Center of the Sun: Where will the Phoenix Suns' record stand at mid-season?

Welcome to the weekly news roundup of your Phoenix Suns.

The Fantable Questions

Last week I asked the Fantable members for their predictions for how the Suns would fare in their first 20 games. Sun-Arc and SDKyle both predicted that the Suns would finish the first 20 games of the season with a 9-11 (.450) record. SouthernSun predicted a 12-8 (.600) record at that point and the ever optimistic GuarGuar predicted they would go 13-7 (.650). When averaging all of their predictions together you get a 11-9 (.550) record for that stretch which I think anyone would be happy with given the expectations for the Suns this season.

That part of the schedule looks to be relatively easy (13 home games and only six opponents that finished last season with records over .500). It definitely gets harder after that so this week I asked them to give me their predictions for the next 21 games which would take us to the midpoint of the season. Of those 21 games, only 8 are at home with 13 on the road although eleven are against teams that finished at or below .500 last season. There are also five back-to-backs in this stretch of games which starts off with a six game road trip to the East.

Their Predictions for the next 21 games

GuarGuar: I have us going 10-11 in this next stretch of 21 games. This is a pretty tough stretch so playing around .500 ball would be fantastic. As you all know I make these predictions with the outcome of us sneaking into the playoffs. So while going 4-16 during this stretch is very possible, I'll stick with the more positive outlook.

Sun-Arc: I predict the Suns go 9-12 in the next 21 games, which puts us on schedule for 36 wins, although I don’t think we’ll get that many. I had previously predicted around 33 wins. Probably lower, especially if we trade Bled. Tyson could be traded too. If we go all youth again, it could be 30 or fewer wins.

36 wins would have put us in 10th place in the west and 20th overall, resulting around the 10th pick.

33 would be 11th place in the west and 22nd overall resulting around the 8th pick.

30 wins would be 5th worst record and a top 5 pick.

SDKyle: My prediction assumes that the Suns are still playing hard to win and aren't already in semi-tank mode by game 25. I gave them the benefit of the doubt in a couple of games where they'll probably be dogs, but ultimately I think they'll cruise into the midway point right around 15-17 wins.

SouthernSun: I believe we will look competitive for a number of these contests before inevitably losing, but I can only predict 7 wins in this 21 game stretch, and that's being optimistic. I actually have us winning consecutive games once in this stretch, but those two consecutive games are against Philly and Atlanta at home.

By the end of this, the Suns should be firmly below .500.

If they aren't, I'll buy Guar Guar a beer.

Game by game predictions:

When you put each of our Fantable members’ predictions from last week with this week’s predictions you get this.

Summary: I love GuarGuar’s optimism and hope that he ultimately wins that beer from SouthernSun. SDKyle made the lowest mid-season record prediction and, although I hate to even think it, it’s very possible that prediction might also turn out to be optimistic by time the Suns reach the midpoint of this season.

There are so many unknowns going into this season that any one of them could be right or no one might hit close to what the record actually turns out to be. The Suns will reach the 41 games played mark on January 5, 2018 which is a little more than a month before the trade deadline (February 8 this year) and the schedule isn’t going to get any easier after that. If they aren’t at least hovering near the .500 mark at that time, I wouldn’t be surprised to see some veteran players put on the trade block as the tank rolls out of the garage and back onto the court.

Once again many thanks to our Fantable... GuarGuar, Sun-Arc, SDKyle and SouthernSun!

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2016-17 Season Highlights

Devin Booker Full Highlights 2017.02.04 vs Bucks - 31 Pts, UNREAL 27 in 2nd Quarter!

Marquese Chriss Full Highlights 2017.02.04 vs Bucks - 27 Pts, 6 Rebs, 2 Blks!

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Quote of the Week

“It was like they won the NBA championship, the noise coming from that locker room was that loud.” - Steve Albert describing the Suns locker room after Devin Booker's 70 point game in Boston

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News & Notes

Suns rumors: Phoenix’s initial offer did not meet Alex Len’s expectations. Clutch Points

NBA.com: Booker Poised for Western Conference Stardom. Suns.com

Phoenix Suns: Complete 2017 offseason grades. Gerald Bourguet/Hoops Habit

10 young NBA players in need of a breakout season in 2017-18. Gerald Bourguet/Hoops Habit

Bender’s play for Croatia shows constraints of limited role with Suns. Kellan Olson/Arizona Sports

Phoenix Suns: Alex Len should sign for qualifying offer. Hoops Habit

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Suns History in Video

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Suns Trivia

Charlie Scott may not be a name younger Suns fans know well because he played for the Suns back in the early 70's. He only played four seasons for the Suns but he remains the Suns all-time leader in points per game average with 24.82 ppg. Scott is also 5th in all-time steals per game average with 1.74 and 9th in all-time assists per game average with 5.30.

Scott was a three time All-Star for the Suns in 1973, 1974 and 1975.

At the end of the 1974-75 season, Scott was traded to the Boston Celtics for Paul Westphal. Scott was the high scorer in Game 6 of the 1976 Suns/Celtics Finals with 25 points for the Celtics as he helped them beat his old team 87-80 and put an end to the Sunderella Suns’ championship hopes.

Statistics courtesy of Land of Basketball.com.

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Previewing the Weeks Ahead

September 15 - The next new Suns uniform design will be revealed!

September 25 - Media Day

September 26 - Training camp opens.

September 29 - Suns to hold free open scrimmage at 6:30 p.m. at the Prescott Valley Event Center.

October 1 - Last day for RFAs to sign qualifying offers.

October 3 - First preseason game @ Portland Trail Blazers

October 14 - Last day for players on fully non-guaranteed contracts to be waived and not count at all against a team’s 2017/18 cap.

October 15 - Roster limits decrease from 20 players to 15. Last day for teams to sign a player to a rookie scale extension. Last day for teams to sign a player to a veteran extension in certain scenarios. Last day for teams to complete sign-and-trade deals. Last day for teams to convert an Exhibit 10 contract into a two-way contract.

October 17 - Day One of the 2017-18 NBA Season!

October 18 - Home Opener! Phoenix Suns vs Portland Trail Blazers

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Last Week's Poll Results

The question was, "How many of their first 20 games do you think the Suns will win?" The results were:

21.45% - 12 or more.

49.35% - 9 to 11.

29.20% - 8 or less.

There were a total of 233 votes cast.

This week's poll is...