B/R Grades Suns First Quarter Performance

What grade were the Suns given for an up-an down start?

Bleacher Report has come out with a quarter-mark report card, as every team in the NBA has now played roughly 25% of their entire schedule. 

Author Andy Bailey explains that a quarter into the season is a good benchmark to start evaluating teams, as small statistical samples are beginning to wane, rotations are starting to become more set in stone, and contenders are becoming more clear. 

Bailey goes on to elaborate on the criteria for the grading process, analyzing everything from individual performances to overall record. 

The real question is: Where do the Phoenix Suns stand?

The Suns actually grade out better than one may expect, receiving a B+ for their efforts 22 games into the year. 

The explanation behind giving Phoenix such a good grade is rooted in logic and goes as follows:

"Injuries have been a constant for the 2023-24 Phoenix Suns. Kevin Durant has missed three games, Devin Booker has missed nine and Bradley Beal has missed 19.

"But that had to have been expected by most before this campaign ever started.

"All three stars have dealt with durability issues in recent seasons, and they'll likely deal with more prior to the end of this one. Being where they are in spite of that is actually pretty impressive.

"Right now, the Suns are in the play-in mix, which certainly isn't where their fans or front office want to be. But Durant is averaging 31.0 points and 5.7 assists while shooting an even 50.0 percent from three. The 'Booker at point guard' experiment is undoubtedly working. He's averaging 27.4 points and 8.1 assists.

"And the hodgepodge supporting cast mostly assembled after the Beal trade is getting better-than-replacement-level contributions (at least according to box plus/minus) from Jusuf Nurkić, Jordan Goodwin, Eric Gordon, Nassir Little and Grayson Allen, to name a few.

"Beal is set to return this week, and if he can stay on the floor for a while, a climb up the standings feels almost inevitable."

This measured approach seems reasonable, as the bevy of role players that Phoenix has relied on to do more than their roles would usually call for have generally performed well. 

The imminent return of Beal and Booker/Durant appearing to be on the mends health-wise raises the ceiling of the team's regular season prospects. If they can get continuity going, 50 wins seems like a good benchmark for the final result.