The 2015–16 NBA season was the Phoenix Suns' 48th season in the NBA.
It was their first season where the Suns played in the Talking Stick Resort Arena with its new name, having played there since the 1992–93 season, when it used to be called the America West Arena and then later on, the U.S. Airways Center.
2015–16 Phoenix Suns season | |
---|---|
Head coach | Jeff Hornacek Earl Watson (interim) |
General manager | Ryan McDonough |
Owners | Robert Sarver |
Arena | Talking Stick Resort Arena |
Results | |
Record | 23–59 (.280) |
Place | Division: 4th (Pacific) Conference: 14th (Western) |
Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Local media | |
Television | Fox Sports Arizona |
Radio | KTAR |
Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 13 | Devin Booker | Shooting guard | United States | Kentucky |
2 | 44 | Andrew Harrison | Point guard | United States | Kentucky |
The Phoenix Suns have only one first round pick and one second round pick this season. Their sole first round pick was their own that was also a part of the NBA draft lottery. The Suns initially had two other draft picks as well (one from the Minnesota Timberwolves and the other from the Los Angeles Lakers, both of which were coincidentally the top picks of this season's draft), but they were both involved with trades the Suns made last season. Minnesota's first round pick (which had lottery protections this season) was traded to the Boston Celtics, where Phoenix got center Brandan Wright in exchange. However, the Lakers' pick (which was top 5 protected this season) was moved in the trade deadline extravaganza of 2015, with Phoenix gaining guard Brandon Knight from the Milwaukee Bucks (as well as other players and future first round draft picks) in exchange for Milwaukee gaining the Suns' center Miles Plumlee and then-rookie point guard Tyler Ennis, as well as the Philadelphia 76ers' point guard Michael Carter-Williams, and Philadelphia getting the Lakers' protected first round pick out of it. The lone second round pick they have is also the pick they had on their own accord in spite of having a declining record when compared to two seasons ago in the process.
With the 13th pick, the Suns selected shooting guard Devin Booker from Kentucky University. Booker averaged 10 points off of 47% overall shooting, 2 rebounds, and 1.1 assists during 21.5 minutes of play in Kentucky's near-undefeated season as a bench player. As a result, Booker became the Southeastern Conference's Sixth Man of the Year for, and made it to the All-SEC Second Team and the SEC All-Freshmen Team. Despite coming off the bench during his college season, Booker was the most immediately successful rookie the Suns drafted (and was kept by them) in over a decade, not only finishing fourth in the NBA Rookie of the Year Award voting, but also being the first Suns rookie to make it to any All-Rookie team since 2003. With the 44th pick, the Suns selected another player from the University of Kentucky, point guard Andrew Harrison. However, the Suns traded Harrison's rights to the Memphis Grizzlies for power forward Jon Leuer. As the starting point guard with the Wildcats for two seasons, Harrison had averaged 10.1 points, 3.8 assists, and 2.7 rebounds, but his output decreased during his second season, and was considered a likely reason for Harrison's drop from being a considered first-round talent to falling around the middle of the second round. Another player that the Suns got, who had entered the 2015 NBA draft via graduation, but wasn't drafted, was Phoenix native Alan Williams, an undersized center/power forward from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He was well known for his rebounding abilities, to the point where he earned best rebounding numbers in not just college at his junior and senior years (even winning the Big West's Player of the Year as a junior), but also was the leading rebounder in China for the Qingdao DoubleStar Eagles.
Players Brandan Wright, Gerald Green, and Marcus Thornton; as well as the returning Earl Barron all became unrestricted free agents as of the end of the 2014–15 NBA season. In addition, combo guard Brandon Knight ended up being a restricted free agent. Small forward Danny Granger was also considered a candidate for unrestricted free agency, but he ended up exercising his player option to take on his final year of his contract for the rest of this season on June 17, 2015. Not only that, but one recent trade the Suns made by trading their most recent second round selection to Memphis for power forward Jon Leuer was fully guaranteed for the rest of the season after having his rights remain with the team after June 29, 2015. Point guard Jerel McNeal also had a team option that would make him an unrestricted free agent, but it had to be decided upon and met before July 21, 2015, which was around the time Phoenix's Summer League campaign ended and a good portion of free agency had been completed. However, unlike the other players that had team options with the Suns, McNeal was waived four days before his contract was guaranteed, on July 17, 2015 during the Summer League, due to his less than stellar performance there.
To start their free agency push, the Suns decided to lock down their biggest trade deadline piece last season, Brandon Knight, to a 5-year deal worth $70 million (the same deal offered to point guard Eric Bledsoe a year earlier) on July 1, 2015. In addition to keeping Brandon Knight, the Suns also signed up 2011 NBA Finals champion center Tyson Chandler on exactly the same day. The signing of Tyson came in conjecture to the Suns' personal meeting with Portland Trail Blazers free agent power forward LaMarcus Aldridge as well for the chance to lure him over to Phoenix. In the meantime, Brandan Wright was lost to the Memphis Grizzlies when he signed a 3-year deal worth $18 million. A day later, the Suns traded small forwards Marcus Morris, Danny Granger, and Reggie Bullock to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for the Pistons' 2020 second round selection. This move was considered a way for Phoenix to sign LaMarcus Aldridge without taking any hits on their salary cap; unfortunately for the Suns, on July 4, Aldridge instead decided to go to the rival San Antonio Spurs.
After failing to sign Aldridge, the Suns decided to sign CSKA Moscow shooting guard Sonny Weems to a two-year deal worth $5.8 million (with a team option on the second year) and former 2011–12 Phoenix Suns point guard Ronnie Price on a one-year deal worth $1.5 million (the veteran's minimum) on July 8, 2015. A day later, it was announced that the Brooklyn Nets' power forward Mirza Teletović from the nation of Bosnia & Herzegovina would sign a one-year deal worth $5.5 million, while Gerald Green would sign a one-year deal worth $3 million with the Miami Heat. Four days after the July moratorium ended, the Suns' Marcus Thornton, who they got after their trade with Isaiah Thomas signed a one-year, veteran's minimum deal with the Houston Rockets. On July 31, it was revealed that Jerel McNeal would sign to play for Aris Thessaloniki in Greece instead. After that, on September 25, 2015, center Earl Barron signed a training camp deal to play with the Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club after former Suns player Jason Richardson announced his retirement due to an injury that he feared put his health at risk, although Barron played for the Fubon Braves in Taiwan on November 17, 2015 after failing to make their regular season rotation.
On August 20, 2015, the Suns agreed to training camp deals with former Ole Miss and Yenisey Krasnoyarsk shooting guard Terrico White and former Harvard and Helios Suns Domžale small forward Kyle Casey. Five days afterwards, the Suns also decided to add former Philadelphia 76ers center Henry Sims and former Brooklyn Nets power forward Cory Jefferson towards their training camp roster as more likely potential additions to the team, as well as former Nevada Wolf Pack and Ratiopharm Ulm point guard Deonte Burton. However, all of those signings were not official until September 16, 2015. Burton did not train with the team at all and instead became the first player to be cut on October 3, 2015, which was before the team's scrimmage at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. After that, the Suns waived both Terrico White and Kyle Casey from their roster on October 15, 2015, two days after their overtime loss to the Houston Rockets. Finally, on October 24, 2015, the Suns decided to waive Henry Sims from the roster and sign last year's Mr. Irrelevant Cory Jefferson to a non-guaranteed deal for the season. All waived players except for Henry Sims later joined the Bakersfield Jam. Sims joined the Grand Rapids Drive on November 12, 2015 instead. However, of all the players there that were training camp invites, only Sims found his way back into the NBA again, signing a deal to play with the Brooklyn Nets on March 17, 2016.
On November 25, 2015, the Suns signed Tucson, Arizona native Bryce Cotton to a one-year deal as insurance in the event either Ronnie Price or Eric Bledsoe were out of commission. He made his debut over a month later due to an injury involving Eric Bledsoe. Cotton previously played point guard for the Austin Spurs in the D-League (twice) and the Utah Jazz before signing his deal to play for the Suns. On January 6, 2016, after winning at home against the Charlotte Hornets, the Suns decided to waive both Cory Jefferson and Bryce Cotton's non-guaranteed deals. To make up for these moves, they announced that Grand Rapids Drive point guard Lorenzo Brown signed a 10-day contract to determine his future value to the team, especially as a backup point guard since Bledsoe was out for the rest of the season. Brown performed well enough to sign a second 10-day contract, especially with Ronnie Price out around that timeline. On January 21, 2016, the Suns decided to have Jefferson return to the roster for a 10-day contract due to the team's power forwards all being out of commission during the January 19 game against the Indiana Pacers. However, on January 28, 2016, Phoenix decided to sign former Philadelphia 76ers selection Jordan McRae to a 10-day contract in order to replace Lorenzo Brown after his second 10-day contract expired. In the meantime, the Suns decided to not extend Cory Jefferson's deal (again) after most of the team's power forwards returned healthy on January 31, 2016.
During Jordan McRae's first 10-day stint, Phoenix decided to sign another 10-day contract out for former NBA and Austin Spurs player Orlando Johnson on a 10-day contract on February 5, 2016 due to the season-ending injury of T. J. Warren earlier in the month of February. After trading Markieff Morris away to the Washington Wizards, the Suns decided to both waive Orlando Johnson's 10 day contract and let go of Jordan McRae after his second 10-day contract expired in order to replace them with former Philadelphia 76ers and Idaho Stampede point guard Phil Pressey for 10 days, starting on February 20, 2016. Furthermore, after waiving DeJuan Blair from the roster, the Suns decided to sign former Dallas Mavericks shooting guard John Jenkins to a 3-year contract (two years non-guaranteed) on February 24, 2016. In addition, they waived Kris Humphries (from their Markieff Morris trade) and one of their recent free-agent signings in Sonny Weems on February 28 and March 5, 2016 respectively. To replace Weems, though, the Suns decided to sign former Indiana Pacers and Arizona Wildcats forward Chase Budinger for the rest of the season on March 8, 2016. Furthermore, on the same day, the Suns signed former Qingdao DoubleStar Eagles and California–Santa Barbara Gauchos center/power forward Alan Williams (a Phoenix, Arizona native) to a 10-day contract to replace Humphries in case either Alex Len or Tyson Chandler got injured again. While Phil Pressey did not sign with the team for the rest of the season due to the return of Brandon Knight as the starting point guard on March 11 (even after Knight had his own season-ending injury later on), Alan Williams got to sign for not just the rest of this season, but also the next season on March 18, 2016, thus finally ending the Suns' free agency spree that season.
For a majority of the past two seasons, many of the problems the team had there as a whole were projected by many fans as problems relating to that of the Morris twins' behaviors (primarily the behavior of Markieff Morris for this season). Before the start of the season, both Markieff and his twin brother Marcus Morris were subject to many problems both on and off the court, from behaving poorly in front of (now former) head coach Jeff Hornacek to getting multiple technical fouls (some of which occurred in costly situations that season) to calling out the team's fanbase for not stepping up properly to even having an upcoming court case involving a former mentor of theirs named Erik Hood. In an attempt to help cool down the problem earlier on before this season began, the Suns decided to trade what was considered (at the time) the lesser-talented twin brother (Marcus) alongside their influx of small forwards in Reggie Bullock and Danny Granger to the Detroit Pistons on July 2, 2015, in exchange for a 2020 second round draft pick in what was seen as an effort to open up cap space to lure LaMarcus Aldridge away from both the Portland Trail Blazers and the San Antonio Spurs. When that failed, Marcus started lambasting the team's front office and fans for not inquiring with them about the oncoming trade when it happened. Furthermore, it was revealed that on August 3, 2015, both of the Morris twins failed to show up for the pretrial conference that was set for them on that date, which forced the judicial system to delay the case until September 16, 2015. The twins' trail continued well beyond this season, and to the next when they requested a new grand jury, and then having the trial be further delayed to gather evidence on the text messages sent between Eric Hood and Thomasine "Angel" Morris, the other victim in question. The twins' trial continued until October 3, 2017, due to their conflicting schedules as NBA players on different teams by that point in time, where the judge deemed the twins (and former Baltimore Ravens safety Gerald Bowman) not guilty for the attack on Hood due to his story changing from both of the twins being involved in attacking him to just Marcus attacking him, while the other two attackers involved (Julius Kane & Christopher Melendez Jr.) admitted their guilt in the attack earlier on back in September 2017. Nevertheless, the trial's results would not change the fates of the twins after the July trade involving Marcus Morris.
On August 11, 2015, Markieff Morris revealed to The Philadelphia Inquirer that he wanted to be traded out of Phoenix, mainly due to how he and his twin brother were notified of the news of the Detroit Pistons trade on July 2, 2015, where Markieff's brother was traded alongside Reggie Bullock and Danny Granger for the Pistons' 2020 second round selection. He was fined $10,000 for his comments. Four days later, he stated his preference to play for either the Houston Rockets (Marcus' original team) or the Toronto Raptors, but he wouldn't mind any other location like the Washington Wizards as well. However, the Suns decided to counter Markieff's demands by saying they would not trade him due to his importance to the team around that time. Despite that notion, he remained adamant about his decision by posting out on his Twitter account that his future would not be in Phoenix, just a day after the Suns wished Markieff a happy 26th birthday, and continued with the attitude a week later saying he won't accept any apologies from the team. At the end of the offseason, though, Markieff remained on the team throughout most of the season, with Marcus continuing to bash the team and their fanbase along the way as a Detroit Pistons player, even claiming he was never really a Phoenix Suns player. It was later revealed that the Suns had tried to work out a trade involving Markieff for eight months before it was finally completed in February, with general manager Ryan McDonough stating that if a better deal for Markieff had come before the start of the season, it would have been done by then. The problem was stated that Markieff himself didn't do the team any favors throughout the majority of the season between his court case with his brother and worries that the behavior he had at the start of the season there would continue for other teams afterwards.
While Markieff suggested that he had learned from the mistakes he made during the summertime, he continued to have problems with the team and even struggled with his performance after his first ever injury as a player in the middle of November. After his injury, Markieff was relegated to a bench role, with times that he didn't even play at all for various reasons. His performance dropped even further from averaging around 13 points and 5 rebounds in 27 minutes of action in November to 6.4 points and 2.9 rebounds in 17 minutes of action in December, with Jon Leuer replacing Markieff at points. It soon reached a point on December 23, 2015 against the Denver Nuggets (which was also the last full game Eric Bledsoe played before a season-ending knee injury three days later) where Markieff threw a towel (accidentally) at head coach Jeff Hornacek after being frustrated at a play. The incident drew parallels to when former Suns player Robert Horry threw a towel at former Suns head coach Danny Ainge back in the 1996–97 Phoenix Suns season. Like Horry, Morris was suspended for two games without pay. However, unlike the Horry situation, Markieff remained with the team for not just the rest of December, but also for the entirety of January and halfway through February. Markieff also ended up lasting longer than Hornacek and two of his top assistants, Jerry Sichting and Mike Longabardi (the latter of which won the 2016 NBA Finals championship later on in the season with the Cleveland Cavaliers). It also caused the Suns to stop playing Markieff altogether for a good amount of time, only relenting with all of their power forwards starting to get injuries during the month of January at certain points.
When head coach Jeff Hornacek was fired on February 1, 2016, and assistant(/former player development) coach Earl Watson replaced him as interim head coach for the rest of the season, Watson tried to designate Markieff as the team's newest leader after having injuries decimate their entire roster. During the five games Morris held that designation, he recorded his best averages for the Suns with 20.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 4.6 assists in over 30 minutes of action, even though the team did not win any of those games around that period of time. However, the breaking point for Markieff and the Suns came under Morris' last game on February 9, 2016 against the defending champion Golden State Warriors, where during the first timeout of the game in the first quarter, Markieff went after his teammate Archie Goodwin due to Goodwin not performing well at the time. While the Suns lost a relatively close match to the Warriors, they soon realized that enough was enough with Markieff (and later Goodwin), and then asked to have a first round draft pick and a young player in return for Markieff to go far away from their franchise forever. At the end of the February 18, 2016 trade deadline, despite him wanting to stay with the team by then, the other Morris brother was traded to the Washington Wizards in exchange for power-forward/center combo players DeJuan Blair and Kris Humphries, as well as a top-9 protected 2016 first round draft pick and a $1.56 million traded player exception. Four days after the trade, though, the Suns waived Blair. To replace him, the Suns decided to use their traded player exception to sign John Jenkins to a three-year contract (with the second and third years being non-guaranteed) for the league minimum. Furthermore, the Suns also decided to buy out Kris Humphries' contract that he had for two more years (including this one) on February 28, 2016 in order to help get him to a playoff team in the Atlanta Hawks, while also replacing Humphries with Phoenix, Arizona native Alan Williams to a 10-day contract on March 8, 2016, and then for the rest of the season on March 18, 2016. Both the first round pick from Markieff (which became Georgios Papagiannis) and the 2020 second round pick from Marcus (which eventually became Xavier Tillman) were later traded to the Sacramento Kings as part of a deal in exchange for Marquese Chriss, who was the 8th pick in the 2016 NBA draft.
On May 29, 2015, it was announced that assistant coach Kenny Gattison was leaving the team and former Phoenix Mercury coach and Suns player development coach Corey Gaines was to be promoted to full-time assistant coach again. At the same time, it was announced that Bakersfield Jam coach Nate Bjorkgren was Corey's replacement as player development coach (as well as being an assistant head coach in his own accord) and Mark West was relegated back into the front office as a director of player relations. Several days later, former NBA player and Austin Spurs assistant coach Earl Watson was announced as assistant coach duties. Joe Smith was also announced as a potential candidate for another player development assistant coach position. However, on June 27, 2015 — two days after the 2015 NBA draft — the Suns hired former Villanova University player and director of student-athlete development, Harlem Globetrotter, and Austin Spurs assistant coach Jason Fraser as the last player development assistant coach, being joined by fellow player development coach Irving Roland from the team's 2013–14 season.
On December 27, 2015, a day after losing to the Philadelphia 76ers (who before playing Phoenix had only one victory at that time and ended up with only 10 victories all season long), it was announced that both Earl Watson and Nate Bjorkgren were being promoted to full-time assistant coaches, while both long-time assistant coaches Jerry Sichting and Mike Longabardi were fired (although Longabardi was later hired by the Cleveland Cavaliers, eventually winning the 2016 NBA Finals six months later, while Sichting was reunite with Jeff Hornacek and Corey Gaines on the Knicks the next season). A month later, the Suns' head coach Jeff Hornacek was fired (although he'd find work again as the New York Knicks' head coach on May 18, 2016, while also being reunited with assistant coaches Jerry Sichting and Corey Gaines soon afterwards). Earl Watson became interim coach, replacing Hornacek. Former San Antonio Spurs and Seattle SuperSonics head coach Bob Hill became an assistant coach under Watson as the new head coach. After the season, the Suns designated Watson with the full-time head coach tag for the next three seasons.
On May 29, 2015, it was revealed that former Suns player and assistant coach Mark West was back in the front office role as a director of player relations and John Treloar was fired from his director of player personnel duties, as he decided to take on that same role for the Atlanta Hawks. Former president of basketball operations Lon Babby was relegated to be the team's senior adviser on June 10, 2015 after his initial contract as the team's president of basketball operations expired, although he still took part in the team's free agent decisions for the rest of June and July. As of August, however, that role was taken by general manager Ryan McDonough instead. On July 7, 2015, the Suns announced that the Los Angeles Clippers' Courtney Witte was the team's newest director of scouting. On July 30, 2015, Phoenix announced that the Bakersfield Jam's general manager Bubba Barrage was the new director of player personnel while keeping his role in Bakersfield, and Antonio Williams was the team's newest scout, replacing Ronnie Lester. Finally, on September 30, 2015, the team's strength and conditioning coach Mike Elliott was promoted to the director of performance.
2015–16 Phoenix Suns roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Roster |
Player | 2015–16 Salary |
---|---|
Eric Bledsoe | $13,500,000 |
Brandon Knight | $13,500,000 |
Tyson Chandler | $13,000,000 |
P. J. Tucker | $5,500,000 |
Mirza Teletović | $5,500,000 |
Oleksiy "Alex" Len | $3,807,120 |
Devin Booker | $2,055,840 |
T. J. Warren | $2,041,080 |
Ronnie Price | $1,499,187 |
Archie Goodwin | $1,160,160 |
Jon Leuer | $1,035,000 |
John Jenkins | $981,349 |
Chase Budinger | $258,082 |
Alan Williams | $114,284 |
Total | $63,952,102 |
For the first time since the 2009–10 season, the Suns don't have to pay Josh Childress as the amnesty clause for the NBA expires. However, they still owe Michael Beasley $777,778 due to the buyout the Suns did on September 3, 2013. Beasley's contract still affects the Suns' salary for both this season and the next. Furthermore, the Suns also bought out Kris Humphries' contract on February 28, 2016, which removed his payments of around $3,440,000 from Phoenix's books in the current season, as well as payout the rest of Sonny Weems' $2,814,000 that he didn't get earlier on (which totals out to $660,000) for the rest of the season on March 5, 2016.
The six pre-season games the Suns played for this season tied the 1975–76 and 1981–82 seasons as the lowest number of pre-season games the Suns had in a season (excluding the lockout shortened pre-seasons of the 1998–99 and 2011–12 seasons).
2015 pre-season game log Total: 4–2 (Home: 2–1; Road: 2–1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pre-season: 4–2 (home: 2–1; road: 2–1)
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2015–16 season schedule |
Pacific Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | GP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
z – Golden State Warriors | 73 | 9 | .890 | – | 39–2 | 34–7 | 15–1 | 82 |
x – Los Angeles Clippers | 53 | 29 | .646 | 20.0 | 29–12 | 24–17 | 9–7 | 82 |
Sacramento Kings | 33 | 49 | .402 | 40.0 | 18–23 | 15–26 | 8–8 | 82 |
Phoenix Suns | 23 | 59 | .280 | 50.0 | 14–27 | 9–32 | 6–10 | 82 |
Los Angeles Lakers | 17 | 65 | .207 | 56.0 | 12–29 | 5–36 | 2–14 | 82 |
Western Conference | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
1 | z – Golden State Warriors * | 73 | 9 | .890 | – | 82 |
2 | y – San Antonio Spurs * | 67 | 15 | .817 | 6.0 | 82 |
3 | y – Oklahoma City Thunder * | 55 | 27 | .671 | 18.0 | 82 |
4 | x – Los Angeles Clippers | 53 | 29 | .646 | 20.0 | 82 |
5 | x – Portland Trail Blazers | 44 | 38 | .537 | 29.0 | 82 |
6 | x – Dallas Mavericks | 42 | 40 | .512 | 31.0 | 82 |
7 | x – Memphis Grizzlies | 42 | 40 | .512 | 31.0 | 82 |
8 | x – Houston Rockets | 41 | 41 | .500 | 32.0 | 82 |
9 | Utah Jazz | 40 | 42 | .488 | 33.0 | 82 |
10 | Sacramento Kings | 33 | 49 | .402 | 40.0 | 82 |
11 | Denver Nuggets | 33 | 49 | .402 | 40.0 | 82 |
12 | New Orleans Pelicans | 30 | 52 | .366 | 43.0 | 82 |
13 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 29 | 53 | .354 | 44.0 | 82 |
14 | Phoenix Suns | 23 | 59 | .280 | 50.0 | 82 |
15 | Los Angeles Lakers | 17 | 65 | .207 | 56.0 | 82 |
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eric Bledsoe | 31 | 31 | 34.2 | .453 | .372 | .802 | 4.0 | 6.1 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 20.4 |
Devin Booker | 76 | 51 | 27.7 | .423 | .343 | .840 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 13.8 |
Lorenzo Brown* | 8 | 0 | 7.6 | .320 | .125 | .750 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 2.5 |
Chase Budinger* | 17 | 0 | 11.8 | .511 | .235 | .625 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 3.2 |
Tyson Chandler | 66 | 60 | 24.5 | .583 | .000 | .620 | 8.7 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 7.2 |
Bryce Cotton* | 3 | 0 | 11.0 | .250 | .000 | .000 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 |
Archie Goodwin | 57 | 13 | 19.5 | .418 | .232 | .674 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 8.9 |
Kris Humphries* | 4 | 3 | 18.5 | .278 | .300 | .750 | 8.0 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 7.3 |
Cory Jefferson* | 8 | 0 | 6.3 | .409 | .000 | .667 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 2.8 |
John Jenkins* | 22 | 2 | 13.0 | .467 | .406 | .800 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 5.0 |
Orlando Johnson* | 2 | 0 | 23.5 | .278 | .200 | .833 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 8.0 |
Brandon Knight | 52 | 50 | 36.0 | .415 | .342 | .852 | 3.9 | 5.1 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 19.6 |
Oleksiy "Alex" Len | 78 | 46 | 23.3 | .423 | .143 | .728 | 7.6 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 9.0 |
Jon Leuer | 67 | 27 | 18.7 | .481 | .382 | .762 | 5.6 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 8.5 |
Jordan McRae* | 7 | 0 | 11.7 | .423 | .273 | .533 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 5.3 |
Markieff Morris* | 37 | 24 | 24.8 | .397 | .289 | .717 | 5.2 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 11.6 |
Phil Pressey* | 9 | 0 | 12.6 | .391 | .000 | .571 | 0.9 | 3.2 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 2.4 |
Ronnie Price | 62 | 18 | 19.5 | .384 | .347 | .756 | 1.6 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 5.3 |
Mirza Teletović | 79 | 1 | 21.3 | .427 | .393 | .774 | 3.8 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 12.2 |
P. J. Tucker | 82 | 80 | 31.0 | .411 | .330 | .746 | 6.2 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 8.0 |
T. J. Warren | 47 | 4 | 22.8 | .501 | .400 | .703 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 11.0 |
Sonny Weems* | 36 | 0 | 11.7 | .393 | .406 | .538 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 2.5 |
Alan Williams | 10 | 0 | 6.8 | .417 | .000 | .643 | 3.8 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 2.9 |
Player | Duration | Reason for Missed Time | Games Missed | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Start | End | |||
Devin Booker | November 1, 2015 | November 4, 2015 | Tweaked ankle during practice | 1 |
Markieff Morris | November 13, 2015 | November 18, 2015 | Sprained left knee during the first quarter against the L.A. Clippers | 2 |
Ronnie Price | November 13, 2015 | November 18, 2015 | Had concussion during the first quarter against the L.A. Clippers | 2 |
T. J. Warren | November 18, 2015 | November 20, 2015 | Illness | 1 |
Eric Bledsoe | November 23, 2015 | November 25, 2015 | Hurt leg after the road New Orleans Pelicans game | 1 |
Tyson Chandler | November 25, 2015 | November 27, 2015 | Illness | 1 |
Tyson Chandler | November 29, 2015 | December 13, 2015 | Hurt right hamstring during the first quarter against Golden State | 8 |
Markieff Morris | December 2, 2015 | December 4, 2015 | Hurt left knee after the road Brooklyn Nets game | 1 |
Markieff Morris | December 9, 2015 | December 18, 2015 | Had a sinus infection after their six-game road trip ended | 5 |
Markieff Morris | December 26, 2015 | December 30, 2015 | Suspended after throwing a towel at coach Jeff Hornacek | 2 |
Eric Bledsoe | December 28, 2015 | The Rest of the Season | Tore his left meniscus during the home Philadelphia 76ers game | 48 |
Ronnie Price | December 30, 2015 | January 2, 2016 | Hurt his toe during the home Cleveland Cavaliers game | 2 |
Jon Leuer | December 31, 2015 | January 2, 2016 | Injured his leg during the road San Antonio Spurs game | 1 |
Brandon Knight | January 12, 2016 | January 15, 2016 | Had food poisoning before the road Indiana Pacers game | 1 |
Olexsiy "Alex" Len | January 12, 2016 | January 19, 2016 | Injured left hand continued bothering him | 3 |
Ronnie Price | January 12, 2016 | February 19, 2016 | Stubbed his great right toe before the road Indiana game | 15 |
Jon Leuer | January 19, 2016 | January 29, 2016 | Had lower back spasms before the home Indiana Pacers game | 5 |
Markieff Morris | January 21, 2016 | January 26, 2016 | Had a right shoulder strain during the first quarter of that same home Indiana game | 2 |
Mirza Teletović | January 21, 2016 | January 23, 2016 | Had a left ankle sprain during the third quarter during that same home Indiana game | 1 |
Brandon Knight | January 21, 2016 | March 10, 2016 | Had a left adductor strain before the first home game against the San Antonio Spurs began | 21 |
T. J. Warren | January 31, 2016 | The Rest of the Season | Injured the middle part of his right foot on the road against Cleveland | 34 |
Oleksiy "Alex" Len | February 19, 2016 | February 21, 2016 | Had a right ankle sprain before the second home game against Houston | 1 |
Tyson Chandler | February 21, 2016 | February 25, 2016 | Had a right shoulder contusion in the second quarter against Houston | 2 |
Tyson Chandler | March 23, 2016 | March 28, 2016 | Had back spasms during the second quarter at home against Memphis | 3 |
Brandon Knight | March 25, 2016 | March 26, 2016 | Had a stomach ache before the road game against Sacramento | 1 |
Jon Leuer | March 26, 2016 | March 28, 2016 | Had a stomach ache before the home game against Boston | 1 |
Mirza Teletović | March 30, 2016 | April 1, 2016 | Had an upset stomach before the road game against Milwaukee | 1 |
Brandon Knight | April 1, 2016 | The Rest of the Season | Aggravated a sports hernia during the same road game against Milwaukee | 7 |
Jon Leuer | April 1, 2016 | April 7, 2016 | Had a right ankle strain before the home game against Washington | 3 |
Archie Goodwin | April 11, 2016 | April 13, 2016 | Sprained his left ankle during the second New Orleans road game | 1 |
Tyson Chandler | April 11, 2016 | The Rest of the Season | Under a concussion protocol during the third quarter against New Orleans | 2 |
"What strikes a lot of people about Devin is all the other stuff he can do – he's really developed his ball handling, his pick and roll game, he thinks the game at a high level. But I'll be honest, we had no idea he'd be able to do this much, this quickly. Devin has done unbelievably well not just on the court but representing the franchise in the community as well. He was a bright spot for us in a difficult year."
—Ryan McDonough, Suns GM
June 25, 2015 | To Memphis Grizzlies | To Phoenix Suns |
July 2, 2015 | To Detroit Pistons | To Phoenix Suns |
February 18, 2016 | To Washington Wizards | To Phoenix Suns
|
Player | Signed | Date |
---|---|---|
Brandon Knight | Signed 5-year deal worth $70 Million | July 1, 2015 |
Cory Jefferson | Signed a 10-day contract worth $55,722 (total combined earned price $362,878)[a] | January 20, 2016 |
Player | Signed | Former Team |
---|---|---|
Tyson Chandler | Signed 4-year deal worth $52 Million | Dallas Mavericks |
Sonny Weems | Signed 2-year (team option) deal worth $5.8 Million[b] | PBC CSKA Moscow |
Ronnie Price | Signed 1-year deal worth $1.5 Million | Los Angeles Lakers |
Mirza Teletović | Signed 1-year deal worth $5.5 Million | Brooklyn Nets |
Cory Jefferson | Signed 1-year non-guaranteed deal worth $845,059[a] | Brooklyn Nets / Phoenix Suns / Bakersfield Jam[c] |
Bryce Cotton | Signed 1-year non-guaranteed deal for $700,901[d] | Utah Jazz / Austin Spurs[e] |
Lorenzo Brown | Signed two 10-day contracts worth $111,444 | Minnesota Timberwolves / Grand Rapids Drive / Phoenix Suns[f] |
Jordan McRae | Signed two 10-day contracts worth $61,775 | Philadelphia 76ers / Delaware 87ers / Phoenix Suns[f] |
Orlando Johnson | Signed a 10-day contract worth $55,722 | Austin Spurs |
Phil Pressey | Signed two 10-day contracts worth $111,444 | Philadelphia 76ers / Idaho Stampede / Phoenix Suns[f] |
John Jenkins | Signed 3-year non-guaranteed deal worth $3,211,302 | Dallas Mavericks |
Alan Williams | Signed a 10-day contract / 2-year deal worth $988,920 | Qingdao DoubleStar Eagles |
Chase Budinger | Signed 1-year deal worth $258,082 | Indiana Pacers |
a: While Cory Jefferson initially signed with the Suns when he was the only training camp invitee to become a part of the team earlier in the season, he was waived after the January 7, 2016 game against the Charlotte Hornets, thus earning only a partially guaranteed salary in the process. However, he returned to the Suns on January 20, 2016 for a 10-day contract because the Suns had no other power forwards when Markieff Morris, Mirza Teletović, and Jon Leuer were all out either due to injuries or ailments around that period. Once all three players returned to action when Jefferson was due for a new contract, the Suns decided not to give him another 10-day contract. As a result of those two deals and the time he spent with the group, Jefferson ended up with a total of $362,878 earned throughout with time with the team.
b: While Sonny Weems earned guaranteed money throughout his time with the Suns, he was not fully guaranteed. While Sonny was initially guaranteed the money he was fully expected to get this season, he stopped receiving money from the team on March 7, 2016 when he was waived. For the rest of the cash the team owed Weems, he was paid the rest of the amount needed to make sure he was satisfied and left in the process.
c: Cory Jefferson was originally a part of the Brooklyn Nets when he first signed up with the team. However, when he earned that 10-day contract in January, he got it when he was signing up with the affiliate Bakersfield Jam a day earlier. Yet even though he signed a contract with the Jam earlier in the season, he never really played with the Jam until after his 10-day contract expired with the Suns, so it technically meant that Jefferson re-signed with the team when he entered that 10-day contract of his.
d: When Bryce Cotton initially signed his one-year deal with the Suns, he signed a non-guaranteed deal that was worth $700,901, similar to what Cory Jefferson was getting when he first signed up with the team. However, when he got waived in the same day that Jefferson first was waived on January 6, Bryce earned about $228,663 for the services he had provided for his hometown sports team.
e: Even though Bryce Cotton was originally a player for the Utah Jazz when the season initially began, he started the regular season with player development/assistant/(interim) head coach Earl Watson's former team, the Austin Spurs, before signing his contract with the Suns in November 2015.
f: While all three of these players earned their second 10-day contracts with the team on various days of their original tenures, each earned them in different tenures. Lorenzo Brown started as a part of the Minnesota Timberwolves team earlier in the season before starting his regular season with the Grand Rapids Drive and then going to the Suns on January 8, 2016. Both Jerel McNeal and Phil Pressey began their seasons as teammates on the Philadelphia 76ers, but wound up with the Suns under different manners with McNeal taking part of Philadelphia's D-League affiliate team, the Delaware 87ers, for starting out his season before starting his NBA tenure on January 28, 2016, and Pressey decided to start his season in the Idaho Stampede (during their last year under that team name) before beginning his tenure with the Suns on February 21, 2016. All three earned two 10-day contracts, but none stayed on the team beyond their required amount of time (including McNeal staying on for two more days because of an NBA rule requiring the player being involved with at least three games during their contract).
Player | Reason left | New team |
---|---|---|
Andrew Harrison | Traded after being drafted[g] | Memphis Grizzlies / Iowa Energy[h] |
Brandan Wright | Unrestricted free agent | Memphis Grizzlies |
Marcus Morris Reggie Bullock Danny Granger | Traded | Detroit Pistons[i] |
Gerald Green | Unrestricted free agent | Miami Heat |
Marcus Thornton | Unrestricted free agent | Houston Rockets / Washington Wizards[j] |
Earl Barron | Unrestricted free agent | Atlanta Hawks / Fubon Braves[k] |
Jerel McNeal | Waived / Unrestricted free agent | Aris Thessaloniki |
Cory Jefferson | Waived / 10-day contract expired | Phoenix Suns / Bakersfield Jam[l] |
Bryce Cotton | Waived | Austin Spurs / Xinjiang Tianshin Rural-Commercial Bank Flying Tigers / Memphis Grizzlies[m] |
Lorenzo Brown | Second 10-day contract expired | Phoenix Suns / Grand Rapids Drive / Detroit Pistons[n] |
Orlando Johnson | Waived / 10-day contract expired | Austin Spurs / New Orleans Pelicans[o] |
Markieff Morris | Traded | Washington Wizards |
Jordan McRae | Second 10-day contract expired | Phoenix Suns / Delaware 87ers / Cleveland Cavaliers[p] |
DeJuan Blair | Waived | Jiangsu Tongxi Monkey King / Texas Legends / Los Angeles D-Fenders[q] |
Kris Humphries | Waived / Contract Buyout | Atlanta Hawks |
Sonny Weems | Waived | Philadelphia 76ers / Maccabi Tel Aviv[r] |
Phil Pressey | Second 10-day contract expired | Phoenix Suns / Idaho Stampede[s] |
g: While Andrew Harrison never played for the Suns throughout his tenure, he was drafted by the Suns before being traded away for Jon Leuer the same day, thus making him a brief member of the team at that time.
h: Andrew Harrison was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in the aforementioned draft day trade involving Jon Leuer, but he did not play a game for the Grizzlies this season. Instead, Harrison spent the entire season with the Grizzlies' D-League affiliate team, the Iowa Energy. He played with Memphis the following year.
i: While all three of these players ended up going to the Detroit Pistons on July 2, 2015, they all had different experiences there. Marcus Morris (the twin brother of Markieff Morris) was a starter for the Pistons, while Reggie Bullock alternated his time between coming off the bench for Detroit and playing in their own D-League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Drive, throughout the season. Former All-Star small forward Danny Granger, continued to heal from the injury he had back when he was with the Miami Heat and was waived by the Pistons before the start of the season because of it. As of November 16, 2017, Granger made his unofficial retirement with interests like real estate and being a college basketball sports analyst for the CBS Sports Network taking over his time.
j: Marcus Thornton originally signed a one-year deal to play with the Houston Rockets as a result of them making it to the Western Conference Finals the previous season. However, because the Rockets had a poor season this time, they attempted to trade Thornton in a three-way deal at the trade deadline involving the Philadelphia 76ers and the Detroit Pistons, in which Thornton would be dealt alongside Donatas Motiejūnas to the Pistons in exchange for Detroit's 2016 first round draft pick. However, a few days after the trade, the Pistons rescinded the trade due to a problem involving Motiejūnas, and the Rockets were eventually forced to waive Thornton in order for them to get rid of their mistake they had with having Ty Lawson on their team. A few days after Thornton was waived, instead of reuniting with former teammates Marcus Morris and Reggie Bullock on the Pistons, he was reunited with former teammate Markieff Morris on the Washington Wizards on March 9, 2016, replacing the injured Gary Neal in the process.
k: Initially, Earl Barron signed a one-year deal to play with the Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club during this season. However, before the regular season even began, Barron was waived. With nowhere else to turn to, he decided to play in Taiwan as the newest center for the Fubon Braves.
l: Cory Jefferson originally signed a contract with the Bakersfield Jam on January 19, 2016, a few weeks after being waived from the Suns earlier in the season. However, because of the aforementioned problems involving the team's power forwards during the stretch of January 20–30, 2016, Jefferson returned to the Phoenix Suns a day after he signed his original contract with the Jam. When his second stretch with the Suns ended, Jefferson decided to return to the Bakersfield Jam for the rest of their last season under that name. They were renamed the Northern Arizona Suns at the end of the NBA season.
m: When Bryce Cotton was originally waived by the Suns on January 7, 2016, he returned to the Austin Spurs in the D-League during most of January afterwards. However, Cotton soon left the Spurs to play with future NBA draft prospect Zhou Qi and the Xinjiang Tianshan Rural-Commercial Bank Flying Tigers in the first-tier Chinese Basketball Association on January 30, 2016. After the Flying Tigers were eliminated from the 2016 CBA Playoffs by former Phoenix Suns player Hamed Haddadi and the eventual champion Sichuan Blue Whales, Cotton returned to the NBA on April 1, 2016 for a ten-day contract with the very shorthanded Memphis Grizzlies, and signed signing with the Grizzlies for the rest of the season on April 11, 2016, although he wasn't able to play for Memphis in the playoffs due to league regulations.
n: After completing his first 10-day contract with the Suns, Lorenzo Brown returned for a second 10-day contract and then went back to the Grand Rapids Drive soon afterward. On March 25, 2016, Lorenzo signed with the Detroit Pistons for the rest of the season, although he did not play for them. He had originally try to play for the UNICS Kazan in Russia on November 4, 2016, but was waived before playing a single game for them after failing a physical. However, he played for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls on December 8, 2016 in the first-tier Chinese Basketball Association because one of Zhejiang's international players, the Haitian Cady Lalanne, got injured early in their season, and Brown was his replacement. After that, he returned to the Grand Rapids Drive on March 3, 2017 and did not get another chance to play for the Detroit Pistons late in the season.
o: When Orlando Johnson finished his only 10-day contract with the Suns, he returned to the Austin Spurs after the All-Star Weekend before making a brief stint with the New Orleans Pelicans late in March. After he finished his 10-day contract with New Orleans, he went back to Austin again for the rest of the season. Johnson later played for the Guangxi Rhino under the second-tier Chinese National Basketball League's Division A playoffs, but by that time, it was under the beginning of the 2016–17 NBA season in July 2016 instead of the end of this season in June 2016.
p: When Jerel McNeal finished his first 10-day contract with the Suns, he continued on a second 10-day contract before briefly returning with the Delaware 87ers on February 25, 2016. After a few days with Delaware, he signed with the eventual champion Cleveland Cavaliers.
q: Even though DeJuan Blair was never a player for the Suns during the brief time he was in Phoenix, he stayed with the team for four days before being waived on February 22, 2016. He did not find a new team to play for until September 7, 2016, when he found a spot with the Jiangsu Tongxi Monkey King of the first-tier Chinese Basketball Association. However, he was cut after playing 10 games for Jiangsu in November 2016, mainly for the purpose of signing former one-time Suns training camp invitee Ike Diogu. Afterwards, he signed with the Texas Legends on January 17, 2017 before being traded to the Los Angeles D-Fenders on February 11, 2017 for a fourth round draft pick.
r: After Sonny Weems being waived by the Suns on March 7, 2016, he was signed by the Philadelphia 76ers a few days later. However, because of an injury involving his leg later in the season, Weems was waived by the 76ers on March 29, 2016, and returned to Europe with future Suns draft pick Dragan Bender and his team, Maccabi Tel Aviv, on a two-year deal worth $5,755,000 on April 7, 2016 (although that deal wasn't official until June 13, 2016 due to Israel's season still going on at the time Weems made that deal).
s: When Phil Pressey completed his first 10-day contract, he returned to finish his second 10-day contract. He then finished the season with the last games of the Idaho Stampede's existence before the team moved to Salt Lake City, Utah and became the Salt Lake City Stars, similar to what happened with the Bakersfield Jam becoming the Northern Arizona Suns after this season ended.
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