Bleacher Report: Suns feature three of the top under-22 players in NBA

You can’t have a conversation about the Phoenix Suns these days without the talk steering toward youth.

According to RealGM.com, the Suns have an average age of 25.3 — the third-youngest roster in the league behind only the Portland Trail Blazers (24.7) and the Philadelphia 76ers (24.9).

There is plenty of young talent in the NBA this season, which spurred Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley to pick his top 22 players under the age of 22. The Suns feature three players — Dragan Bender, Marquese Chriss and Devin Booker — on the list, making them one of only two teams to have more than two (Denver is the other).

Buckley’s ranking begins with Bender, who despite being sidelined with an injury, comes in at No. 22.

Though his long-term potential remains high, his current reality looks bleak. Before ankle surgery forced him off the floor, Bender was shooting just 37.1 percent overall and 32.1 percent from distance. His anemic 5.8 player efficiency rating—the second-worst mark among the 339 players to log 400-plus minutes this season—underscored the callow nature of his talents.

Bender hasn’t seen game action since Feb. 1 when he played 13 minutes in a loss to the L.A. Clippers. He underwent ankle surgery last month and the Suns remain hopeful that the league’s youngest player (he doesn’t turn 20 until November) will make it back to the court this season.

The second Phoenix representative on the list is forward Marquese Chriss, who comes in at No. 13.

From November through March, both his minutes and scoring averages have either risen or stayed the same from the previous month.

He was named January’s top rookie in the Western Conference after averaging 8.3 points on 45.9 percent shooting, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals. In February, he had an outing with 27 points in 24 minutes and another where he tallied 17 points on only 10 shots. In three games this month, he’s had an outing with three triples and another with five blocks.

Chriss is becoming more and more comfortable in the NBA game. Since the All-Star break, the 19-year-old is averaging 11.7 points, 3.8 boards and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting nearly 56 percent. He’s also managed to curb his fouling, which has led to increased minutes on the floor.

Not surprisingly, 20-year old shooting guard Devin Booker is the highest-ranked Suns player, coming in at No. 5.

Devin Booker is a scoring maven, and no, it’s not too early to say that.

Only five other players age 20 or younger have scored at least 27 points in a game this season, none doing it more than twice. Booker has 14 such performances—and two quarters where he tallied at least that many points. He’s the youngest player ever to have 16 consecutive games of 20-plus points.

Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell (6th on B/R list) and Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns (1st) are the only other under-22 stars to have more than game with 27 or more points this season.

The Suns have another under-22 player, point guard Tyler Ulis, who isn’t featured in Buckley’s rankings currently, but easily could be by the end of the season.

The 21-year-old point guard has been electrifying in increased minutes since the All-Star break. In his last three games (all Suns wins), Ulis has averaged 14 points, 6.7 assists and two steals per game while adding a buzzer-beating three-pointer to beat the Boston Celtics on March 5.

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