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The Phoenix Suns have assigned rookie Archie Goodwin to the D-League Bakersfield Jam for the weekend. He will only miss the Suns game tonight, against Washington, and will meet his big-boy team for the road trip that starts in Cleveland.
Per Paul Coro of azcentral.com, it's just a weekend jaunt to shake off the rust and get some playing time.
The league's second youngest player, Archie Goodwin, has recently lost his spot in the rotation to 10-year veteran Leandro Barbosa as the Phoenix Suns go on a playoff run. He's played only sparingly and doesn't appear to have big role for the rest of the season, barring injuries.
What better to do with a 19 year old kid than send him to play in the developmental league for a couple of games this weekend?
Well, something better might be to send him off for more than just a couple of games. Goodwin needs to play somewhere. As the season rolls along, the team has fewer and fewer practices in lieu of recovery time between games.
But the Suns have never been big on the D-League, hardly using it over the past several years when the same situation occurred where a rookie wasn't playing much. Two games here, five games there.
The Celtics never used the D-League much either, when current Suns GM Ryan McDonough was in their front office.
Many feel that the best experience for a young guy is to practice with his team, build relationships there, and see how a real NBA team runs. If you go to the D-League, you're just playing in a different environment under different rules and it's simply a chance to get your legs again.
McDonoughs taking over
When Ryan McDonough took over the Suns last summer, he was able to bring along some family. His brother Terry, an NFL front office guy, got a job as a scout for the Cardinals at the same time.
Now, Terry has been promoted to Vice President of Player Personnel for the Cardinals.
If the valley is going to make it's mark on the nation in the next few years, it will be thanks to the Boston-bred McDonough brothers.
Now all we need is for brother Sean, a play-by-play announcer for college football, to get a gig in the area.
Father Wil, since passed away, would be proud as will be Valley residents when both McDonough teams make the playoffs in 2014 (one can hope, right?).