Arizona Sports Roundtable: What’s the Suns’ best-case scenario for 2016-17?

The anticipation is immense. The expectations aren’t as high. Together, it makes for a unique lead-in to a Phoenix Suns season. The Arizona Sports 98.7 FM’s Empire of the Suns blog is previewing the 2016-17 season by asking our on-air, online and Suns-centric personalities to speak their minds.

In our first roundtable, we ask: What’s the best-case scenario for the Suns this season?

***

Jon Bloom: The young players all show marked improvement, Eric Bledsoe makes his first All-Star game after sustaining his play from the beginning of last season for all 82 games, Devin Booker stays on the path to stardom, Brandon Knight wins Sixth Man of the Year, Earl Watson gets considered for Coach of the Year, and the team ends a six-year playoff drought knocking off the Clippers in the first round as the No. 5 seed before losing in six to the Golden State All-Stars. Do I need to wake up now?

Dave Burns: Best-case scenario is that Devin Booker is an overnight star, Eric Bledsoe plays 82 games and averages 32 minutes a game and Marquese Chriss is Shawn Kemp like. And even that won’t get better than fourth or fifth in the West.

Paige Dimakos: The best case for the Suns this year is the seventh or eighth spot in the West. Now, I don’t expect that to happen but I do expect them to be more competitive and a much more fun team to watch. Who knows? An injury or two to some other teams, and they could be in the mix at the end.

Doug Franz: Fight tooth and nail for the last playoff spot so the young players get the experience of pressure regular season games before falling short of the playoffs. Against all odds, win the No. 1 draft pick and actually find a guy who has the maturity of a Devin Booker.

John Gambadoro: Opponents overlook Phoenix because of their previous records and youth, and they surprise some playoff teams. Plus, veterans like Bledsoe and Knight stay healthy enough to take the pressure off of the younger players.

Bryan Gibberman: The Suns sneak into the playoffs with their young players showing off an extremely high ceiling. Devin Booker, Marquese Chriss, Dragan Bender, T.J. Warren, Alex Len and even Brandon Knight are the most important players on the roster in terms of what this team can grow into going forward.

Craig Grialou: Of course it’s making the playoffs, though I won’t go as far as to predict a top-four seed that Eric Bledsoe aimed at on media day. A lot has to break the Suns’ way for that to happen, obviously; first and foremost is to remain healthy. But this team, if they come to compete every night, could surprise a lot of people.

Vince Marotta: Everyone stays healthy and gains comfort in their respective roles. Suns win 42-45 games and squeak into the playoffs ahead of schedule.

Adam Green: Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight not only stay healthy, but provide the kind of scoring punch expected of them, Devin Booker takes the next step toward stardom and the team’s bigs fill their roles consistently. If playoffs are not your goal (and they are not mine), then seeing Bender and Chriss show promise would be great, too.

Kellan Olson: A top-15 defense would translate to several things, the most important of which is that Earl Watson is getting his messages through and there is more of a team aspect to the group. This also likely puts the Suns around the 35-40 win range with the offensive capabilities of their guards, right where they’d want to be with this group compared to last year.

Kevin Zimmerman: Call this a cleansing tank of a season, because record doesn’t matter. Getting all the bad stuff out does. Bledsoe and Knight remain healthy, Ryan McDonough swings one of the elder statesmen for a first-round pick, Earl Watson’s defense is consistent, and the offense plays unselfishly.

Ron Wolfley: The bestcase scenario with the Suns has nothing to do with winning games and everything to do with forming a nucleus that will develop a year or two from now. The ideal scenario would involve Devin Booker taking the next step in his quest for super stardom, Eric Bledsoe maturing into a true PG/leader, Brandon Knight accepting his sixth-man status, TJ Warren becoming a complete wing player, Marquese Chriss’ raw athleticism impacting games in a positive way and Dragan Bender developing a mean streak (among other things). A process that includes these developments is more important than the end results. In 2016-17, it’s the Journey, not the Destination.

Follow @AZSports