can be an excellent contributor for this team going forward, and he has already showcased that in just three games with the Suns so far. It is a small sample size, but Royce is knocking down 46% of his three-point shots and has been adept at defending multiple positions.
Phoenix already has plenty of scoring power. They did not need to bring in more players that can turn defenders around without doing much else. O’Neale was nearly the perfect addition they could have made, and three games in he is already showing why they made the right choice pursuing him.
Underperforming: Bradley Beal
To be clear, this segment is not meant to take a dig at Bradley Beal or his talent. He remains one of the premier isolation scorers in the NBA, and his contributions to the Suns have been significant. That said, it is fair to say that many would still argue he has performed below what many expected this season.
Coming in to this first year with his new team, Beal had been putting up at least 20 points per game in his last seven seasons in a row. This season, he is averaging just 18.2 points on average per night. You can chalk a lot of that up to injury trouble and the fact that he has not consistently been on the floor all season long.
But at the end of the day, Beal is doing less than what we thought he would. In the end, that may not end up being a bad thing. Playing next to two of the only players in the league that are better off-the-dribble scorers than him, it is not a bad idea to conserve some of Beal’s energy for the playoffs.
If this core remains together in the long run, Beal would likely be able to elongate his career by being relied upon less to score as well as being targeted less by opposing lockdown defenders.
Exceeding expectations: Grayson Allen
Compared to his expectations coming into the season, Grayson Allen may have had the largest impact of any Suns player this year. You may look at his 12.8 points per game average and scoff at that statement, but Grayson has been a legitimate stud on both ends of the floor for Phoenix all season.
When Allen landed with the Suns as part of the three-team deal that sent Damian Lillard to the Bucks in September, most viewed him as only a minor addition to the team. After all, he did not even average scoring in double figures for his career coming into 2023-24, and his career shooting numbers were certainly nothing special.
But up until a few weeks ago, Grayson was putting up shooting splits for the season that would put him in the highly elite 50/40/90% club. Since then, only his free throw percentage has dipped enough to take him out of that category. Allen is still shooting over 50% from the field and an astounding 48% from three.
That number makes him the top three-point shooter in the NBA this season percentage wise, and he is a full two percentage points above Luke Kennard who sits at number two. While locking up on defense as well, Allen has easily exceeded his expectations this season and could be a big reason the Suns go far in the playoffs.
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