Phoenix Suns Weekly Player Rankings: February 17 - February 23

1. Goran Dragic

Weekly Average: 18 points, 12 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals in 39 minutes of play

What an impressive week from the Dragon. Not only did he reach a career high in assists against Portland with 18 (Tied for the second highest of any point guard so far this season), he racked up 10 assists in each of his other games as well. Top that off with his 18 point scoring, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals per game averages, and you can easily say this was the best week of his career so far. More please!

2. Jermaine O'Neal:

Weekly Average: 12 points, 9 rebounds, 1 block in 20 minutes of play

Jermaine O'Neal is playing at such a high level right now that it's almost a shame he doesn't get to do it for a team who could really use him. Don't get me wrong, apparently he wants to be here and the Suns love having him as well as the fans, but I can't understand why a contender didn't offer up a solid deal to acquire him. O'Neal outplayed his younger, starting counter part this week, and it wasn't the first time he's done so either. He's a force to be reckoned with down low and is playing great basketball all-around.

3. Luis Scola

Weekly Average: 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assist in 18 minutes of play

Scola's minutes have been inconsistent lately...Playing as many as 30 some nights and as little as 14 on others. Still, when he's on the court he's one of the most reliable options the Suns have, and he produces accordingly. Luis is the consummate professional of the team and you know what to expect from him night in and night out.

4. Jared Dudley

Weekly Average: 11 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists in 30 minutes of play

Dudley bounced back from a disappointing couple of weeks and started getting back to his old self recently. I believe the trade rumors affected him more than most people realize, and it likely hurt his production. Now that all of that is over, I expect Dudley to re-energize and get continue to get back to doing what he does best.

5. Marcin Gortat

Weekly Average: 10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block in 23 minutes of play

Gortat just didn't seem to really get in going this week. His averages were down across the board, and he never reached double-digit rebounding all week...even against the small front line of Boston. Not sure if it's rust from the All-Star break, or a post-trade rumor malaise, but the Suns need the Polish machine back and fast.

6. P.J. Tucker

Weekly Average: 5 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists in 26 minutes of play

Tucker still isn't lighting up the score board or the stat line, but if you watch the games you know exactly how important he is to the team. P.J. is also starting to get more comfortable on the offensive end of the ball and is demonstrating a nice all-around game lately. Let's hope he continues to progress in this respect...the Suns could sure use it.

7. Wesley Johnson

Weekly Average: 8 points, 5 rebounds in 20 minutes of play

Smilin' Wes has a lot to smile about this week. He has finally been "freed", and for the most part earned his stay in the rotation. Johnson is what he is, a catch and shoot perimeter wing who can defend and rebound pretty well. In this respect he did fairly well this week, going 9/19 from the field overall.

8. Markieff Morris

Weekly Average: 8 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assists in 21 minutes of play

Morris has been struggling lately, but he seemed to do pretty well against the Celtics scoring 11 points on 5/8 shooting (without taking any three point shots). Maybe bringing in his brother Marcus will be just what the doctor ordered for both of these players. Maybe Markieff will let his brother focus on the perimeter scoring while he gets back to doing what he does best...scoring in the paint.

9. Michael Beasley

Weekly Average: 6 points, 3 rebounds in 13 minutes of play

After several consecutive weeks of Beasley showing improvement and becoming productive, Beasley took a pretty big step back again this week. He shot an ugly and inefficient 6/22 over the past three games while jacking up poor shot selections (which of course goes hand-in-hand). Beas has the skill to be one of the top 3 players on the team when he's playing with his head screwed on right...hopefully head coach Lindsey Hunter can get him re-focused.

10. Kendall Marshall

Weekly Average: 2 points, 3 assists in 13 minutes of play

Marshall wasn't much of a factor this week, and topped it off with a pretty bad game against the Celtics going 1/7 from the field and only registering 4 assists in 19 minutes of play. In Marshall's defense, his shots didn't look bad and they nearly all rimmed out; but if they don't drop they don't count. I like the fact he is taking more shots and trying to become more aggressive though, he will need to continue to do this as a big part of his development going forward.

*Honorable Mention - Marcus Morris

Weekly Average (1 game): 7 points, 2 rebounds in 6 minutes of play

Although this is only a top ten list, and Marcus certainly didn't play enough to crack the weekly rankings, I had to at least included a short blurb about how well he played in his very limited minutes with zero practice time against Boston. Marcus wasn't even expected to play against the Celtics after arriving the night before once officially traded to the Suns for a second round pick, but the newest Morris twin was given 6 minutes of garbage time once the game got out of hand and immediately stepped in and produced. Yes it was against the Celtic backups during exhibition time, but the offensive skills of Marcus were easily apparent. I expect to see him make the top 10 list next week...Who will he supplant?

So there you have it. Feel free to share your opinion in the comments below!