Former Pack men’s basketball standout and 2014 NBA lottery pick T.J. Warren looks to build off a solid rookie season and offseason with the hopes of playing into the starting lineup of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns.
After spending most of last season behind experienced veterans such as P.J. Tucker and Gerald Green, and standouts Marcus and Markieff Morris, it looks like Warren’s patience has paid off.
With the departure of Marcus Morris to Detroit via trade and the almost inevitable future departure of his twin brother Markieff, coupled with Warren’s outstanding play in the 2015 NBA Summer League, it looks like the 2015-16 NBA Season is Warren’s time to shine.
On July 2, in a shocking turn of events, the Suns split up the dynamic duo that was the Morris twins after they agreed to ship Marcus, along with Danny Granger and Reggie Bullock, to Detroit for a 2020 second-round draft pick.
The trade was essentially a salary dump as the Suns were attempting to clear cap space to make a run at free agent LaMarcus Aldridge, who would later opt to sign with the San Antonio Spurs. A little more than a month later, Markieff Morris publicly demanded a trade, saying he believes the Suns acted unprofessionally in trading away his brother, and he feels disrespected as a result.
Morris has yet to be traded, but he believes he won’t be with the team by the time training camp rolls around in September. Assuming Morris is traded before the season starts, his departure opens up more playing time for Warren.
Heading into the 2015 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Warren looked to show the Suns why he was their first-rounder back in 2014. Warren lead the Suns in scoring, averaging about 19.0 points per game, en route to a 5-2 record and an appearance in the Summer League title game, ultimately losing 93-90 to the Spurs.
The highlight of the summer for Warren came in a quarterfinal matchup with the Chicago Bulls. The Durham native dropped 31 points along with six rebounds in a 91-84 Suns win.
Just before the Suns took on the Spurs for the Summer League crown, it was announced that Warren had been named to the All-NBA Summer League First Team as selected by a panel of media members. Warren is no stranger to Summer League honors as he was named to the All-NBA Summer League Second Team back in 2014.
With a noteworthy Summer League performance, look for Warren to challenge Tucker for the starting small forward position during training camp and throughout the season. Warren should be shuffled into the Suns’ regular rotation come the end of the season.
The offseason signing of Tyson Chandler from the Dallas Mavericks also helps bolster the Suns’ rotation by solidifying the center position. A defensive-minded center, Chandler isn’t an adept offensive player, meaning the majority of the Suns’ scoring must come elsewhere.
The addition of Chandler allows the Suns to have a more defensive presence than they did last season. Enter Warren, bolstered by his stellar Summer League play, to help carry the scoring load of a young team looking to break through the barrier of mediocrity and return to the playoffs for the first time in five seasons.
Luckily, scoring is exactly where Warren excels and has always excelled, with his patented running floater simply unstoppable once he gets going.
Warren is a unique player in the modern NBA because of his excellence at the mid-range game. While most players and most teams in the analytics-savvy league are shying away from lower percentage 2-point shots in favor of higher percentage dunks and layups or greater reward 3-pointers, the 6-foot-8 Warren thrives in that zone.
He’s made a habit of turning bad shots into good ones, and while he still has plenty of areas of his game to develop, specifically his defense and 3-point shooting, Warren will only be 22 by the time the season rolls around. He has plenty of time left in a career that’s on the verge of breaking out into stardom.
