To grasp how one can be underrated, the definition for rated must be first observed, obviously. Taking a page out of the apathetic/lazy/Jeff Winger best man speech how-to guide and textbook, Webster’s Dictionary states that rate (and its many tenses) is to “assign a standard or value to (something) according to a particular scale.” In
Phoenix Suns
To say the events of the past three or so weeks were irregular would be the understatement of the year. And during an already tragic year for the NBA, the league made the tough choice to postpone the season, prior to government intervention, on Wednesday, Mar. 11. In the two-plus weeks since the COVID-19 outbreak
Always one of the most entertaining times of the year, the trade deadline is an annual must-see event for basketball fans. But in addition to the excitement it brings, it can also introduce a headwind of confusion. Case in point: The three-team trade between the New York Knicks, Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Clippers. After
Cameron Johnson was one of the more surprising reaches in the 2019 NBA Draft, but is that risk already paying off for the Phoenix Suns? Make no mistake about it: When the Phoenix Suns traded down from the sixth overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft to add Dario Saric and eventually draft Cameron Johnson
The NBA All-Stars rosters didn’t have many misses but Russell Westbrook taking a spot from Devin Booker was a huge one. What made Russell Westbrook the 2017 NBA MVP is the same thing that will make him an All-Star in 2020. His reputation for the spectacular. An attraction to hard-nosedness on the part of fans,
Before we begin, something, or someone, needs to be addressed- the death of one Kobe “Bean” Bryant. The NBA community lost one of its biggest icons over the weekend when Bryant lost his life in a helicopter crash. This news is very tragic seeing how popular Kobe was both during and after his time in
The Raptors have overachieved in a ridiculous way in 2019-20. They were +700 to repeat as NBA champions prior to the 2019 free agency period, according to the Draft Kings. Immediately after Kawhi Leonard fled West, the Raptors’ odds grew to +2200 to repeat – tied with the Celtics, who just lost Kyrie Irving, and
Winning in the NBA is not easy by any means — but a victory on the road is almost more valuable than one at home. Maybe not as far as standings are concerned, but road wins are harder to come by in the league. Being able to get victories away from home can shoot your
With the trade deadline only a few weeks away, teams are zeroing in on potential deals. Some teams hope to improve for a playoff push, while others are looking to capitalize on the urgency of contenders. Whichever side of that equation your favorite team finds itself on, they are surely weighing all of their options.
Mikal Bridges’ numbers are underwhelming at first glance, but he’s the linchpin behind the Phoenix Suns’ recent success and their long-term goals. In most cases, a 3-and-D wing averaging fewer than seven points a night and shooting below 30 percent from 3-point range would be considered wholly underwhelming, and that’s before adding the designation of
Yes, the Phoenix Suns are experimenting with Deandre Ayton and Aron Baynes in the starting lineup. Is Ayton at the 4 viable or even survivable? In the 3-point heavy, pace-and-space NBA, traditional positions of old are fading into legend. Switchability is king, seven-footers who can do more than just post up are labeled as mythical
The Kings, Suns and Timberwolves are all theoretically in the playoff hunt in the Western Conference. Who needs that spot the most? So it looks like the NBA draft lottery works! Three teams who miserably tripped over themselves en route to top-10 picks repeatedly over the course of a decade are right in the playoff
The Phoenix Suns are still well ahead of where many expected, but could be even better if not for injuries, suspension and brutal growing pains. How this young team handles adversity will define what comes next. The Phoenix Suns are better than their 11-15 record. They just might have a tough time proving it as
A point guard with the rap sheet that Chris Paul has does not deserve an anticlimactic ending. Now that he’s being paid almost $40 million in his mid-30’s to lead an average team in a Western Conference that won’t accept anything less than elite, it sure seems like his career is headed that way. It’s
The Phoenix Suns were widely criticized for signing Ricky Rubio over the summer, but he’s already paying dividends for one the NBA’s biggest pleasant surprises. When the Phoenix Suns gave Ricky Rubio a three-year, $51 million contract in free agency this summer, pundits put the “critical” in “hypocritical” with their evaluations. Although the Suns had
With each passing day, it becomes more and more apparent how much pressure Deandre Ayton faces once he’s finally able to return for the Phoenix Suns. For a guy who hasn’t played since the team’s season opener, Deandre Ayton remains the hot topic of conversation among the Phoenix Suns fanbase. That’s typical for any No.
The Phoenix Suns are the biggest pleasant surprise in the NBA, but it’s time to start taking them seriously as a team that could contend for a playoff spot. The Phoenix Suns are 5-2 to start the 2019-20 NBA season, and the question that’s on everyone’s minds — the one fans are terrified to ask,
Frank Kaminsky was one of the biggest bright spots of the preseason for the Phoenix Suns, but will that momentum carry over to the regular season? After spending most of the 2018-19 campaign on the Charlotte Hornets’ bench, Frank Kaminsky was in need of a change of scenery. Ironically enough, he found it by heading
The NBA season is still very young, but some disappointing starts are just that – disappointing. Meaning that they can exist on their own without knowing the end result. Certain players and teams around the league surprised us with their unexpectedly strong play, and others have left us scratching our heads and wondering what’s went
It seems silly this outcome was ever in question, but in leading the surprising Phoenix Suns, Devin Booker is proving he’s already an NBA superstar. For the first four seasons of Devin Booker‘s career, questions persisted about whether he was really a winning player. Sure, he could score, but was he anything more than a
It may be just a few weeks into the season, but a myriad of storylines have already made their social media and television rounds, chief among them players that seem to have taken a leap on the court and are emerging as game-changers or even potential stars. Many of these spots could be taken by
Our writers answer some of the most interesting questions of the young NBA season, including Brandon Ingram‘s finishing and more. 1. More surprising — Brandon Ingram shooting 48.6 percent on 3s or Brandon Ingram shooting 66 percent on drives? Louis Zatzman (@LouisZatzman): A hot, early-season shooting percentage is like a monogamous relationship; it takes forever
Losing Deandre Ayton should’ve been a death sentence for the Phoenix Suns, but instead, Aron Baynes has stepped in perfectly for the NBA’s most surprising team. When Deandre Ayton‘s 25-game suspension for violating the NBA’s Anti-Drug Policy was announced, it felt like more of the same misery that’s hovered over the Phoenix Suns for the
Listen, if you’ve found yourself here at this exact moment in late October and/or/potentially early November, there’s likely only one thing on your newly-refined, basketball-obsessed minds: hot takes. Make ‘em as hot as you can. And none of that Cholula weak sauce spiciness either — no, let’s sear some taste buds off and shoot them
For the second year in a row, the Phoenix Suns opened their season with a dominant home win. Here’s why this time actually feels different. Last year, the Phoenix Suns opened their 2018-19 season at home with an impressive 21-point win over the Dallas Mavericks. With a new head coach at the helm, veterans on
From potential training camp cut to backup point guard and late-game finisher, Jevon Carter has been an unexpected revelation for the Phoenix Suns. Four games is a microscopic sample size, and the Phoenix Suns still have a long way to go in proving their promising start is for real. But for Jevon Carter, the team’s
Three games into the NBA season and there has already been an abundance of fun and exciting storylines. Trae Young and Karl Anthony-Towns have played like MVP candidates, while the Golden State Warriors have looked like one of the worst teams in the league and Dwight Howard has contributed to winning basketball. While exciting, these
The Phoenix Suns just can’t have nice things, as star center Deandre Ayton is facing a 25-game suspension for violating the NBA’s Anti-Drug policy. It legitimately took less than 24 hours. Not even a full day after the Phoenix Suns enjoyed one of their most encouraging wins in recent memory, a 124-95 thrashing of the
Here we go again! Last year, this writer dove into what the association was like ten years before the incoming season. Now here we are again. We’re traveling back to the year 2010. Back when the iPad was first sweeping the nation, the economy was still in the toilet, and the Toy Story trilogy had
Anything can happen in the NBA. Every season, there are so many things that seem to come out of the blue, whether it be a team that was or wasn’t expected to be competitive or big trade that no one saw coming. There is just too much randomness involved in the day-to-day to be certain