USA Today Gives Phoenix Suns B- Grade For Offseason Moves
Jeff Zillgitt and Sam Amick of USA Today gave the Phoenix Suns a B-minus grade for their work this offseason.
On July 30th, two veteran NBA reporters from USA Today — Jeff Zillgitt and Sam Amick — handed out offseason grades to all 30 NBA teams. The Phoenix Suns were one of 10 Western Conference franchises to receive either an A or B.
While the Phoenix Suns made numerous moves this offseason, three moves were applauded in the USA Today piece: the drafting of Arizona’s DeAndre Ayton, the long-term extension of Devin Booker, and the addition of veteran Trevor Ariza.
"Phoenix Suns B-: By taking DeAndre Ayton with the No. 1 overall pick and signing guard Devin Booker to a long-term extension, the Suns’ young core is in place. They also added a pricey but pivotal veteran in Trevor Ariza."
Ariza signed a one-year, $15 million deal.
With that said, those three moves are just the tip of the iceberg. The front office also brought in Igor Kokoškov as the team’s head coach, signing him to a three-year deal. Plus, Ayton was just one of four draft picks; the Phoenix Suns also selected Mikal Bridges (No.10), Élie Okobo (No.31), and George King (No.59).
And for all the additions they made, they also cut some of the fat from their 2017-18 roster. Tyler Ulis, who shot just 38.8 percent from the field last year, was waived on June 30th, and the team also chose not to re-sign 2013 NBA Draft bust Alex Len and brick-laying point guard Elfrid Payton.
Moving forward, this Suns’ team is on the right side of their rebuild. After three seasons where they didn’t eclipse 24 wins, this upcoming season looks like one where we’ll finally see substantial improvement.