SunsRank 9: We have entered the ‘D’Antoni Would Never Have Played These Guys’ Zone

The excitement the Bubble provided over the Phoenix Suns roster is beginning to wear off. Our eyes find themselves drifting forward to the draft, free agency, and next season. Maya Angelou once wisely stated, “I have great respect for the past. If you don’t know where you’ve come from, you don’t know where you’re going.”

Let’s continue to look at where we are coming from prior to debating on how to enhance our future.

Thus far the Bright Side Community has ranked last season’s roster in the following order:

1. Devin Booker. Duh, right?
2. Deandre Ayton. Little debate hear, but not much. He was ranked #2 with 46% of the vote.
3. Ricky Rubio. The wise one rightfully earned this spot.
4. Mikal Bridges. This was a close one, with the Man of Steel (48%) edging out Tsunami Papi (46%) for the spot.
5. Kelly Oubre, Jr. He took 82% of the vote for that fifth spot.
6. Cameron Johnson. The Bubble surely affected our perception of his future.
7. Dario Saric. Appropriate spot for a guy who has all of the hustle and limited talent.
8. Aron Baynes. The Aussie that will most likely have 1 year of “PHO” on his Basketball-Reference page.
9. ...

We find ourselves looking at the end of the bench now. Not the far end of the bench, but the guys who Mike D’Antoni would never call upon. Let’s look at our candidates for SunsRank #9:

Frank Kaminsky

Ranks on the Suns: 19.9 MPG (10th), 9.7 PPG (8th), 3.2 3PA/G (8th), 33.1% 3PM/G (12th), 1.9 APG (7th), 4.5 RPG (6th), 0.4 SPG (12th)

The Case for Kaminsky: Crazy to think that Big Frank was the 8th leading scorer on the team, ahead of Mikal Bridges, right? He had flashes this year of being a solid backup player. His 24-point performance against Memphis last season put a smile on our faces, albeit in a loss.

Is he your prototypical big man, even at 7’0” tall? No sir. He’ll grab you a few boards, put up a few three’s, and make hilarious videos on Twitter. This is the 9th spot on the bench after all. I need some spunk and Frank has it!

The Case Against Kaminsky: What hurt Frank was his inconsistency. The stats show it: 8th in three’s attempted per game on the team, 12th in 3PT% at 33.1%. Yikes. The rest of his statistics don’t look very pretty and/or productive either.

Frank spent many minutes this season looking lost. On switches. On pick and roll plays. On fast breaks. He may be considered one of the funnier Phoenix Suns, but there is nothing funny about how you feel when he is on the court...

Jevon Carter

Ranks on the Suns: 16.3 MPG (11th), 4.9 PPG (11th), 2.5 3PA/G (10th), 42.5% 3PM/G (2nd), 1.4 APG (11th), 2.0 RPG (13th), 0.8 SPG (5th)

The Case for Carter: Umm...he’s a beast? C4 had a stellar season given the role he was provided. He was pesky on defense, pushed second-team guards to their brink, and hit a few big threes along the way. If there was a ‘pleasantly surprised by his performance’ award, he’d be a top nominee.

Be honest: What did you expect from Jevon when you joined the team? If you said, “Different colored shoes,” then you received what you expected.

The Case Against Carter: Much akin to anyone down this far on the list, offensive consistency was a challenge at times for Jevon. If he had a good rhythm and his confidence was high, he would take a shot. The problem was he didn’t receive consistent playing time.

Monty took quite some time to experiment between Carter and Elie Okbo before deciding in the Bubble that Carter was the way to go. During the experimentation period from November 10, 2019 to January 16, 2020, Carter suffered. The Suns played 33 games during that time frame and Jevon played sporadically in 18 of them. 2.6 PPG, 1.1 APG, 33.3% from deep.

Cameron Payne

Ranks on the Suns: 22.9 MPG (7th), 10.9 PPG (6th), 3.6 3PA/G (5th), 51.7% 3PM/G (1st), 3.0 APG (3rd), 43.9 RPG (9th), 1.0 SPG (4th),

The Case for Payne: Anyone who plays defense is someone I admire. Payne brought the pain (oh so corny) in the Bubble and it felt as if he and Jevon Carter were the modern day Fulton Reed and Dean Portman. When the two were on the court, they were bashing the opposing offense.

His three-point shooting was clutch in the Bubble. Coming into the 8-game stretch he was a career 33.1% shooter from deep. His 51.7% performance solidified our respect for his game, even if it was in a limited capacity taking place in a gym with no fans.

The Case Against Payne: He only played in 8 games for the Suns. Were they the best 8 games for the franchise in the best decade, sure. But the sample size is to be noted. We believed in Elfrid Payton and Isaiah Canaan after their initial few performances weren’t dog shit. It is hard to know whether the talent that is Payne is sustainable.

What is sustainable? That contract.

What are your thoughts on #9? Are these three the guys who should be nominated or should we already be talking about Jalen Lecque? Are you more of an Okobo supporter? Vote now!