2016–17 Phoenix Suns season

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NBA professional basketball team season
2016–17 Phoenix Suns season
Head coachEarl Watson
General managerRyan McDonough
OwnersRobert Sarver
ArenaTalking Stick Resort Arena
Results
Record24–58 (.293)
PlaceDivision: 5th (Pacific)
Conference: 15th (Western)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionFox Sports Arizona
RadioKTAR
< 2015–16 2017–18 >

The 2016–17 NBA season was the Phoenix Suns' 49th season in the NBA[1] and their 24th season in the Talking Stick Resort Arena. It was also the first season with a team-owned D-League affiliate, called the Northern Arizona Suns, which relocated to the nearby Prescott Valley. The Suns failed to qualify for the playoffs for the seventh straight season.

This season featured a remarkable performance from sophomore Devin Booker who scored 70 points during a game vs. the Boston Celtics in March 2017, becoming the youngest NBA player to do so at the age of 20.

Key dates

Offseason

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality(-ies) College / Club
1 4 Dragan Bender Forward/center  Bosnia and Herzegovina
 Croatia 		Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv
1 8 Marquese Chriss Forward/center  United States Washington
2 34 Tyler Ulis Point Guard  United States Kentucky

The Phoenix Suns would once again enter the draft with three first-round picks and one second round pick this season, tying the 2013–14 season for the most first round selections the team has ever had. They own their first selection in the first round, which was at the original Pick 4 and is now the highest selection they'd ever have since 1987, while their second first-round pick (which was stuck in Pick 13 for the fourth time in six years) was had by the February 18, 2016 trade deadline with the Washington Wizards trading it away to them (similar to what happened in the 2014 NBA draft) along with the temporary additions of power forward/centers DeJuan Blair and Kris Humphries in exchange for removing Markieff Morris from the team due to his incessant demands of wanting out of the team after an earlier trade involving his twin brother, Marcus Morris, occurred on July 2, 2015. The Suns would be the only team this season to hold multiple NBA Draft lottery selections because of it. Not only that, but the Suns also got their third first round selection at Pick 28 from the newly defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers due to an earlier trade involving the Boston Celtics, where they got the Cleveland Cavaliers' first round draft pick that Boston acquired in an earlier trade alongside the also-temporary addition of Marcus Thornton in exchange for Isaiah Thomas. The lone second round pick they have is also the pick they had on their own accord in spite of having a continuously declining record (done in by injuries and other turmoil involving the team placed throughout last season, which included the aforementioned trade that Markieff Morris demanded during that season) in the process. The Suns had also initially planned to get the Minnesota Timberwolves' second round selection for this year (which would have been Rade Zagorac at Pick 35 this year), but traded it away in a different trade with the Boston Celtics (back when it was still considered to be a first round draft pick) in order to get Brandan Wright on the team under the same season they first acquired Isaiah Thomas. Furthermore, there was still the projection that the Los Angeles Lakers' first-round pick that had belonged to the Suns before the 2014–15 season came and went originally planned to convey itself for the draft in 2016, but they ultimately didn't due to lottery protections allowing the Lakers to keep their pick (which was Brandon Ingram at Pick 2) for another season.

With the fourth pick of the draft, Phoenix would select the Bosnian-born Croatian power forward/center Dragan Bender from Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel. During his time with Maccabi Tel Aviv, Bender would hold many different averages due to playing in multiple European competitions the previous season. Most notably, Bender would average 5.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.8 blocks, and 0.6 steals per game in Israel in 13.8 minutes of play off the bench during his second season with what was considered a star-studded team in Maccabi Tel Aviv, with him putting up 2.1 points, 1.4 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 0.4 blocks, and 0.3 steals per game in the Euroleague with 10.6 minutes of similar play off the bench. However, he'd also be an Israeli League Cup champion for his team in 2015, a two-time Israeli State Cup champion for his team, and he'd also be an Israeli All-Star in 2016. He would be signed with the Suns this season instead of becoming a draft-and-stash candidate for the team this season, thus becoming the newest, youngest draft player the Suns have ever taken in the draft, ahead of last year's first round draft pick, Devin Booker. He'd also be the youngest Suns player in franchise history ahead of Maciej Lampe, a player that made his NBA debut with the Suns at around 18 years old himself, although Lampe was drafted at a much younger time during the 2003 NBA draft by the New York Knicks himself.

After the fourth selection came and went, the Suns would make a trade involving the Sacramento Kings where they'd trade their 13th and 28th selections (which would be Greek center Georgios Papagiannis at Pick 13 and a Haitian power forward/center from the University of Kentucky in Skal Labissière at Pick 28 respectively), the draft rights for Bogdan Bogdanović, and the 2020 second round draft pick they acquired from the Detroit Pistons due to an earlier trade involving Marcus Morris and the Kings would select Marquese Chriss from the University of Washington for them with the eighth pick of the draft. During his only season at Washington, Chriss would average 13.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, 0.9 steals, and 0.8 assists in 24.9 minutes of action, with him breaking the university's freshman record for the most blocks in their first season and being mentioned as an honorable mention for the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team. It would also be revealed later on that Phoenix was neck-and-neck between the two power forwards/centers before the trade, with Phoenix deciding to go for Dragan first due to the fact that he was more likely to be selected by a team like the Minnesota Timberwolves, the New Orleans Pelicans, or the Denver Nuggets instead of Sacramento if he fell than Marquese did,[5] although the Suns figured either choice would have given them both power forwards with Jaylen Brown being selected by Boston at Pick 3 and the next three teams likely wanting players that were guards anyway.[6]

Finally, with the thirty-fourth pick of the draft, the Suns selected Tyler Ulis from the University of Kentucky. In his two seasons with Kentucky (one of which being spent on the bench alongside Phoenix's 2015 first round selection Devin Booker), Ulis averaged 11.3 points, 5.3 assists, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game with the Wildcats, also being a part of the SEC All-Freshman Team for 2015 similar to Devin. However, his sophomore season would provide a major jump for Ulis, recording 17.3 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game for Kentucky, which resulted in many honors for him in his second and final season with the team, ranging from the SEC Tournament's MVP and All-SEC First Team to the SEC Player of the Year and the SEC Defensive Player of the Year (with him also being the second guy in the SEC behind Anthony Davis to earn those two honors in the same season) to even gaining major honors and awards with the Bob Cousy Award and being a part of the consensus All-American First Team for 2016. Another player that had declared for the 2016 NBA draft, but ultimately wasn't selected around the time was Derrick Jones Jr., an athletic freshman small forward from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas who only played for one season because of a controversy revolving around his ACT test score he had back in Baltimore, Maryland.

Free agency

Players Mirza Teletović, Jon Leuer, and Chase Budinger, as well as the returning Ronnie Price all became unrestricted free agents as of the end of the 2015–16 NBA season. In addition, both power forward/center Alan Williams and shooting guard John Jenkins also had player options that could potentially make themselves unrestricted free agents as well, so long as the team ended up declining their player options before September 1 and October 24 respectively. Furthermore, former starting small forward P. J. Tucker also has a player option for this season as well, but he would end up accepting his option before the free agency period began. With Alan Williams, he was considered very likely to have his contract guaranteed considering his All-NBA Summer League First Team worthy performance during his time in Las Vegas this season, according to a statement that general manager Ryan McDonough made about him on July 24, 2016. His deal would be made official, though, on September 1, 2016, when he did get his second year fully guaranteed by the Suns officially. Meanwhile, John Jenkins originally held his player option for the team to decide upon around July 11. However, both Jenkins and the Suns agreed to extend their option before the beginning of the regular season, which was mainly dependent on circumstances at hand involving not just Jenkins, but the team as well. At the end of the day, though, the Suns also decided to keep John Jenkins on October 24, 2016, despite not performing so well in the preseason due to not just potential trade purposes, but also the fact that his second and third years on his contract with the team were still non-guaranteed years for Jenkins (especially his third year, with his second year remaining non-guaranteed until the league-wide deadline on January 6, 2017), as well as his own shooting abilities he displayed during last season. The Suns also planned to convince their 27th pick from the 2014 NBA draft, Bogdan Bogdanović, to leave his current team in Fenerbahçe (Ülker) from Turkey to play in the NBA early before the salary he gets from the team rises exponentially next season due to him no longer being bound to the rookie-scale deal. However, it was later confirmed before the 2016 NBA draft began that Bogdan would end up staying with his current team in Turkey for at least one more season. In the end, though, that decision would get him traded to the Sacramento Kings alongside their 13th and 28th picks and the Detroit Pistons' 2020 second round pick for the draft rights of power forward Marquese Chriss.

At the beginning of free agency, the Suns got back shooting guard/small forward Jared Dudley, a player who had previously played with Phoenix from 2008 to 2013 (including the team's last playoff run in 2010), on a 3-year deal worth $30 million. However, they'd also lose power forward Mirza Teletović to the Milwaukee Bucks earlier in the day, who was worth exactly the same amount as well. With that said, Dudley sees his second stint with the Suns as him being a stretch power forward instead.[7] He also wants to help bring back the same sort of atmosphere the team held back in their 2009–10 season again.[8] A day after that, the Suns would let their other power forward they had last season, Jon Leuer, leave on a 4-year deal worth $42 million for the Detroit Pistons. On July 6, it would be announced that another former Suns player from the Seven Seconds Or Less era of Suns teams would return with the Suns in combo guard Leandro Barbosa, a player who was with the team twice from 2003 to 2010 and 2014, coming back again (this time from the previously 2015 NBA Finals champion and 73–9 Golden State Warriors (with Golden State winning the 2017 NBA Finals in downright dominant fashion)) on a 2-year deal worth $8 million this time around. The signing would be official on July 19, which was over two weeks before he'd begin playing for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro for his home nation of Brazil. Six days later, it was announced that Ronnie Price would sign a 2-year deal worth $5 million with the Oklahoma City Thunder due to the combination of Phoenix re-signing Leandro Barbosa again and drafting Tyler Ulis in the second round, although Price's signing wouldn't be official until August 13. Coach Earl Watson also hinted that Ronnie Price could also return to Phoenix (under the guise of an assistant head coach for the staff at the time) when the time is right for him to do that. Finally, Chase Budinger would sign a non-guaranteed deal to try his luck at signing an official, regular season deal with the Brooklyn Nets on September 21, 2016, although his signing wouldn't be ready until five days later. However, he would ultimately be waived by the Nets about a month later on October 18, 2016. Almost a week afterwards, Ronnie Price would be waived by the Oklahoma City Thunder on October 24, 2016, despite the fact that his two-year deal with the Thunder was fully guaranteed. Chase Budinger would sign with the Saski Baskonia in Spain for the rest of the season on October 27, 2016, while Ronnie Price would not sign up with another team until January 27, 2017.

On August 20, 2016, the Suns were projected to sign a D-League affiliate point guard (who had previously played for the Bakersfield Jam before the location and team name change) named Askia Booker (who is not related to Devin Booker) to a non-guaranteed training camp deal after a strong enough performance he showcased for the team during the Summer League. However, instead of signing Askia Booker, the team would sign up former Nevada–Las Vegas Runnin' Rebels freshman small forward Derrick Jones Jr. to a deal on September 13, 2016, with the move almost feeling like a sign for the Suns before T. J. Warren officially announced his return to action, yet P. J. Tucker would announce he'd (likely) be out for the start of the regular season this time around. A day later, the Suns also signed 2014 second round pick Alec Brown to a non-guaranteed deal as well. Furthermore, the team would also have the likes of Hapoel Holon forward Mike Moser and Tulsa Golden Hurricane guard Shaquille Harrison joined the training camp squad alongside both Alec Brown and Derrick Jones Jr. just another day later. Two days after that, though, the Suns decided to waive Alec Brown in order to retain his draft rights, although they would later on trade him and remove his draft rights via their new Northern Arizona Suns D-League affiliate squad on October 29, 2016, to a new D-League expansion squad known as the Windy City Bulls well over a month later. On September 25, 2016, instead of having the likes of Mike Moser joining Derrick Jones Jr. and Shaquille Harrison due to a health issue, the team would also include Olympique Antibes Sharks center Gracin Bakumanya (the only international underclassman that didn't play in college to be undrafted this year) and D-League affiliate power forward Derek Cooke Jr. (who also had a satisfying enough performance in the Summer League) as their official training camp invitees. However, none of Shaquille Harrison, Gracin Bakumanya, nor Derek Cooke Jr. would play a single game for Phoenix in the preseason, as they'd all be waived on October 10. The only invited player that did get some preseason action, Derrick Jones Jr. (who was an undrafted 19 year old small forward), not only wound up getting one of the last roster spots with the Suns, but he also took over a spot on the roster over the currently more established shooting guard in Archie Goodwin, who not only spent three full seasons with the team as it was, but also had guaranteed money over both Derrick Jones Jr. and John Jenkins to boot. It also meant that with Derrick Jones Jr. on the roster, the Suns would enter the season with four rookies on their roster after all, with four of their players also being teenagers to start out the regular season. It was later on confirmed that Archie Goodwin did request a trade out by the Phoenix Suns in a respectful manner before the end of the pre-season, but the team unfortunately couldn't find a good deal for him on time. All three of the original, non-guaranteed deals that did not stay with the Phoenix Suns (as well as Askia Booker) would soon find themselves as a part of the nearby Northern Arizona Suns D-League affiliate team, while Archie Goodwin would sign a two-year deal with the New Orleans Pelicans on November 6, 2016, although he'd only last until November 20 that same year before playing for the newly formed Greensboro Swarm D-League team ten days later until March 15, 2017, where he'd sign a two-year deal for the Brooklyn Nets after signing two 10-day contracts with them.

On January 6, 2017, after agreeing to keep John Jenkins during the start of the season, the team officially announced that Jenkins would no longer be on the team anymore, and that his remaining two years on his deal (or rather, one and a half year due to his half-season with the Suns being guaranteed money by that point) would be fully waived off of their salary. This decision came after the notion that he only played four games this season (22 the previous one) and didn't perform well at all during that time. It also held the purpose of opening up a roster spot for any possible trades the Suns could make between then and the trade deadline involving a veteran like P. J. Tucker. His contract that year would have been fully guaranteed otherwise had he stayed with the team after that point. On the other hand, the contract Derrick Jones Jr. signed would be fully guaranteed a day later himself due to his contract originally being non-guaranteed at the time. On January 27, 2017, it was announced that Ronnie Price would return with the Suns for his third stint with the squad (although due to him not playing official, regular season games for the Thunder or anyone else before that point, it's still technically considered a part of his second stint instead), as he would sign a 10-day contract with the team during that point. John Jenkins would sign up to play for the Westchester Knicks in the D-League on February 3, while Ronnie Price would sign a second 10-day contract three days later. Finally, on February 23, the Suns would trade away a Top-55 protected second round pick in order to get themselves small forward Mike Scott (a player that Atlanta had acquired in Phoenix's 2010 sign-and-trade for Josh Childress), the draft rights to Turkish shooting guard Cenk Akyol, and $500,000 in cash considerations from the Atlanta Hawks, as well as trade fan-favorite small/power forward (and the last consistent remnant of the Lance Blanks era) P. J. Tucker to his original NBA team, the Toronto Raptors, for power forward/center Jared Sullinger, both their 2017 & 2018 second round draft picks, and extra cash considerations worth $1,000,000 from them. However, neither Jared Sullinger nor Mike Scott would play for the Suns this season, with them both being waived for salary cap purposes and instead would allow Ronnie Price to sign a one-year contract to stay for the rest of the year as a player. The Suns would also provide Jarell Eddie two 10-day contracts on March 19, 2017, and March 29, 2017, before ultimately signing a D-League player from their own affiliate squad, Elijah Millsap of the Northern Arizona Suns, to a multi-year deal on April 9, 2017.

Coaching changes

The Suns had initially planned to start a coaching search after their previous season ended. Some of the candidates that were linked to the Suns at the time as potential new candidates included Luke Walton, Mike D'Antoni, Jay Wright, and Dan Majerle, just to name a few examples. However, because of overwhelmingly positive support from both the team's players and the front office alike (which included an improved performance throughout the last two months of the season, even with major injuries to Eric Bledsoe, T. J. Warren, and later Brandon Knight in mind), Earl Watson would earn his new three-year deal worth $7.5 million to become the full-time head coach for the Suns, effective as of April 19, 2016.[9][10] During Earl's re-introduction conference as full-time head coach, fellow players (at the time) Devin Booker, Brandon Knight, Mirza Teletović, and Ronnie Price all showed up to the event in support of the move, with the rest of the roster (at that time) also expressing profound support of it. On May 5, 2016 (exactly the same day Senior Adviser Lon Babby resigned from his duties with the team), three assistant coaches the team had throughout last season in former Phoenix Mercury head coach Corey Gaines, replacement assistant coach Bob Hill, and player development assistant coach Irving Roland would not have their contracts renewed after the season the team had last season, with Chris Darnell taking up the absent player development role led by Irving until further notice.[11] That left with only assistant coach Nate Bjorkgren and player development coach Jason Fraser as the only assistant coaches/player development coaches left from last season's debacle. Watson later told people that the assistant coaches he's got that he wants them to join him by sitting next to him or moving on to lead their own program somewhere else later on down the line.

On May 18, a day after the 2016 NBA Draft Lottery ended with everyone remaining exactly where they were at all this time, the Suns hired the Canadian Portland Trail Blazers' assistant coach Jay Triano into being the team's official associate head coach for Earl Watson on a three-year deal of his own.[12][13] On June 25, two days after the 2016 NBA draft ended, the Phoenix Suns announced that one of its former players, Tyrone Corbin, would be a new assistant coach for Earl Watson's staff. During the 2016 NBA Summer League, it was announced that both Bret Burchard and Scott Vaughan would be assistant head coaches for the Suns throughout the event.[14] On July 7, 2016, the Suns would add an old college assistant coach named Scott Duncan to their team as a player development assistant. Duncan was previously an assistant coach for various Division I campuses in the NCAA since 1978, ranging from coach Watson's campus at UCLA and Oregon to Clemson and Washington State, with Northern Illinois, Fresno State, New Mexico, and Cleveland State all holding him around at one point or another, with his most recent tenure being a part of the University of Montana as an associate head coach for six straight seasons. Later on that month, on July 27, it was announced that the Suns would be close to completing their coaching staff by having a former college teammate of Steve Nash, as well as a former NBA player and video coordinator and player development coach for the San Antonio Spurs named Marlon Garnett join the team as both an assistant head coach and a player development coach similar to what current assistant head coach Nate Bjorkgren held last year under former head coach Jeff Hornacek before the first coaching shake-up of last season left Nate exclusively as an assistant coach only. Finally, on September 13, it was announced that the team had a last-minute addition to their player development staff with former 2004 NBA Finals champion and All-Star Mehmet Okur joining the team as an official player development coach, thus becoming the first Turkish born citizen to enter an NBA coaching staff in some way. It was a move to bring some extra help for the Suns' young big men, especially the Suns' first round rookies this season in Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss. More specifically, it was done to have the players learn how to do moves in the post and utilize those moves properly. Both Triano and Okur would mark the first time a team had two or more foreign born coaches being a part of the same NBA coaching staff, although it wouldn't mark the first time the team had an international coach altogether.

Front office changes

Two weeks after announcing that Earl Watson would be the full-time coach of the Suns, former president of basketball operations and senior adviser Lon Babby announced his resignation from his duties with the team after his six-year tenure with the Suns.[15] At the same time, assistant video coordinator Ross Geiger did not get his contract renewed. On July 27, 2016, it was announced that in addition to retaining Chris Darnell as their head video coordinator, the Suns got former Long Beach State University, St. John's University, California State Fullerton University, and Los Angeles Clippers video coordinator Jason Tilton and former video coordinator for the San Antonio Spurs and Team U.S.A., as well as video intern for last season's 73–9 Golden State Warriors Julian Mills as the team's newest assistant video coordinators with former Campbell University, Southeastern Louisiana University, North Carolina University, and Michigan State University athletic trainer Quinton Sawyer joining as the team's assistant athletic trainer and sports science coordinator. Then, on September 13, 2016, alongside the new addition of former NBA Finals champion and All-Star Mehmet Okur to the coaching staff for a player development role, it was announced that former Minnesota Timberwolves, Washington Wizards, and Detroit Pistons scout Jason Hervey (not to be confused with the actor) would join the Suns as an advanced scout.

Roster

2016–17 Phoenix Suns roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From
PG 19 Barbosa, Leandro (I) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 194 lb (88 kg) 1982–11–28 Brazil
C 35 Bender, Dragan (R) 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1997–11–17 Croatia
PG 2 Bledsoe, Eric (C/I) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1989–12–09 Kentucky
SG 1 Booker, Devin (C) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 206 lb (93 kg) 1996–10–30 Kentucky
C 4 Chandler, Tyson (I) 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1982–10–02 Dominguez HS (CA)
PF 0 Chriss, Marquese (R) 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 233 lb (106 kg) 1997–07–02 Washington
SF 3 Dudley, Jared (I) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1985–07–10 Boston College
SG 10 Jones Jr., Derrick (R) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1997–02–15 UNLV
PG 3 Knight, Brandon (I) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 189 lb (86 kg) 1991–12–02 Kentucky
C 21 Len, Alex 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 260 lb (118 kg) 1993–06–16 Maryland
SG 22 Millsap, Elijah 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1987–08–12 UAB
PG 14 Price, Ronnie 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1983–06–21 Utah Valley
PG 8 Ulis, Tyler (R) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 150 lb (68 kg) 1996–01–05 Kentucky
SF 12 Warren, T. J. 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1993–09–05 NC State
PF 15 Williams, Alan 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 260 lb (118 kg) 1993–01–28 UC Santa Barbara
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Inactive
  • (DL) On assignment to D-League affiliate
  • Injured Injured

Roster
Last transaction: {{{access-date}}}

Salaries

Player 2016–17 Salary
Eric Bledsoe $14,000,000
Brandon Knight $12,606,250
Tyson Chandler $12,415,000
Jared Dudley $10,470,000
Oleksiy "Alex" Len $4,823,621
Dragan Bender $4,276,320
Leandro Barbosa $4,000,000
Marquese Chriss $2,941,440
Devin Booker $2,148,360
T. J. Warren $2,128,920
Tyler Ulis $918,369
Alan Williams $874,636
Ronnie Price $693,682
Derrick Jones Jr. $543,471
Elijah Millsap $23,069
Total $77,140,018

Once again, the Suns would be forced to pay the remaining salary they originally had left for Michael Beasley under this season due to the buyout the Suns did on September 3, 2013, which was $777,778. However, this would actually be done as the team's official last year for payment for him since, similar to the amnesty of Josh Childress beforehand, they would no longer have to pay him again after his value is fully paid off. Not only that, but former Suns player Kris Humphries would have the salary of his previous contract he had during his short stint there be paid out throughout this season (which would total out to $4,630,000) due to the stipulations of him being waived on February 27, 2016. Furthermore, the Suns would wind up releasing Archie Goodwin before the start of this season, which means that currently, the Suns will also pay Archie Goodwin the rest of his salary this season (which was around $2,094,089) to essentially not play for them anymore. The Suns would also pay out half of John Jenkins' salary that they had throughout his time with the team (which would be half of $1,050,961), but the rest for the next year and the half they would have paid out for Jenkins after January 6, 2017, would no longer be paid out to him from here on out. Not only that, but by waiving the contracts of both Jared Sullinger and Mike Scott (who both have deals reaching $5,628,000 and $3,333,334 respectively that expire after the end of this season), as well as gain an extra $1,500,000 received from both of those respective deals at hand ($1,000,000 of which came from Toronto, while $500,000 would come from Atlanta), the Suns would have enough money to reach the minimum salary cap space needed to satisfy the NBA salary floor after signing Ronnie Price for the rest of the season at a grand total of $693,682 on February 23, 2017.[16]

Pre-season

For the second straight season, the Suns would start out their season by having six pre-season games to play under before the regular season began. Oddly enough, this time around, they'd start the preseason really early, only to have their biggest gap come for an entire week between their last home game of the preseason in Arizona against Dallas and the last official home game out in Anaheim against the L.A. Lakers. The reality is this season is the first season where a new system decided how the schedule will be done for every team in the league, and due to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement that was updated in 2017, the pre-season is going to be shortened as well after this season. The Suns would also actually be the very first opponent of the San Antonio Spurs without having Tim Duncan around playing for the team there whatsoever since he first arrived in the late 1990s. They would win their game by a score of 91–86 with their starting line-up being Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker, T. J. Warren, Jared Dudley, and Tyson Chandler, which would also be their starting lineup for at least the start of the regular season. However, the Suns would lose two straight close matches before staging their biggest comeback in pre-season history, going from a 30-point deficit to winning their road match against the Utah Jazz with the final score of 111–110 with a few key slam dunks late in the fourth quarter by the now-former Suns shooting guard Archie Goodwin to close out the game. Ultimately, the Suns would end their pre-season with a 4–2 record with a three-game winning streak to end the event, although none of their games would end with a higher margin differential than 5 points.


2016 pre-season game log
Total: 4–2 (Home: 2–1; Road: 2–1)
Pre-season: 4–2 (home: 2–1; road: 2–1)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
1 October 3 San Antonio W 91–86 Devin Booker (19) Tyson Chandler (8) Eric Bledsoe (4) Talking Stick Resort Arena
8,076 		1–0
2 October 5 Utah L 99–104 Brandon Knight (17) Marquese Chriss, Alan Williams (8) Eric Bledsoe (4) Talking Stick Resort Arena
8,407 		1–1
3 October 7 @ Portland L 110–115 Devin Booker (34) Marquese Chriss, T. J. Warren (8) Eric Bledsoe (7) Moda Center
19,441 		1–2
4 October 12 @ Utah W 111–110 Devin Booker (20) Eric Bledsoe, Alex Len,
Alan Williams (7) 		Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker,
Jared Dudley, Tyler Ulis (3) 		Vivint Smart Home Arena
16,521 		2–2
5 October 14 Dallas W 112–107 Eric Bledsoe, Marquese Chriss (17) Alan Williams (9) Eric Bledsoe (7) Talking Stick Resort Arena
12,209 		3–2
6 October 21 @ L.A. Lakers W 98–94 Alex Len (16) Tyson Chandler (11) Brandon Knight (5) Honda Center (Anaheim)
13,489 		4–2
2016–17 season schedule

Regular season

Division

Pacific DivisionWLPCTGBHomeRoadDivGP
z – Golden State Warriors6715.817–36‍–‍531‍–‍1014–282
x – Los Angeles Clippers5131.62216.029‍–‍1222‍–‍1910–682
Sacramento Kings3250.39035.017‍–‍2415‍–‍267–982
Los Angeles Lakers2656.31741.017‍–‍249‍–‍326–1082
Phoenix Suns2458.29343.015‍–‍269‍–‍323–1382

Conference

Western Conference
#TeamWLPCTGBGP
1z – Golden State Warriors *6715.817–82
2y – San Antonio Spurs *6121.7446.082
3x – Houston Rockets5527.67112.082
4x – Los Angeles Clippers5131.62216.082
5y – Utah Jazz *5131.62216.082
6x – Oklahoma City Thunder4735.57320.082
7x – Memphis Grizzlies4339.52424.082
8x – Portland Trail Blazers4141.50026.082
9Denver Nuggets4042.48827.082
10New Orleans Pelicans3448.41533.082
11Dallas Mavericks3349.40234.082
12Sacramento Kings3250.39035.082
13Minnesota Timberwolves3151.37836.082
14Los Angeles Lakers2656.31741.082
15Phoenix Suns2458.29343.082

Game log

2016–17 game log
Total: 24–58 (Home: 15–26; Road: 9–32)
October: 0–4 (home: 0–2; road: 0–2)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
1 October 26 Sacramento L 94–113 Devin Booker (18) Tyson Chandler (10) Eric Bledsoe (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena
18,055 		0–1
2 October 28 @ Oklahoma City L 110–113 (OT) T. J. Warren (30) Tyson Chandler (10) Eric Bledsoe (6) Chesapeake Energy Arena
18,203 		0–2
3 October 30 Golden State L 100–106 T. J. Warren (26) Tyson Chandler (18) Eric Bledsoe (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena
17,011 		0–3
4 October 31 @ L.A. Clippers L 98–116 Brandon Knight (18) Eric Bledsoe (8) Eric Bledsoe (5) Staples Center
19,060 		0–4
November : 6–9 (home: 3–3; road: 3–6)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
5 November 2 Portland W 118–115 (OT) T. J. Warren (27) Tyson Chandler (18) Eric Bledsoe (4) Talking Stick Resort Arena
17,284 		1–4
6 November 4 @ New Orleans W 112–111 (OT) Devin Booker (38) Tyson Chandler (18) Eric Bledsoe (4) Smoothie King Center
15,379 		2–4
7 November 6 @ L.A. Lakers L 108–119 Devin Booker (39) Tyson Chandler (12) Devin Booker (7) Staples Center
18,997 		2–5
8 November 8 @ Portland L 121–124 Eric Bledsoe (31) Alex Len, P. J. Tucker (9) Brandon Knight (6) Moda Center
19,239 		2–6
9 November 9 Detroit W 107–100 Eric Bledsoe (21) Alex Len (14) Eric Bledsoe (8) Talking Stick Resort Arena
16,719 		3–6
10 November 12 Brooklyn L 104–122 T. J. Warren (18) Alex Len (11) Eric Bledsoe (8) Talking Stick Resort Arena
17,126 		3–7
11 November 13 @ Golden State L 120–133 Eric Bledsoe, T. J. Warren (18) P. J. Tucker (8) Eric Bledsoe, Jared Dudley (5) Oracle Arena
19,596 		3–8
12 November 16 @ Denver L 104–120 Brandon Knight (32) P. J. Tucker (8) Eric Bledsoe (5) Pepsi Center
10,247 		3–9
13 November 18 @ Indiana W 116–96 Brandon Knight (17) Alan Williams (15) Jared Dudley (6) Bankers Life Fieldhouse
16,780 		4–9
14 November 19 @ Philadelphia L 105–120 Eric Bledsoe (27) Alan Williams (11) Eric Bledsoe (6) Wells Fargo Center
18,125 		4–10
15 November 21 @ Washington L 101–106 Devin Booker (30) Alex Len (10) Eric Bledsoe (6) Verizon Center
12,790 		4–11
16 November 23 @ Orlando W 92–87 Alex Len (17) Alex Len (12) Eric Bledsoe (5) Amway Center
17,069 		5–11
17 November 25 Minnesota L 85–98 Eric Bledsoe (23) Alex Len (11) Eric Bledsoe (10) Talking Stick Resort Arena
16,728 		5–12
18 November 27 Denver L 114–120 Eric Bledsoe (35) Tyson Chandler (15) Eric Bledsoe (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena
15,365 		5–13
19 November 30 Atlanta W 109–107 Brandon Knight (23) Alex Len, Tyson Chandler (9) Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker (4) Talking Stick Resort Arena
15,909 		6–13
December : 4–11 (home: 3–4; road: 1–7)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
20 December 3 @ Golden State L 109–138 Eric Bledsoe (27) Tyson Chandler (9) Devin Booker (5) Oracle Arena
19,596 		6–14
21 December 6 @ Utah L 105–112 Devin Booker (21) Brandon Knight, Jared Dudley (7) Brandon Knight (5) Vivint Smart Home Arena
18,997 		6–15
22 December 7 Indiana L 94–109 Eric Bledsoe (15) Tyson Chandler (10) Devin Booker (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena
17,452 		6–16
23 December 9 @ L.A. Lakers W 119–115 Eric Bledsoe (30) Alex Len (13) Eric Bledsoe (9) Staples Center
18,997 		7–16
24 December 11 New Orleans L 119–120 (OT) Eric Bledsoe (32) Tyson Chandler (21) Eric Bledsoe (8) Talking Stick Resort Arena
16,949 		7–17
25 December 13 New York W 113–111 (OT) Eric Bledsoe (31) Tyson Chandler (23) Eric Bledsoe (8) Talking Stick Resort Arena
16,429 		8–17
26 December 15 San Antonio L 92–107 Devin Booker (17) Tyson Chandler (8) Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena
17,165 		8–18
27 December 17 @ Oklahoma City L 101–114 Devin Booker (31) Tyson Chandler (9) Devin Booker (5) Chesapeake Energy Arena
18,203 		8–19
28 December 19 @ Minnesota L 108–115 Eric Bledsoe (27) Tyson Chandler (12) Brandon Knight (4) Target Center
12,008 		8–20
29 December 21 Houston L 111–125 Devin Booker (28) Tyson Chandler, Devin Booker, P. J. Tucker (6) Devin Booker (7) Talking Stick Resort Arena
18,055 		8–21
30 December 23 Philadelphia W 123–116 Eric Bledsoe (24) Tyson Chandler (12) Eric Bledsoe (11) Talking Stick Resort Arena
16,535 		9–21
31 December 26 @ Houston L 115–131 Eric Bledsoe (24) Dragan Bender (13) Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker (4) Toyota Center
18,055 		9–22
32 December 28 @ San Antonio L 98–119 T. J. Warren (23) Tyson Chandler (7) Brandon Knight (5) AT&T Center
18,418 		9–23
33 December 29 Toronto W 99–91 Eric Bledsoe (22) Tyson Chandler (13) Eric Bledsoe (10) Talking Stick Resort Arena
18,055 		10–23
34 December 31 @ Utah L 86–91 Devin Booker (20) Tyson Chandler (11) Eric Bledsoe (8) Vivint Smart Home Arena
19,911 		10–24
January : 5–9 (home: 2–6; road: 3–3)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
35 January 2 @ L.A. Clippers L 98–109 T. J. Warren (24) P. J. Tucker (12) Eric Bledsoe (9) Staples Center
19,060 		10–25
36 January 3 Miami W 99–90 Devin Booker (27) Tyson Chandler (20) Eric Bledsoe (7) Talking Stick Resort Arena
16,772 		11–25
37 January 5 @ Dallas W 102–95 Eric Bledsoe (26) Tyson Chandler (18) Eric Bledsoe (7) American Airlines Center
19,570 		12–25
38 January 8 Cleveland L 116–120 Eric Bledsoe (31) Tyson Chandler (15) Eric Bledsoe (8) Talking Stick Resort Arena
18,055 		12–26
39 January 12 Dallas L 108–113 Devin Booker (39) Tyson Chandler (19) Eric Bledsoe (5) Mexico City Arena (Mexico City)
19,874 		12–27
40 January 14 San Antonio W 108–105 Devin Booker (39) Tyson Chandler (15) Eric Bledsoe (10) Mexico City Arena (Mexico City)
20,532 		13–27
41 January 16 Utah L 101–106 Eric Bledsoe (31) P. J. Tucker (13) Eric Bledsoe (9) Talking Stick Resort Arena
16,767 		13–28
42 January 19 @ Cleveland L 103–118 Eric Bledsoe, Tyson Chandler (22) Tyson Chandler (16) Eric Bledsoe (9) Quicken Loans Arena
20,562 		13–29
43 January 21 @ New York W 107–105 Devin Booker (26) Tyson Chandler (16) Eric Bledsoe (7) Madison Square Garden
19,812 		14–29
44 January 22 @ Toronto W 115–103 Eric Bledsoe (40) Alex Len, P. J. Tucker (10) Eric Bledsoe (13) Air Canada Centre
19,800 		15–29
45 January 24 Minnesota L 111–112 Devin Booker (26) Tyson Chandler (17) Eric Bledsoe (7) Talking Stick Resort Arena
17,241 		15–30
46 January 26 @ Denver L 120–127 Eric Bledsoe (28) T. J. Warren (8) Devin Booker (6) Pepsi Center
12,231 		15–31
47 January 28 Denver L 112–123 Eric Bledsoe (41) Tyson Chandler (13) Eric Bledsoe (8) Talking Stick Resort Arena
18,055 		15–32
48 January 30 Memphis L 96–115 Devin Booker (22) Alex Len (7) Eric Bledsoe (4) Talking Stick Resort Arena
16,332 		15–33
February : 3–9 (home: 2–3; road: 1–6)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
49 February 1 L.A. Clippers L 114–124 Eric Bledsoe (41) P. J. Tucker (12) Eric Bledsoe (8) Talking Stick Resort Arena
16,191 		15–34
50 February 3 @ Sacramento W 105–103 Devin Booker (33) Tyson Chandler (12) Eric Bledsoe (4) Golden 1 Center
17,608 		16–34
51 February 4 Milwaukee L 112–137 Devin Booker (31) Tyson Chandler (13) Eric Bledsoe (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena
17,192 		16–35
52 February 6 @ New Orleans L 106–111 T. J. Warren (20) Tyson Chandler (12) Brandon Knight (6) Smoothie King Center
15,888 		16–36
53 February 8 @ Memphis L 91–110 Devin Booker (20) Tyson Chandler, P. J. Tucker (10) Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker, Jared Dudley (3) FedExForum
18,044 		16–37
54 February 10 Chicago W 115–97 Devin Booker (27) Alan Williams (11) Eric Bledsoe (8) Talking Stick Resort Arena
18,422 		17–37
55 February 11 @ Houston L 102–133 Devin Booker (18) Alex Len (8) Tyler Ulis (6) Toyota Center
18,055 		17–38
56 February 13 New Orleans L 108–110 Eric Bledsoe (37) P. J. Tucker (16) Eric Bledsoe (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena
16,321 		17–39
57 February 15 L.A. Lakers W 137–101 Eric Bledsoe (25) Eric Bledsoe (10) Eric Bledsoe (13) Talking Stick Resort Arena
18,055 		18–39
All-Star Break
58 February 24 @ Chicago L 121–128 (OT) Devin Booker (27) T. J. Warren (8) Eric Bledsoe (10) United Center
21,641 		18–40
59 February 26 @ Milwaukee L 96–100 T. J. Warren (23) Alan Williams (15) Eric Bledsoe (9) BMO Harris Bradley Center
16,051 		18–41
60 February 28 @ Memphis L 112–130 Eric Bledsoe (20) T. J. Warren, Marquese Chriss (6) Eric Bledsoe (8) FedExForum
15,871 		18–42
March : 4–12 (home: 3–6; road: 1–6)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
61 March 2 Charlotte W 120–103 Marquese Chriss (17) Alan Williams (12) Devin Booker (9) Talking Stick Resort Arena
16,572 		19–42
62 March 3 Oklahoma City W 118–111 Eric Bledsoe (18) Alan Williams (13) Tyler Ulis (7) Talking Stick Resort Arena
18,055 		20–42
63 March 5 Boston W 109–106 Eric Bledsoe (28) Alan Williams (15) Eric Bledsoe (9) Talking Stick Resort Arena
16,790 		21–42
64 March 7 Washington L 127–131 Eric Bledsoe (30) Alex Len (11) Devin Booker (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena
16,372 		21–43
65 March 9 L.A. Lakers L 110–122 Devin Booker (23) T. J. Warren (13) Eric Bledsoe (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena
17,552 		21–44
66 March 11 @ Dallas W 100–98 Devin Booker (36) Marquese Chriss, T. J. Warren (8) Eric Bledsoe (6) American Airlines Center
20,324 		22–44
67 March 12 Portland L 101–110 Devin Booker (28) Alan Williams (10) Tyler Ulis (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena
16,664 		22–45
68 March 15 Sacramento L 101–107 T. J. Warren (24) Alan Williams (11) Tyler Ulis (13) Talking Stick Resort Arena
17,196 		22–46
69 March 17 Orlando L 103–109 T. J. Warren (26) Alex Len (10) Tyler Ulis (8) Talking Stick Resort Arena
16,880 		22–47
70 March 19 @ Detroit L 95–112 Tyler Ulis (17) Alan Williams (12) Tyler Ulis (11) Palace of Auburn Hills
19,588 		22–48
71 March 21 @ Miami L 97–114 Marquese Chriss (24) Alex Len (11) Tyler Ulis (6) AmericanAirlines Arena
19,600 		22–49
72 March 23 @ Brooklyn L 98–126 Devin Booker (28) Marquese Chriss, Alex Len (11) Tyler Ulis (12) Barclays Center
15,141 		22–50
73 March 24 @ Boston L 120–130 Devin Booker (70) Alan Williams (14) Jared Dudley (10) TD Garden
18,624 		22–51
74 March 26 @ Charlotte L 106–120 Devin Booker (23) Alan Williams (11) Tyler Ulis (9) Spectrum Center
17,292 		22–52
75 March 28 @ Atlanta L 91–95 T. J. Warren (24) Jared Dudley, T. J. Warren, Alan Williams (8) Tyler Ulis (10) Philips Arena
13,412 		22–53
76 March 30 L.A. Clippers L 118–124 Devin Booker (33) T. J. Warren (10) Tyler Ulis (13) Talking Stick Resort Arena
16,736 		22–54
April : 2–4 (home: 2–2; road: 0–2)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
77 April 1 @ Portland L 117–130 Devin Booker (31) Marquese Chriss (13) Devin Booker (7) Moda Center
18,915 		22–55
78 April 2 Houston L 116–123 Tyler Ulis (34) Alex Len (12) Devin Booker, Tyler Ulis (9) Talking Stick Resort Arena
17,378 		22–56
79 April 5 Golden State L 111–120 Devin Booker (21) Alan Williams (17) Tyler Ulis (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena
18,055 		22–57
80 April 7 Oklahoma City W 120–99 Devin Booker (37) T. J. Warren (16) Tyler Ulis (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena
18,055 		23–57
81 April 9 Dallas W 124–111 Devin Booker, T. J. Warren (21) Alex Len (10) Tyler Ulis (10) Talking Stick Resort Arena
18,055 		24–57
82 April 11 @ Sacramento L 104–129 Tyler Ulis (27) Alan Williams (11) Tyler Ulis (6) Golden 1 Center
17,608 		24–58
2016–17 season schedule

Player statistics

Legend
  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
Phoenix Suns statistics
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Leandro Barbosa 67 0 14.4 .439 .357 .889 1.6 1.2 0.5 0.1 6.3
Dragan Bender 43 0 13.3 .354 .277 .364 2.4 0.5 0.2 0.5 3.4
Eric Bledsoe 66 66 33.0 .434 .335 .847 4.8 6.3 1.4 0.5 21.1
Devin Booker 78 78 35.0 .423 .363 .832 3.2 3.4 0.9 0.3 22.1
Tyson Chandler 47 46 27.6 .671 .000 .734 11.5 0.6 0.7 0.5 8.4
Marquese Chriss 82 75 21.3 .449 .321 .624 4.2 0.7 0.8 0.9 9.2
Jared Dudley 64 7 21.3 .454 .379 .662 3.5 1.9 0.7 0.3 6.8
Jarell Eddie* 5 0 12.4 .316 .250 .889 1.4 0.0 0.2 0.0 4.8
John Jenkins* 4 0 3.3 .400 .500 .800 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.0 1.8
Derrick Jones Jr. 32 8 17.0 .562 .273 .707 2.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 5.3
Brandon Knight* 54 5 21.1 .398 .324 .857 2.2 2.4 0.5 0.1 11.0
Oleksiy "Alex" Len 77 34 20.3 .497 .250 .721 6.6 0.6 0.5 1.3 8.0
Elijah Millsap* 2 0 11.5 .143 .000 .500 3.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 1.5
Ronnie Price 14 0 9.6 .167 .176 .750 0.8 1.3 1.2 0.2 1.0
P. J. Tucker* 57 17 28.5 .415 .338 .792 6.0 1.3 0.8 0.1 7.0
Tyler Ulis 61 15 18.4 .421 .266 .775 1.6 3.7 0.8 0.1 7.3
T. J. Warren 66 59 31.0 .495 .263 .773 5.1 1.1 1.2 0.6 14.4
Alan Williams 47 0 15.1 .517 .000 .625 6.2 0.5 0.6 0.7 7.4

* – Stats with the Suns

Awards and records

Awards

All-Star

Week/Month

Records

Team Records

Milestones

Team Milestones

Injuries/Personal Missed Games

Player Duration Reason for Missed Time Games Missed
Start End
Devin Booker October 31, 2016 November 2, 2016 Sprained right big toe during the first road Oklahoma City game. 1
Derrick Jones Jr. November 3, 2016 November 19, 2016 Assigned to the Northern Arizona Suns by Phoenix. 8
Tyson Chandler November 8, 2016 November 16, 2016 His mother, Vernie Re Threadgill, had died. 4
Tyson Chandler November 18, 2016 November 25, 2016 Attended funeral services for his mother. 4
T. J. Warren November 19, 2016 December 17, 2016 Got a concussion during the road Indiana game. 13
Derrick Jones Jr. November 25, 2016 December 15, 2016 Assigned to the Northern Arizona Suns by Phoenix. 9
Jared Dudley November 27, 2016 November 30, 2016 Hurt left foot during practice. 1
Alex Len December 13, 2016 December 17, 2016 Had a right hip contusion. 2
Derrick Jones Jr. December 23, 2016 January 30, 2017 Assigned to the Northern Arizona Suns multiple times by Phoenix. 18
Brandon Knight January 3, 2017 January 5, 2017 Sprained his right wrist during the second road L.A. Clippers game. 1
Brandon Knight January 14, 2017 January 19, 2017 Hurt calf & got tendinitis after the first Mexico City game. 2
Tyson Chandler January 16, 2017 January 19, 2017 Encountered gastroenteritis after the second Mexico City game. 1
Jared Dudley January 16, 2017 January 26, 2017 Had some flu-like symptoms before the first home Utah game. 5
Dragan Bender January 24, 2017 February 1, 2017 Twisted right ankle during the road Toronto game. 4
Dragan Bender February 3, 2017 April 2, 2017 Had a contusion on his right ankle against the L.A. Clippers. 28
Alex Len February 10, 2017 February 11, 2017 Suspended for a late-game altercation against Memphis. 1
Tyson Chandler February 11, 2017 February 13, 2017 Twisted right ankle during the second quarter at home against Chicago. 1
Eric Bledsoe February 11, 2017 February 13, 2017 Rest from a back-to-back night between Chicago at home and Houston. 1
Brandon Knight February 24, 2017 The Entire Season Recorded continuous back spasms after the All-Star Weekend was done. 26
Alex Len March 11, 2017 March 15, 2017 Got a right hip contusion after last game against the L.A. Lakers. 2
Eric Bledsoe March 15, 2017 The Entire Season Held a bruised right tendon. 15
Leandro Barbosa March 17, 2017 March 21, 2017 Had an illness after their second home game against Sacramento. 2
Devin Booker March 19, 2017 March 21, 2017 Got a sprained ankle during their home game against Orlando. 1
Ronnie Price March 19, 2017 March 28, 2017 Got a lower left leg contusion. 5
Alan Williams March 21, 2017 March 23, 2017 Encountered gastroenteritis after the road Detroit game. 1
T. J. Warren March 23, 2017 March 26, 2017 Had a left foot contusion after the road Miami game. 2
Devin Booker March 28, 2017 March 30, 2017 Got an aggravated ankle during the road Charlotte game. 1
T. J. Warren April 2, 2017 April 5, 2017 Got an illness before beginning the last Houston home game. 1
Leandro Barbosa April 2, 2017 The Entire Season Got right hamstring spasms before beginning the last Houston home game. 5
Jared Dudley April 11, 2017 April 11, 2017 Hurt left toe / ligament after the last home game against Dallas. 1
Devin Booker April 11, 2017 April 11, 2017 Rest up his body against Sacramento. 1

Transactions

Trades

June 23, 2016 To Phoenix Suns
United States Marquese Chriss (Pick 8)
 To Sacramento Kings
Greece Georgios Papagiannis (Pick 13)
Haiti Skal Labissière (Pick 28)
Serbia Bogdan Bogdanović (Player Rights)
2020 second round pick (from Detroit)
February 23, 2017 Three–team trade
To Phoenix Suns
United States Mike Scott (from Atlanta)
United States Jared Sullinger (from Toronto)
Turkey Cenk Akyol (Draft rights from Atlanta)
Cash Considerations (from Atlanta and Toronto)
2017 second round pick (from Toronto)
2018 second round pick (from Toronto)
 To Atlanta Hawks
Top-55 protected second round pick (from Phoenix)
To Toronto Raptors
United States P. J. Tucker (from Phoenix)

Free agents

Additions

Player Signed Former team
Jared Dudley Signed 3-year deal worth $30 Million Washington Wizards
Leandro Barbosa Signed 2-year deal worth $8 Million Golden State Warriors
Derrick Jones Jr. Signed 3-year non-guaranteed deal worth $2.5 Million[a] University of Nevada, Las Vegas Runnin' Rebels[b]
Ronnie Price Signed two 10-day contracts / 1-year deal worth $693,682[c] Oklahoma City Thunder / Phoenix Suns[d]
Jarell Eddie Signed two 10-day contracts worth $102,898 Windy City Bulls
Elijah Millsap Signed 2-year non-guaranteed deal worth $1,547,374[e] Northern Arizona Suns

^ a: The deal for Derrick Jones Jr. that was originally signed with the Suns after making it through training camp had him enter a non-guaranteed three year deal, similar to that of his former teammate, John Jenkins. However, unlike his former teammate, Derrick would end up guaranteeing at least his first season with the Suns (which was worth $543,471) on January 7, 2017 after providing some very promising efforts during his time in the D-League with their affiliate squad, the Northern Arizona Suns. His second year still allows him the chance to earn $905,249 guaranteed next year, while his third year allows him to earn $1,050,252 if he makes it that long. Furthermore, there's also a team option that allows him to stay for one extra year on the team, assuming he makes it to that point, for an extra $1,126,220.
^ b: Derrick Jones Jr. originally declared for the 2016 NBA draft similar to the team's other rookies like Dragan Bender, Marquese Chriss, and Tyler Ulis, but he was ultimately undrafted due to his lesser recognition at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He also first tried to play for the Sacramento Kings during the 2016 NBA Summer League, but due to an injury he had earlier on at that point, he could not play a single game with them during that time.
^ c: Ronnie Price first signed a couple of 10-day contracts with the Suns after failing to find a new team to play with as a result of a failed preseason stint with his former team (at that point in time), the Oklahoma City Thunder. Each of those contracts were worth $91,274 at that time, which amounted to a total of $182,548 by that point. However, Ronnie would ultimately sign a one year deal with the team for the rest of the season on February 24, 2017 due to a combination of having him remain a positive influence on the younger players and providing some solid efforts on the court all-around. In addition to that, there was also hints of Price potentially accepting an assistant coach job with the Suns after this season ended, primarily on head coach Earl Watson's end, although Ronnie later noted that he still had a desire to play in the NBA.
^ d: Originally, Ronnie Price signed a two year deal worth $5,000,000 to play as a primary back-up point guard for Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder on July 25, 2016. However, despite having his deal be fully guaranteed at the time, Price was ultimately waived from the team on October 27, 2016 before even having a chance to play in the regular season for them. Because of that brief stint in the pre-season, most media outlets look to merge Price's previous season with the Phoenix Suns with the current one at hand and say he didn't truly leave the Suns during that point in time, even though he only officially returned to the team on January 27, 2017.
^ e: Because Elijah Millsap signed with the Phoenix Suns at such a late point in the regular season (April 9, 2017), he was ultimately signed to a non-guaranteed two year deal with the Phoenix Suns after the consistently good work he provided for their D-League squad, the Northern Arizona Suns. What that means is that even though his first "year" with the Suns was guaranteed money for Elijah (at a total of $23,069), his second year with them isn't fully guaranteed until January 7, 2018 in the event he remains with the team by then.

Subtractions

Player Reason left New team
Bogdan Bogdanović Traded[f] Sacramento Kings / Turkey Fenerbahçe (Ülker)[g]
Mirza Teletović Unrestricted free agent Milwaukee Bucks
Jon Leuer Unrestricted free agent Detroit Pistons
Ronnie Price Unrestricted free agent Oklahoma City Thunder / Phoenix Suns[d]
Chase Budinger Unrestricted free agent Brooklyn Nets / Spain Club Deportivo Saski-Baskonia, S.A.D.[h]
Alec Brown Waived / Traded[i] Northern Arizona Suns / Windy City Bulls / Spain Movistar Estudiantes, S.A.D.[j]
Archie Goodwin Waived[k] New Orleans Pelicans / Greensboro Swarm / Brooklyn Nets[l]
John Jenkins Waived[m] Westchester Knicks
P. J. Tucker Traded Canada Toronto Raptors
Mike Scott Waived[n] Washington Wizards[o]
Jared Sullinger Waived[n] China Shenzhen New Century Leopards[o]
Jarell Eddie Second 10-day contract expired Windy City Bulls / Boston Celtics / Chicago Bulls[p]

^ f: While Bogdan Bogdanović never played for the Phoenix Suns; his refusal to sign with the team when he was first given the chance to was what ultimately caused him to get traded to the Sacramento Kings on the night of the 2016 NBA draft, where his draft rights went alongside Pick 13 (who became the Greek center Georgios Papagiannis), Pick 28 (who was Haitian center/power forward Skal Labissière from the University of Kentucky), and the Detroit Pistons' 2020 second round draft pick (which eventually became Xavier Tillman) out to Sacramento in exchange for the Kings' 8th pick of the draft, which was power forward Marquese Chriss.
^ g: Even though Bogdan Bogdanović's draft rights were traded to the Sacramento Kings, he ultimately made the decision to remain with his then-current international squad, Fenerbahçe (Ülker), a few days before the 2016 NBA draft began, for the purpose of helping the Turkish squad win their first ever EuroLeague championship.
^ h: Chase Budinger originally signed a (non-guaranteed) deal to play for the Brooklyn Nets on September 21, 2016. However, much like with Ronnie Price during his brief stint with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Chase Budinger would ultimately not get picked up by Brooklyn for the regular season, although his decision was confirmed on October 18, 2016 instead. After being waived by the Nets, Chase would sign a one year deal with the Club Deportivo Saski-Baskonia, S.A.D. out in Spain on October 27, 2016.
^ i: Even though Alec Brown never played an official game with the Phoenix Suns, according to some sources, Brown was signed up for a training camp deal on September 14, 2016 for an apparent purpose of retaining his draft rights with the team. However, while he was waived from the team just three days after his original training camp contract came and went for that original purpose of retaining his draft rights, those rights were ultimately traded away to the Windy City Bulls on September 19, 2017.
^ j: While Alec Brown never originally played for the Northern Arizona Suns (having previously just played for the Obradoiro Clube de Amigos do Baloncesto out in Spain a season prior), he was originally projected to play for them there after having his contract waived by their parent organization. However, his rights would be traded away to the newly formed Windy City Bulls D-League franchise, who are a child organization to the parent Chicago Bulls franchise. Brown would continue playing for the Windy City Bulls until the end of their season on April 6, 2017, where he later signed up for the Movistar Estudiantes, S.A.D. in Spain for the rest of the season soon afterwards.
^ k: While Archie Goodwin was ultimately waived by the Phoenix Suns on October 24, 2016 after their pre-season concluded, he originally asked general manager Ryan McDonough to be traded during the pre-season if it was at all possible for him. However, the Suns didn't find any good offers for Archie whatsoever, and they were unfortunately forced to waive him over players like John Jenkins and Derrick Jones Jr. instead, despite providing some better results than either player (especially John Jenkins) during the pre-season.
^ l: Originally, Archie Goodwin signed a deal to play with the struggling New Orleans Pelicans on November 7, 2016, after starting out the season with a surprisingly poor record. However, after only playing three games with the Pelicans, Goodwin was waived by them thirteen days later on November 20. After that, Goodwin was forced to play out in the D-League under yet another expansion squad, the Greensboro Swarm (a child organization of the parent Charlotte Hornets franchise), ten days later on November 30. He would continue to play for Greensboro until March 15, 2017, where he originally signed a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets. After showcasing his worth to them (to the point of having them considerably improve themselves later on in the season, albeit not enough to have the worst record that season), he signed another 10-day contract with them on March 25 before having a two year deal on April 5, 2017 confirmed with the Nets.
^ m: Even though John Jenkins was waived on January 6, 2017 after failing to showcase any significant value or worth for the team in any way, Jenkins was partially guaranteed $525,481 throughout the season he was with the team thanks to a previous three year contract he signed with the team giving out partial guarantees after staying with Phoenix beyond his first season with the squad.
^ n: Both Jared Sullinger and Mike Scott never played a single game with the Suns thanks to them being waived for salary purposes relating to the respective trades they were both involved with, between Jared Sullinger being given to the Suns alongside two second round draft picks in 2017 & 2018 and $1,000,000 in a traded player exception in exchange for P. J. Tucker going back to his original NBA team, the Toronto Raptors, and Mike Scott going to the team was originally projected to draft him before the Josh Childress trade came and went alongside the draft rights to Turkish shooting guard Cenk Akyol and $500,000 via another traded player exception in exchange for a second round pick this year that ultimately would not be going to the Atlanta Hawks due to their own second round pick being top 55 protected this year. Both players were primarily involved with helping the team get above the salary floor before the end of the season.
^ o: Neither Jared Sullinger nor Mike Scott managed to sign up with a new team after being waived by the Suns this season. In the case of Mike Scott, it related to him dealing with a court case involving him and his brother, which went on until May 3, 2017, where both him and his brother were cleared due to there being racial profiling involved with that case. Mike Scott would sign up with the Washington Wizards on the Fourth of July in 2017, while Jared Sullinger ultimately went to China to play for the Shenzhen New Century Leopards on September 12, 2017.
^ p: As a result of signing with the Phoenix Suns so late into the season, Jarell Eddie did not find a new team to play with after ending his season with them early on April 7, 2017. He would be without a team to play for until September 12, 2017, where he got a training camp deal with the Chicago Bulls. He would later be off of the team on October 16, 2017 (one day before the upcoming season began) with Chicago signing Kay Felder that day before returning to Chicago's affiliate team, the Windy City Bulls, on October 24, 2017. He would remain in the Windy City until January 20, 2018, where he would sign a 10-day contract with the Boston Celtics. However, he would return to the Windy City Bulls on January 30 after his 10 day contract in Boston expired, which ultimately led to Eddie going to the Chicago Bulls on February 28, 2018 with their own 10-day contract for him.

References

  1. ^ 2016-17 Phoenix Suns Roster and Stats. (2017). Basketball Reference. https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/PHO/2017.html.
  2. ^ "Suns remove interim tag, make Earl Watson head coach". Sports Illustrated. April 19, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 14, 2017. Retrieved January 14, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ Suns Announce Complete 2016-17 Coaching Staff. (2016, July 27). NBA. https://www.nba.com/suns/press-release/suns-announce-2016-17-coaching-staff.
  5. ^ Anatomy of a deal: How the Phoenix Suns added both Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender. (2016, June 25). Bright Side of the Sun. https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2016/6/25/12027078/anatomy-of-a-deal-phoenix-suns-pick-bender-chriss.
  6. ^ "Suns hope rookie big men mold into solid foundation | NBA.com". www.nba.com. Archived from the original on September 9, 2016.
  7. ^ "Jared Dudley accepts deal to return to Phoenix Suns".
  8. ^ "I'm Home | The Players' Tribune". www.theplayerstribune.com. Archived from the original on July 28, 2016.
  9. ^ Baum, Bob. "Suns remove interim tag, name Watson coach". NBA.com. Archived from the original on June 21, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
  10. ^ "Suns name Earl Watson 17th head coach in team history". NBA.com. Archived from the original on August 3, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
  11. ^ Coro, Paul. "Phoenix Suns not renewing 2 assistant coach contracts". azcentral.com. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
  12. ^ Adrian Wojnarowski [@wojespn] (May 19, 2016). "Portland assistant Jay Triano will join Earl Watson's Suns' staff as associate head coach, league source tells @TheVertical" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. ^ "Phoenix Suns top aide Jay Triano fits team's vision".
  14. ^ "Suns announce 2016 Summer League roster". July 2016.
  15. ^ Coro, Paul. "Lon Babby ends tenure with Phoenix Suns". azcentral.com. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
  16. ^ "HoopsHype – NBA Salaries – Phoenix Suns". hoopshype.com. September 22, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  17. ^ "Phoenix Suns teenager-heavy rotation crystalizes as opening night approaches". October 25, 2016.
  18. ^ "Suns' Dragan Bender youngest in 18 years to post 11/13/3/2/2 line". December 27, 2016.
  19. ^ "Kevin Durant on Devin Booker: "He next - I'm telling you"". August 26, 2017.
  20. ^ "Phoenix Suns close out strangely entertaining season". April 12, 2017.
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