2015–16 Phoenix Suns season
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The
Key dates
- May 19, 2015: The NBA draft lottery took place.
- May 29, 2015: The Suns reassigned assistant coach Bakersfield Jam coach Nate Bjorkgren as a new assistant coach for player development, fired Kenny Gattison as an assistant coach by not renewing his contract, and fired director of player personnel John Treloar.[2]
- June 3, 2015: Former NBA player and Austin Spurs assistant coach Earl Watson was announced as one of the newest player development assistant coaches.
- June 10, 2015: President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby announced that after his free agency stint in July, he would step down from his position and take on a new role as a senior adviser.
- June 17, 2015: Danny Granger exercised his player option with the team so he could play out the rest of his contract.
- June 25, 2015: The Brooklyn, New York; Phoenix selects Kentucky University's shooting guard Devin Booker with their 13th pick and trades their 44th pick (Kentucky University's Andrew Harrison) to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for back-up power forward Jon Leuer.
- June 27, 2015: Phoenix announces that former Villanova University player and Austin Spurs assistant coach Jason Fraser accepted the last open player development assistant coach role for the team.[3]
- June 30, 2015: The twins complete their first mandated court appearance after their situation with Eric Hood in January this past season.[4]They were projected to meet again on August 3, 2015 in Arizona.
- July 1, 2015: The NBA free agency period began; Brandon Knight agreed to a 5-year, $70 million offer that was hinted earlier on in June to stay with the Suns; Dallas Mavericks center Tyson Chandler also agreed to be in Phoenix as well for a 4-year, $52 million offer.
- July 2, 2015: The Suns traded Marcus Morris, Danny Granger, and Reggie Bullock to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for the Pistons' 2020 second round selection.
- July 8, 2015: Phoenix acquired CSKA Moscow shooting guard Sonny Weems on a two-year deal (second year being a team option) worth a total of $5.8 million; Phoenix also got point guard Ronnie Price back on a one-year deal worth $1.5 million.
- July 9, 2015: Teams could sign, trade, extend, and even release players to their own accord, such as signing Tyson Chandler on his contract; Phoenix also agreed to a one-year deal worth $5.5 million with Brooklyn Nets power forward Mirza Teletović after he was released from them.
- July 17, 2015: The Suns re-signed point guard Brandon Knight and signed power forward Mirza Teletović and guards Sonny Weems and Ronnie Price; Phoenix also waived point guard Jerel McNeal's contract before it became fully guaranteed, even though the Suns' Summer League wasn't over yet.[5]
- July 19, 2015: T. J. Warren earned All-NBA First Team Las Vegas Summer League Honors for his performance during the 2015 NBA Summer League.
- July 23, 2015: News was leaked that the Suns would reveal a new black alternate jersey for road matches only. Further information also revealed that the Suns would get a flexible, updated silhouette for a different alternative jersey.
- July 30, 2015: The Suns announced changes to their coaching staff and front office that includes the recent announcement of Bakersfield Jam general manager Bubba Barrage as the team's newest Director of Player Personnel and Antonio Williams as the newest scout, replacing the initial scouting role held by Ronnie Lester.[6]
- August 1, 2015: Lon Babby stepped down from his old president of basketball operations role and took on the team's senior adviser role; Ryan McDonough then took on that role as well.
- August 3, 2015: his traded brotherwere scheduled to return to Phoenix to complete their second mandated court appearance with the Eric Hood case. However, neither brother showed up and their attorneys asked for their court appearance that day to be waived. As a result, their next pre-trial conference was delayed to September 16, 2015.
- August 12, 2015: The NBA announced all team schedules for the 2015–16 season, with the Suns opening their season on October 28, 2015 against the Dallas Mavericks, Tyson Chandler's former team.
- August 24, 2015: The Suns announced that they would put their superstar point guard Steve Nash into the Phoenix Suns Ring of Honor on their October 30, 2015 game against the Portland Trail Blazers, which was also rookie Devin Booker's 19th birthday.[7]
- September 8, 2015: The Phoenix Suns revealed their newest black alternate jerseys, updated their orange alternate jersey, revealed their updated court design (with the main feature showcasing that the team replaced the "SUNS" ambigram with their old Sunburst logo similar to what they had during the 1990s), and unveiled their new Civic Pride "We Are PHX" movement to the media. The event included Kentucky University alumni Eric Bledsoe, rookie Devin Booker, Archie Goodwin, and Brandon Knight, as well as small forward P. J. Tucker, the newly acquired power forward Jon Leuer, coach Jeff Hornacek, Suns president Jason Rowley, and Phoenix mayor Greg Stanton; the league also fines Markieff Morris $10,000 due to his trade demand comments he's made throughout the past month or two.
- September 16, 2015: The Morris twins requested a new grand jury as a new mandated appearance after missing their August meeting. Both sides had to have written arguments for and against a new grand jury to precise over the twins' case. Their next meeting took place on October 15, 2015, although neither appeared in court due to their respective obligations to the Suns and Pistons. If their request was denied, the earliest next court date could be November 5, 2015; otherwise, the case would be held back all the way until May 31, 2016.[8] The Suns' signing of Cory Jefferson (and other training camp invitees) became official that day.
- September 28, 2015: The deadline for all signed players to report to their teams took effect as training camp commenced in Flagstaff; Markieff Morris was the last player to show up for the team when everyone else had been training with each other for at least two weeks.
- October 3, 2015: The Suns concluded their training camp practices before the start of the pre-season by having a friendly match between themselves at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Team MacLeod barely beat out Team Cotton by the final of 67–66.
- October 26, 2015: The player options of center Alex Len, shooting guard Archie Goodwin, and small forward T. J. Warren get picked up for the 2016–17 NBA season.[9]
- October 28, 2015: The Suns started the regular season with a home game against Tyson Chandler's former team, the Dallas Mavericks; Devin Booker made his debut as the first player in the NBA at 18 years old who also had at least one year of college experience.
- October 30, 2015: Steve Nash became the 10th player to enter the Phoenix Suns Ring of Honor during the second home game of the season against the Portland Trail Blazers; Devin Booker turns 19 years old during the team's first victory of the season.
- November 25, 2015: The Suns sign Tucson, Arizona native Bryce Cotton on a one-year deal after injuries to back-up point guard Ronnie Price, as well as to starting point guard Eric Bledsoe occurred earlier in the season.
- December 15, 2015: The starting point for signed free agents to be traded to different teams commences.
- December 26, 2015: Eric Bledsoe tore his left meniscus and is out for the rest of the season.
- December 27, 2015: The Suns fired assistant coaches Jerry Sichting and Mike Longabardi for their poor performances throughout the month of December.
- January 5, 2016: Teams can sign players for 10-day contracts.
- January 6, 2016: After winning their first game of the new year, the Suns decided to waive away the non-guaranteed deals of Cory Jefferson and Bryce Cotton.
- January 7, 2016: The Suns signed Lorenzo Brown, former college teammate of T. J. Warren's, to a 10-day contract.
- January 15, 2016: Contracts for players signed earlier in free agency for teams over the salary cap are now fully guaranteed for the season.
- January 18, 2016: The Suns re-signed Lorenzo Brown to his second 10-day contract.
- January 21, 2016: Phoenix re-signed former Suns player Cory Jefferson to a 10-day contract after all of the previous power forwards wound up injured.
- January 23, 2016: In a close 98–95 victory over the Atlanta Hawks, Tyson Chandler became the first Phoenix Suns player to record multiple games of 20+ rebounds with the team, tied Paul Silas' record for rebounds in one game with 27, and set a new offensive rebounding record with 13, beating out both Charles Barkley and Curtis Perry there in the process.
- January 26, 2016: With a 113-103 loss, the Suns would earn the dubious honor to be the only team to get swept by the 76erswho would finish 10-72, one of the worst seasons in NBA history.
- January 28, 2016: The Suns decided to not sign D-Leaguehistory) a 10-day contract.
- February 1, 2016: Head coach Jeff Hornacek was fired after a generally awful season and replaced by assistant coach Earl Watson for the rest of the season; Bob Hill (a former head coach for the San Antonio Spurs and Seattle SuperSonics) took the vacant assistant coach role left by Watson; rookie Devin Booker was announced as a participant for the three-point shootout.
- February 2, 2016: Before the beginning of Phoenix's 7-game home stand (9 in 10 games) in February, it was announced that small forward T. J. Warren would be out for the rest of the season due to a broken foot he had sustained during a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in January.
- February 5, 2016: The Suns signed Orlando Johnson to a 10-day contract days after finding out small forward T. J. Warren would be out for the rest of the season.
- February 8, 2016: Phoenix re-signed Jordan McRae to his second 10-day contract moving forward.
- February 10, 2016: Devin Booker was announced as a participant for All-Star Friday's NBA Cares Special Olympics Unified Basketball Game.[10]
- February 11, 2016: It was announced, a day before the actual event began, that rookie Devin Booker was a contestant for the Rising Stars Challenge after Philadelphia 76ers sophomore power forward/center Nerlens Noel injured himself before the event took place.
- February 12, 2016: The Ontario, Canadabegan.
- February 18, 2016: The NBA trade deadline takes full effect; Phoenix traded away Markieff Morris to the Washington Wizards in exchange for DeJuan Blair, Kris Humphries, a top-9-protected first-round draft pick, and a $1.56 million traded player exception; the Suns also waived Orlando Johnson to make room for their newest players.
- February 20, 2016: The Suns signed former Idaho Stampede point guard Phil Pressey to a 10-day contract after deciding not to sign Jordan McRaefor the rest of the year.
- February 22, 2016: The Suns waived DeJuan Blair.
- February 24, 2016: The Suns signed former Dallas Mavericks shooting guard John Jenkins to a three-year contract (two years non-guaranteed) two days after deciding to waive DeJuan Blair from the roster.
- February 28, 2016: After getting their only victory in the month of February, the Suns decided to buy out Kris Humphries' contract (the other player acquired in the Markieff Morris trade) that he first signed with the Washington Wizards in order for it to not affect their salary cap.
- March 1, 2016: The Suns re-signed Phil Pressey to his second 10-day contract.
- March 5, 2016: After winning their first road game of the season since December 7, 2015, against the Chicago Bulls with a blowout win against the Orlando Magic, the Suns waived Sonny Weems due to his poor performances throughout the season.
- March 6, 2016: The road victories the Suns recorded against the Orlando Magic two nights ago and the Memphis Grizzlies that night were exactly a year since the Suns last won two straight games on the road on March 4 and March 6, 2015.
- March 8, 2016: After winning their second game in a row by beating the Qingdao DoubleStar Eagles center and Phoenix, Arizona, native Alan Williamsto a one-year deal and a 10-day contract respectively.
- March 11, 2016: The Suns decided not to sign Phil Pressey for the rest of the season after finding out Brandon Knight was healthy enough to return to action for the season.
- March 18, 2016: Phoenix native Alan Williams signed for the rest of the season, with an option to play for the Suns next season and also participate in their Summer League team after this season.
- April 1, 2016: Brandon Knight was announced out for the rest of the season due to a sports hernia he reaggravated on his debut as a road opponent against his former team, the Milwaukee Bucks, after trying to dunk on Giannis Antetokounmpo. He was fouled on the play in question.
- April 5, 2016: Forward Mirza Teletović broke the record set by former San Antonio Spurs' Chuck Person at the time during the 1994–95 season to make the most three-pointers as a reserve player with his 165th three-pointer during a loss against the Atlanta Hawks. He finished the season with 179 three-pointers off the bench.
- April 8, 2016: Brandon Knight had surgery on his hernia in Philadelphia.
- April 9, 2016: Rookie Devin Booker recorded his 1,000th point with 10:51 left in the first quarter during a 121–100 blowout victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, thus becoming the fourth-youngest player to record 1,000 points in a season, the third-youngest to do it in his rookie season, and the sixth-overall player to record 1,000 points as a teenager.
- April 11, 2016: It was announced that the Phoenix Suns would take full control over their D-League affiliate team, the Northern Arizona Suns, starting after this season ended. The Suns thereby became one of 19 NBA teams (as of this season) to have complete control over a single D-League affiliate team.
- April 19, 2016: The Suns announced that Earl Watson was no longer the interim head coach, and was the full-time head coach for the next three years, effective this new season.
- May 16, 2016: Devin Booker was voted fourth in the NBA Rookie of the Year Award voting segment, finishing behind Nikola Jokić, Kristaps Porziņģis, and his former college teammate Karl-Anthony Towns.
- May 19, 2016: Booker was announced as a part of the NBA All-Rookie First Team, joining Towns, Porziņģis, Jokić, and the Philadelphia 76ers' Jahlil Okafor. Booker also became the first Suns rookie to join an All-Rookie team (either first or second) since Amar'e Stoudemire in 2003, when he also won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.[11]
Offseason
Draft picks
Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
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1 | 13 | Devin Booker | Shooting guard | United States | Kentucky |
2 | 44 | Andrew Harrison | Point guard | United States | Kentucky |
The Phoenix Suns have only one first round pick and one second round pick this season. Their sole first round pick was their own that was also a part of the NBA draft lottery. The Suns initially had two other draft picks as well (one from the Minnesota Timberwolves and the other from the Los Angeles Lakers, both of which were coincidentally the top picks of this season's draft), but they were both involved with trades the Suns made last season. Minnesota's first round pick (which had lottery protections this season) was traded to the Boston Celtics, where Phoenix got center Brandan Wright in exchange. However, the Lakers' pick (which was top 5 protected this season) was moved in the trade deadline extravaganza of 2015, with Phoenix gaining guard Brandon Knight from the Milwaukee Bucks (as well as other players and future first round draft picks) in exchange for Milwaukee gaining the Suns' center Miles Plumlee and then-rookie point guard Tyler Ennis, as well as the Philadelphia 76ers' point guard Michael Carter-Williams, and Philadelphia getting the Lakers' protected first round pick out of it. The lone second round pick they have is also the pick they had on their own accord in spite of having a declining record when compared to two seasons ago in the process.
With the 13th pick, the Suns selected shooting guard
Free agency
Players Brandan Wright, Gerald Green, and Marcus Thornton; as well as the returning Earl Barron all became unrestricted free agents as of the end of the 2014–15 NBA season. In addition, combo guard Brandon Knight ended up being a restricted free agent. Small forward Danny Granger was also considered a candidate for unrestricted free agency, but he ended up exercising his player option to take on his final year of his contract for the rest of this season on June 17, 2015. Not only that, but one recent trade the Suns made by trading their most recent second round selection to Memphis for power forward Jon Leuer was fully guaranteed for the rest of the season after having his rights remain with the team after June 29, 2015. Point guard Jerel McNeal also had a team option that would make him an unrestricted free agent, but it had to be decided upon and met before July 21, 2015, which was around the time Phoenix's Summer League campaign ended and a good portion of free agency had been completed. However, unlike the other players that had team options with the Suns, McNeal was waived four days before his contract was guaranteed, on July 17, 2015 during the Summer League, due to his less than stellar performance there.
To start their free agency push, the Suns decided to lock down their biggest trade deadline piece last season,
After failing to sign Aldridge, the Suns decided to sign
On August 20, 2015, the Suns agreed to training camp deals with former
On November 25, 2015, the Suns signed
During Jordan McRae's first 10-day stint, Phoenix decided to sign another 10-day contract out for former NBA and
The Morris twins situation
For a majority of the past two seasons, many of the problems the team had there as a whole were projected by many fans as problems relating to that of the Morris twins' behaviors (primarily the behavior of Markieff Morris for this season). Before the start of the season, both Markieff and his twin brother
On August 11, 2015, Markieff Morris revealed to The Philadelphia Inquirer that he wanted to be traded out of Phoenix, mainly due to how he and his twin brother were notified of the news of the Detroit Pistons trade on July 2, 2015, where Markieff's brother was traded alongside Reggie Bullock and Danny Granger for the Pistons' 2020 second round selection.[23] He was fined $10,000 for his comments. Four days later, he stated his preference to play for either the Houston Rockets (Marcus' original team) or the Toronto Raptors, but he wouldn't mind any other location like the Washington Wizards as well. However, the Suns decided to counter Markieff's demands by saying they would not trade him due to his importance to the team around that time. Despite that notion, he remained adamant about his decision by posting out on his Twitter account that his future would not be in Phoenix, just a day after the Suns wished Markieff a happy 26th birthday, and continued with the attitude a week later saying he won't accept any apologies from the team. At the end of the offseason, though, Markieff remained on the team throughout most of the season, with Marcus continuing to bash the team and their fanbase along the way as a Detroit Pistons player, even claiming he was never really a Phoenix Suns player. It was later revealed that the Suns had tried to work out a trade involving Markieff for eight months before it was finally completed in February, with general manager Ryan McDonough stating that if a better deal for Markieff had come before the start of the season, it would have been done by then.[24] The problem was stated that Markieff himself didn't do the team any favors throughout the majority of the season between his court case with his brother and worries that the behavior he had at the start of the season there would continue for other teams afterwards.
While Markieff suggested that he had learned from the mistakes he made during the summertime, he continued to have problems with the team and even struggled with his performance after his first ever injury as a player in the middle of November. After his injury, Markieff was relegated to a bench role, with times that he didn't even play at all for various reasons. His performance dropped even further from averaging around 13 points and 5 rebounds in 27 minutes of action in November to 6.4 points and 2.9 rebounds in 17 minutes of action in December, with Jon Leuer replacing Markieff at points. It soon reached a point on December 23, 2015 against the Denver Nuggets (which was also the last full game Eric Bledsoe played before a season-ending knee injury three days later) where Markieff threw a towel (accidentally) at head coach Jeff Hornacek after being frustrated at a play. The incident drew parallels to when former Suns player Robert Horry threw a towel at former Suns head coach Danny Ainge back in the 1996–97 Phoenix Suns season.[25] Like Horry, Morris was suspended for two games without pay. However, unlike the Horry situation, Markieff remained with the team for not just the rest of December, but also for the entirety of January and halfway through February. Markieff also ended up lasting longer than Hornacek and two of his top assistants, Jerry Sichting and Mike Longabardi (the latter of which won the 2016 NBA Finals championship later on in the season with the Cleveland Cavaliers). It also caused the Suns to stop playing Markieff altogether for a good amount of time, only relenting with all of their power forwards starting to get injuries during the month of January at certain points.
When head coach Jeff Hornacek was fired on February 1, 2016, and assistant(/former player development) coach Earl Watson replaced him as interim head coach for the rest of the season, Watson tried to designate Markieff as the team's newest leader after having injuries decimate their entire roster. During the five games Morris held that designation, he recorded his best averages for the Suns with 20.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 4.6 assists in over 30 minutes of action, even though the team did not win any of those games around that period of time. However, the breaking point for Markieff and the Suns came under Morris' last game on February 9, 2016 against the defending champion Golden State Warriors, where during the first timeout of the game in the first quarter, Markieff went after his teammate Archie Goodwin due to Goodwin not performing well at the time. While the Suns lost a relatively close match to the Warriors, they soon realized that enough was enough with Markieff (and later Goodwin), and then asked to have a first round draft pick and a young player in return for Markieff to go far away from their franchise forever. At the end of the February 18, 2016 trade deadline, despite him wanting to stay with the team by then, the other Morris brother was traded to the Washington Wizards in exchange for power-forward/center combo players DeJuan Blair and Kris Humphries, as well as a top-9 protected 2016 first round draft pick and a $1.56 million traded player exception. Four days after the trade, though, the Suns waived Blair. To replace him, the Suns decided to use their traded player exception to sign John Jenkins to a three-year contract (with the second and third years being non-guaranteed) for the league minimum. Furthermore, the Suns also decided to buy out Kris Humphries' contract that he had for two more years (including this one) on February 28, 2016 in order to help get him to a playoff team in the Atlanta Hawks, while also replacing Humphries with Phoenix, Arizona native Alan Williams to a 10-day contract on March 8, 2016, and then for the rest of the season on March 18, 2016. Both the first round pick from Markieff (which became Georgios Papagiannis) and the 2020 second round pick from Marcus (which eventually became Xavier Tillman) were later traded to the Sacramento Kings as part of a deal in exchange for Marquese Chriss, who was the 8th pick in the 2016 NBA draft.
Coaching changes
On May 29, 2015, it was announced that assistant coach
On December 27, 2015, a day after losing to the Philadelphia 76ers (who before playing Phoenix had only one victory at that time and ended up with only 10 victories all season long), it was announced that both Earl Watson and Nate Bjorkgren were being promoted to full-time assistant coaches, while both long-time assistant coaches Jerry Sichting and Mike Longabardi were fired (although Longabardi was later hired by the Cleveland Cavaliers, eventually winning the 2016 NBA Finals six months later, while Sichting was reunite with Jeff Hornacek and Corey Gaines on the Knicks the next season). A month later, the Suns' head coach Jeff Hornacek was fired (although he'd find work again as the New York Knicks' head coach on May 18, 2016, while also being reunited with assistant coaches Jerry Sichting and Corey Gaines soon afterwards). Earl Watson became interim coach, replacing Hornacek. Former San Antonio Spurs and Seattle SuperSonics head coach Bob Hill became an assistant coach under Watson as the new head coach. After the season, the Suns designated Watson with the full-time head coach tag for the next three seasons.
Front office changes
On May 29, 2015, it was revealed that former Suns player and assistant coach Mark West was back in the front office role as a director of player relations and
Roster
2015–16 Phoenix Suns roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Roster |
Salaries
Player | 2015–16 Salary |
---|---|
Eric Bledsoe | $13,500,000 |
Brandon Knight | $13,500,000 |
Tyson Chandler | $13,000,000 |
P. J. Tucker | $5,500,000 |
Mirza Teletović | $5,500,000 |
Oleksiy "Alex" Len | $3,807,120 |
Devin Booker | $2,055,840 |
T. J. Warren | $2,041,080 |
Ronnie Price | $1,499,187 |
Archie Goodwin | $1,160,160 |
Jon Leuer | $1,035,000 |
John Jenkins | $981,349 |
Chase Budinger | $258,082 |
Alan Williams | $114,284 |
Total | $63,952,102 |
For the first time since the
Pre-season
The six pre-season games the Suns played for this season tied the 1975–76 and 1981–82 seasons as the lowest number of pre-season games the Suns had in a season (excluding the lockout shortened pre-seasons of the 1998–99 and 2011–12 seasons).
2015 pre-season game log Total: 4–2 (Home: 2–1; Road: 2–1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pre-season: 4–2 (home: 2–1; road: 2–1)
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2015–16 season schedule |
Regular season
Season standings
Pacific Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | GP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
z – Golden State Warriors | 73 | 9 | .890 | – | 39–2 | 34–7 | 15–1 | 82 |
x – Los Angeles Clippers | 53 | 29 | .646 | 20.0 | 29–12 | 24–17 | 9–7 | 82 |
Sacramento Kings | 33 | 49 | .402 | 40.0 | 18–23 | 15–26 | 8–8 | 82 |
Phoenix Suns | 23 | 59 | .280 | 50.0 | 14–27 | 9–32 | 6–10 | 82 |
Los Angeles Lakers | 17 | 65 | .207 | 56.0 | 12–29 | 5–36 | 2–14 | 82 |
Western Conference | ||||||
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# | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
1 | z – Golden State Warriors * | 73 | 9 | .890 | – | 82 |
2 | y – San Antonio Spurs * | 67 | 15 | .817 | 6.0 | 82 |
3 | y – Oklahoma City Thunder * | 55 | 27 | .671 | 18.0 | 82 |
4 | x – Los Angeles Clippers | 53 | 29 | .646 | 20.0 | 82 |
5 | x – Portland Trail Blazers | 44 | 38 | .537 | 29.0 | 82 |
6 | x – Dallas Mavericks | 42 | 40 | .512 | 31.0 | 82 |
7 | x – Memphis Grizzlies | 42 | 40 | .512 | 31.0 | 82 |
8 | x – Houston Rockets | 41 | 41 | .500 | 32.0 | 82 |
9 | Utah Jazz | 40 | 42 | .488 | 33.0 | 82 |
10 | Sacramento Kings | 33 | 49 | .402 | 40.0 | 82 |
11 | Denver Nuggets | 33 | 49 | .402 | 40.0 | 82 |
12 | New Orleans Pelicans | 30 | 52 | .366 | 43.0 | 82 |
13 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 29 | 53 | .354 | 44.0 | 82 |
14 | Phoenix Suns | 23 | 59 | .280 | 50.0 | 82 |
15 | Los Angeles Lakers | 17 | 65 | .207 | 56.0 | 82 |
Game log
2015–16 game log Total: 23–59 (Home: 14–27; Road: 9–32) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October: 2–1 (home: 1–1; road: 1–0)
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November
: 6–8 (home: 4–4; road: 2–4)
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December
: 4–14 (home: 3–5; road: 1–9)
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January
: 2–12 (home: 2–4; road: 0–8) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
February
: 1–9 (home: 1–8; road: 0–1)
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March
: 5–11 (home: 2–3; road: 3–8)
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April
: 3–4 (home: 1–3; road: 2–1)
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2015–16 season schedule |
Player statistics
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
|
Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eric Bledsoe | 31 | 31 | 34.2 | .453 | .372 | .802 | 4.0 | 6.1 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 20.4 |
Devin Booker | 76 | 51 | 27.7 | .423 | .343 | .840 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 13.8 |
Lorenzo Brown* | 8 | 0 | 7.6 | .320 | .125 | .750 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 2.5 |
Chase Budinger* | 17 | 0 | 11.8 | .511 | .235 | .625 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 3.2 |
Tyson Chandler | 66 | 60 | 24.5 | .583 | .000 | .620 | 8.7 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 7.2 |
Bryce Cotton* | 3 | 0 | 11.0 | .250 | .000 | .000 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 |
Archie Goodwin | 57 | 13 | 19.5 | .418 | .232 | .674 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 8.9 |
Kris Humphries* | 4 | 3 | 18.5 | .278 | .300 | .750 | 8.0 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 7.3 |
Cory Jefferson* | 8 | 0 | 6.3 | .409 | .000 | .667 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 2.8 |
John Jenkins* | 22 | 2 | 13.0 | .467 | .406 | .800 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 5.0 |
Orlando Johnson* | 2 | 0 | 23.5 | .278 | .200 | .833 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 8.0 |
Brandon Knight | 52 | 50 | 36.0 | .415 | .342 | .852 | 3.9 | 5.1 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 19.6 |
Oleksiy "Alex" Len | 78 | 46 | 23.3 | .423 | .143 | .728 | 7.6 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 9.0 |
Jon Leuer | 67 | 27 | 18.7 | .481 | .382 | .762 | 5.6 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 8.5 |
Jordan McRae* | 7 | 0 | 11.7 | .423 | .273 | .533 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 5.3 |
Markieff Morris* | 37 | 24 | 24.8 | .397 | .289 | .717 | 5.2 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 11.6 |
Phil Pressey* | 9 | 0 | 12.6 | .391 | .000 | .571 | 0.9 | 3.2 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 2.4 |
Ronnie Price | 62 | 18 | 19.5 | .384 | .347 | .756 | 1.6 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 5.3 |
Mirza Teletović | 79 | 1 | 21.3 | .427 | .393 | .774 | 3.8 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 12.2 |
P. J. Tucker | 82 | 80 | 31.0 | .411 | .330 | .746 | 6.2 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 8.0 |
T. J. Warren | 47 | 4 | 22.8 | .501 | .400 | .703 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 11.0 |
Sonny Weems* | 36 | 0 | 11.7 | .393 | .406 | .538 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 2.5 |
Alan Williams | 10 | 0 | 6.8 | .417 | .000 | .643 | 3.8 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 2.9 |
- Stats with the Suns
Injuries/Personal missed games
Player | Duration | Reason for Missed Time | Games Missed | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Start | End | |||
Devin Booker | November 1, 2015 | November 4, 2015 | Tweaked ankle during practice | 1 |
Markieff Morris | November 13, 2015 | November 18, 2015 | Sprained left knee during the first quarter against the L.A. Clippers | 2 |
Ronnie Price | November 13, 2015 | November 18, 2015 | Had concussion during the first quarter against the L.A. Clippers | 2 |
T. J. Warren | November 18, 2015 | November 20, 2015 | Illness | 1 |
Eric Bledsoe | November 23, 2015 | November 25, 2015 | Hurt leg after the road New Orleans Pelicans game | 1 |
Tyson Chandler | November 25, 2015 | November 27, 2015 | Illness | 1 |
Tyson Chandler | November 29, 2015 | December 13, 2015 | Hurt right hamstring during the first quarter against Golden State | 8 |
Markieff Morris | December 2, 2015 | December 4, 2015 | Hurt left knee after the road Brooklyn Nets game | 1 |
Markieff Morris | December 9, 2015 | December 18, 2015 | Had a sinus infection after their six-game road trip ended | 5 |
Markieff Morris | December 26, 2015 | December 30, 2015 | Suspended after throwing a towel at coach Jeff Hornacek | 2 |
Eric Bledsoe | December 28, 2015 | The Rest of the Season | Tore his left meniscus during the home Philadelphia 76ers game | 48 |
Ronnie Price | December 30, 2015 | January 2, 2016 | Hurt his toe during the home Cleveland Cavaliers game | 2 |
Jon Leuer | December 31, 2015 | January 2, 2016 | Injured his leg during the road San Antonio Spurs game | 1 |
Brandon Knight | January 12, 2016 | January 15, 2016 | Had food poisoning before the road Indiana Pacers game | 1 |
Olexsiy "Alex" Len | January 12, 2016 | January 19, 2016 | Injured left hand continued bothering him | 3 |
Ronnie Price | January 12, 2016 | February 19, 2016 | Stubbed his great right toe before the road Indiana game | 15 |
Jon Leuer | January 19, 2016 | January 29, 2016 | Had lower back spasms before the home Indiana Pacers game | 5 |
Markieff Morris | January 21, 2016 | January 26, 2016 | Had a right shoulder strain during the first quarter of that same home Indiana game | 2 |
Mirza Teletović | January 21, 2016 | January 23, 2016 | Had a left ankle sprain during the third quarter during that same home Indiana game | 1 |
Brandon Knight | January 21, 2016 | March 10, 2016 | Had a left adductor strain before the first home game against the San Antonio Spurs began | 21 |
T. J. Warren | January 31, 2016 | The Rest of the Season | Injured the middle part of his right foot on the road against Cleveland | 34 |
Oleksiy "Alex" Len | February 19, 2016 | February 21, 2016 | Had a right ankle sprain before the second home game against Houston | 1 |
Tyson Chandler | February 21, 2016 | February 25, 2016 | Had a right shoulder contusion in the second quarter against Houston | 2 |
Tyson Chandler | March 23, 2016 | March 28, 2016 | Had back spasms during the second quarter at home against Memphis | 3 |
Brandon Knight | March 25, 2016 | March 26, 2016 | Had a stomach ache before the road game against Sacramento | 1 |
Jon Leuer | March 26, 2016 | March 28, 2016 | Had a stomach ache before the home game against Boston | 1 |
Mirza Teletović | March 30, 2016 | April 1, 2016
|
Had an upset stomach before the road game against Milwaukee | 1 |
Brandon Knight | April 1, 2016
|
The Rest of the Season | Aggravated a sports hernia during the same road game against Milwaukee | 7 |
Jon Leuer | April 1, 2016
|
April 7, 2016 | Had a right ankle strain before the home game against Washington | 3 |
Archie Goodwin | April 11, 2016 | April 13, 2016 | Sprained his left ankle during the second New Orleans road game | 1 |
Tyson Chandler | April 11, 2016 | The Rest of the Season | Under a concussion protocol during the third quarter against New Orleans | 2 |
Awards, records, and milestones
"What strikes a lot of people about Devin is all the other stuff he can do – he's really developed his ball handling, his pick and roll game, he thinks the game at a high level. But I'll be honest, we had no idea he'd be able to do this much, this quickly. Devin has done unbelievably well not just on the court but representing the franchise in the community as well. He was a bright spot for us in a difficult year."
—Ryan McDonough, Suns GM[30]
Awards
- T. J. Warren earned All-NBA First Team Las Vegas Summer League Honors due to his overall performance throughout the 2015 NBA Summer League.
- Two-time MVP point guard Steve Nash had his number placed in the Phoenix Suns Ring of Honor on October 30, 2015 against the Portland Trail Blazers. The Suns won that game by the score of 110–92, thus blowing out the Trail Blazers in the process.
- Former Suns player Shaquille O'Neal was named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on April 4, 2016 around the 2016 NCAA Finals between Villanova and North Carolina.
- NBA All-Rookie First Team honors as the considered third-best player for that team after also earning fourth place for NBA Rookie of the Year Awardhonors.
Week/Month
- Alex Len was named a Player of The Week candidate for the Western Conference from February 29 – March 6, 2016 for averaging 20 points, 14 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, and 10 free throw attempts per game during that streak.
- Devin Booker was named the runner-up for the Rookie of The Month award in March for his consistent performances throughout that month, which includes him leading all rookies in points and assists made that month.
All-Star
- Jordan McRae was announced as a competitor in the NBA Development League All-Star Game on the same day he signed a 10-day contract with the team (January 29, 2016).
- Likewise, both former Suns player Lorenzo Brown and future Suns player Orlando Johnson (he signed on February 5, 2016) were also announced as competitors on that same day.
- Jordan McRae scored 7 points and put up 5 assists as his team (the Eastern Conference) beat the Western Conference 128–124. Neither former player Lorenzo Brown nor Jordan's then-current teammate, Orlando Johnson, played in the event.
- Rookie Three-Point Shootout on February 1, 2016. That made Booker the youngest player to ever participate in the Three-Point Contest, at 19 years old, beating the record set by Bradley Bealat 20 years old in 2014.
- In Booker's first ever performance in the contest, he scored 20 points in the first round (tying for third-place), beating James Harden and JJ Redick with 12 points in the tiebreaker round before finishing in third place overall with 16 points behind the Splash Brothers (with Klay Thompson winning by 27 points, tying the record set by his teammate Stephen Curry a year earlier).
- Devin Booker was announced as a participant for the NBA Cares Special Olympics Unified Basketball Game for the 2016 All-Star game alongside former Suns player Steve Nash on February 10, 2016.
- Rookie Devin Booker competed in the Rising Stars Challenge on February 11, 2016 (a day before the event began) due to Philadelphia 76ers power forward/center Nerlens Noel injuring his right knee before the event began.
- During his time there, Booker scored 23 points for Team U.S.A. (with 18 in the first half) as the road Team U.S.A. would be the home World Team 157–154, with the home and road team roles being reversed this time due to the All-Star Game being played in Canada this season.
- Jon Leuer was a competitor for the All-Star Game's Talent Competition. He did not win the event.
Records
- Brandon Knight became the youngest player to record a stat line of 30 points, 15 assists, 10 rebounds, and 4 steals in a single NBA game on November 16, 2015 against the Los Angeles Lakers by doing it while he was 23 years, 349 days old. Knight also became the second Suns player to record a triple-double of 30 points, 15 assists, and 10 rebounds (the first was former All-Star Charlie Scott), as well as the ninth player to record such statistics and only the fourth player (behind Pete Maravich, Magic Johnson, and Russell Westbrook) to record the same stats with four steals. Furthermore, Knight was also the first player since Michael Jordan in 1985 to record a statline similar to the 30 points, 15 assists, and 10 rebounds that Knight had for their first ever triple-double in the league.[31]
- Devin Booker became the youngest guard in NBA history to record a double-double in points and rebounds instead of through points and assists with the 17 points and 10 rebounds he recorded on January 6, 2016 against the Charlotte Hornets.
- He also became the youngest player in NBA history to record 10 rebounds as a reserve player off the bench.
- Rookie Devin Booker also became the youngest guard ever to have four games of at least 27 points and 5 assists, as well as the only guard throughout the entire NBA to record such numbers before turning 20 years old.
- Mirza Teletović recorded the highest number of three-pointers made by a reserve player on April 5, 2016 against the Atlanta Hawks. Mirza tied the record by the end of the first quarter on that game, and broke the record set by Chuck Person for the San Antonio Spurs during the 1994–95 season in the second quarter with 8:42 left to go.
- He ended the season with a record-high 179 three-pointers made off the bench, making thirteen more three-pointers in the last four games of April, three of which were victories.
- The record was later broken next season by Eric Gordon as a member of the Houston Rockets.
- He ended the season with a record-high 179 three-pointers made off the bench, making thirteen more three-pointers in the last four games of April, three of which were victories.
Team records
- one of the youngest players to ever play in the NBA by remaining 18 years old due to him playing two days before his 19th birthday, in which the earliest time he could play in the regular season (and the only time before his 19th birthday took place) was the October 28, 2015 home game against the Dallas Mavericks. He became the second Suns player to play before his 18th birthday while debuting with the team (the Polish/Swedish forward-center Maciej Lampe made his debut with the Suns 13 days before his birthday during the 2003–04 season despite originally being drafted by the New York Knicksin the second round around that time).
- The 142 points the Sacramento Kings scored on January 2, 2016 was the highest against Phoenix without the help of an overtime since the 1990–91 NBA season.
- The 22 points scored in the first half of the road game against the Los Angeles Lakers on January 3, 2016 was the franchise's lowest-scoring half ever, beating out the 24 point half set a year earlier at home against the San Antonio Spurs.
- Devin Booker became the youngest Suns player in history to record his first ever double-double with the team by producing 17 points and 10 rebounds in a 111–102 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on January 6, 2016.
- Lorenzo Brown scored 7 points in his debut with the Suns on January 12, 2016 against the Indiana Pacers. It made him the highest scoring player on the team during a first game on a 10-day contract.
- Jordan McRae broke that record on January 29, 2016 against the New York Knicks by scoring 12 points off the bench.
- Devin Booker became the youngest Suns player to record 30 or more points by scoring 32 points in a close loss to the Indiana Pacers on January 19, 2016, beating out fan favorite Amar'e Stoudemire at 20 years old (albeit with 38 points). Booker also had the highest number of three-pointers made in a single game for the Suns with six.
- Tyson Chandler tied the team record for most rebounds recorded in a single game (27) that was initially set by Paul Silas on January 18, 1971 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and broke the Suns' record for most offensive rebounds by a single player with 13 (the previous best high was 12 with both Charles Barkley and Curtis Perry) in a close 98–95 victory over the Atlanta Hawks> He also became the first Suns player to record consecutive 20+ rebounding games (he'd also record 20 rebounds in a loss to the San Antonio Spurs on January 21, 2016).
- Archie Goodwin broke the record set by star point guard Kevin Johnson in the 1987–88 season as the youngest player in Suns history to record a double-double in points and assists by scoring 18 points and putting up 12 assists on February 2, 2016 against the Toronto Raptors.
- Rookie Devin Booker broke that record over a week later on February 10, 2016, with 15 points and 10 assists (as well as 7 rebounds) in a close loss to the defending champion Golden State Warriors. He also became the youngest Suns player to record multiple double-doubles during the regular season, beating out Amar'e Stoudemire in his rookie season. Furthermore, Booker became the second-youngest player behind LeBron James to record a point-assist double-double (beating the Golden State Warriors' Shaun Livingston) and becoming only the third player to record similar statistics at age 19 behind only James and former Suns player Stephon Marbury, as well as the first Suns rookie since Steve Nash in the 1996–97 season to record a point-assist double-double with the team.
- Phil Pressey became the shortest player in franchise history to record 3 or more blocks in a single game, as well as the most blocks by a point guard in his debut on February 21, 2016, against the San Antonio Spurs.
- Alex Len became the first player at 22 years old to ever record a game of 19 points, 16 rebounds, and 6 assists for the Suns in the 109–100 victory on March 6, 2016 against the Memphis Grizzlies.
- The 69 points the Suns recorded against the St. Patrick's Day of 2016 tied the lowest number of points scored in a single game for the Suns, with them also recording 69 points on April 7, 2015, against the Atlanta Hawks and on February 10, 2013, against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
- Mirza Teletović becomes the newest team record holder for three-pointers made off the bench for the Suns by him making at least 151 three-pointers (done by making 5 of them in a victory on Kobe Bryant's last game against the Suns on March 23, 2016) over the 150 three-pointers made by Danny Ainge during the 1992–93 season.
- By extension, he later broke the NBA record set by former San Antonio Spurs player Chuck Person during the 1994–95 season by making at least 165 three-pointers (with three made in a loss to the Atlanta Hawks on April 5, 2016) throughout the season.
- Mirza ended the season with a season-high 179 three-pointers made off the bench.
- By extension, he later broke the NBA record set by former San Antonio Spurs player Chuck Person during the 1994–95 season by making at least 165 three-pointers (with three made in a loss to the Atlanta Hawks on April 5, 2016) throughout the season.
- Devin Booker had the longest streak of making at least one three-pointer in a stretch of 14 games, which was also the longest stretch by a rookie in Suns Franchise history.[32]
Milestones
- Devin Booker became the first ever player to make his NBA debut at 18 years old while also previously playing at least one year in college.
- He also became the seventh-youngest player to score 10 or more points in his rookie season, behind only Amir Johnson, Andrew Bynum, Tracy McGrady, Bill Willoughby, LeBron James, Dwight Howard, and Kobe Bryant by scoring 14 points on his opening night debut against the Dallas Mavericks. Furthermore, he also became the fourth player to score 10 or more points during their professional debuts in the NBA as an 18-year-old, joining the likes of Jonathan Bender, LeBron James, and Dwight Howard in the process.
- Devin Booker became the sixth-youngest player to record multiple games of 19 or more points scored during their rookie season after first scoring 19 against the Philadelphia 76ers on December 26, 2015 and then scoring 21 points against the Sacramento Kings on January 2, 2016, behind only Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Tracy McGrady, and Kobe Bryant.
- Jeff Hornacek got his 100th victory as a head coach on January 6, 2016 against the Charlotte Hornets.
- Ann Meyers Drysdale and Stephanie Ready marked the first time in NBA history that two female announcers from different teams were analysts for their respective teams (Ann for Phoenix, Stephanie for Charlotte) on January 6, 2016.[33]
- In that same game, Devin Booker became the fifth-youngest player to record a double-double in the NBA, behind only Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Andrew Bynum, and LeBron James.
- On January 19, 2016, Devin Booker became the sixth-youngest player to record multiple games of scoring 20 or more points as a rookie, and became the third-youngest player in league history to score over 30 points in a single game, behind only Kevin Durant and LeBron James.
- On January 19 & 21, 2016, Devin Booker became the first teenage rookie since Kevin Durant back in the 2007–08 season (back when Kevin was playing for the Seattle SuperSonics instead of the Oklahoma City Thunder) to score 54 or more points in consecutive games with Devin scoring 32 points against the Indiana Pacers and 24 points against the San Antonio Spurs.
- On February 21, 2016, new Suns point guard Phil Pressey recorded three blocked shots in his first game with Phoenix against the San Antonio Spurs. Pressey was the first player less than 6' tall to record at least three blocks in a single game since Nate Robinson in 2013.
- Rookie Devin Booker became only the second player this season, after former Kentucky teammate Karl-Anthony Towns to record multiple games of 32+ points in his rookie season, with 32 points at home against the Indiana Pacers in January and 34 points on the road against the Miami Heat in March. He was also the fourth-youngest rookie to record multiple games of 30 or more points in a season, after Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, and LeBron James.
- List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders board with 12 rebounds against the Orlando Magic compared to Brand's four against the Miami Heat on March 4, 2016 to make him the newest 50th best rebounder of all-time with 8,986 rebounds against the 8,981 rebounds for Brand (and he also overtook Larry Bird's spot in the process).
- Tyson Chandler became the 50th player in league history to record over 9,000 rebounds in a career by recording 9 rebounds on March 9, 2016 against the New York Knicks.
- Devin Booker became the fourth rookie to record at least 3 games of recording 27 points and 5 assists as a teenager, thus joining LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and former Suns player Stephon Marbury.
- He later became only the second player in league history (after LeBron James with 22 games) to record at least four or more games of 27 points and 5 assists as teenagers during their rookie seasons in the NBA.
- He also became only the second guard behind Stephon Marbury to record multiple games of 30 points and 5 assists during their rookie season before the age of 20, and one of seven guards to record at least one game of 30 points and 5 assists before the age of 21.
- Rookie Devin Booker became the second rookie ever (after LeBron James) to record two straight 30+ games in a row by recording 32 points against the New York Knicks and a new career-high 35 points against the Denver Nuggets on March 9 & 10, 2016. He's also the second-youngest rookie to have done it for two straight days in a row.
- Devin Booker became the fifth-youngest player to record around 900 points during a rookie season and the sixth-youngest player to do it before turning 20 years old, and the seventh player overall behind LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, and Tracy McGrady to record 900 points in the NBA while still being a teenager.
- Devin Booker became the second-youngest rookie to ever record 11 assists in at least one game on March 12, 2016 against the defending champion Golden State Warriors, being behind only LeBron James, who did it twice.
- Devin Booker became the first rookie since Stephen Curry in the 2009–10 season (or Blake Griffin in the 2010–11 season if you exclude the fact that his original rookie season had him out for that entire season due to a knee injury and that his second season is technically his rookie season now) to record 6 different 30+ point games during his rookie season.
- Center April 1, 2016 at home against Markieff Morris and the Washington Wizards. He'd tie Johnny's mark by grabbing his 7th rebound with about 4 minutes left in the second quarter off of a Marcin Gortatmiss and then grab his 8th rebound to surpass Johnny Green's mark less than a minute later. He'd end up with a game-high 15 rebounds in a 106–99 loss to the Wizards that night.
- Devin Booker recorded the fourth-highest 30+ point games during a rookie season (with six games) while still a teenager, behind only LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Carmelo Anthony.
- Devin Booker became the fourth-youngest player to record over 1,000 points during a rookie season (behind only LeBron James and Kevin Durant), as well the fourth-youngest player overall (with Kobe Bryant joining the list when including his second season in the NBA). He also became the sixth player to record over 1,000 points in the NBA as a teenager, during the 121–100 blowout victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on April 9, 2016.
Team milestones
- The signing of Defensive Player of the Yearwinner — current or former — to become a part of their roster.
- The Suns won three straight games by 14 or more points, from November 12–16. It was the first time the Suns won three straight games by such a wide margin of victory since the 2009–10 season.
- Brandon Knight recorded the most 30+ point games for the Suns in their first twelve games of the regular season since Amar'e Stoudemire back in the 2004–05 Phoenix Suns season.
- Tyson Chandler recorded multiple games of at least 20 rebounds on January 21 and 23, 2016 (including a record-high tying 27 rebounds against the Atlanta Hawks), thus making him the first player to ever record such a feat with the Phoenix Suns.
- Markieff Morris surpassed former Suns shooting guard Joe Johnson to become the Suns' newest 30th best scorer in team history on February 2, 2016 (which was also interim head coach Earl Watson's debut in coaching the Suns). He scored his 3,848th point by successfully completing a three-point dunk (as in making a regular dunk with an extra free-throw to add onto it) with 5:20 left in the first quarter. Morris scored 14 points in the first quarter and over 30 points in the game (as well as having 11 rebounds and 6 assists) in a loss to the Raptors.
- Markieff Morris overtook former forward Cedric Ceballos as the new 29th best scorer in Suns history on February 8, 2016 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Morris scored a game-high 23 points, including making a turnaround jump shot (with a foul for an extra free-throw) to surpass Cedric in the fourth quarter in a loss to the Thunder.
- Markieff Morris then surpassed former center James Edwards as the Suns' newest 28th best scorer in team history two days later against the defending champion Golden State Warriors. He scored his 14th point by making a jump shot early in the third quarter and recorded a total of 19 points in a loss against Golden State.
- Devin Booker became the first Suns rookie to record multiple double-doubles in a season since Amar'e Stoudemire during the 2002–03 season on the same February 10, 2016 game against the Warriors (by recording 15 points, 10 assists, and even 7 rebounds) after he recorded his first double-double a month earlier (with 17 points and 10 rebounds) against the Charlotte Hornets.
- Mirza Teletović was the first player since Amar'e Stoudemire back in the 2009–10 season to record 30 points and 11 rebounds in a single game on February 25, 2016 against his former team, the Brooklyn Nets.
- The February 25 and 27 home games against the Brooklyn Nets and Memphis Grizzlies marked the first time the Suns had three players recording double-digit rebounds in multiple games, with Mirza Teletović, Tyson Chandler, and Kris Humphries doing it against Brooklyn and Tyson Chandler, P. J. Tucker. and Alex Len doing it against Memphis, since March 31 and April 1, 2008, both of which were against the Denver Nuggets.
- Devin Booker became the first rookie since Richard Dumas from the 1992–93 season to record multiple games of 30+ points in his rookie season after recording a new (at the time) career-high 34 points on March 3, 2016 in a loss against the Miami Heat to go with the 32 points he'd score earlier in a close loss to the Indiana Pacers. He'd also join former players Cedric Ceballos twice and eventual Phoenix Suns Ring of Honor players Alvan Adams three times and Walter Davis twelve different times as the only other rookies to score 32 or more points for the team in their rookie seasons.
- Devin Booker had at least five games of 32 or more points (six for 30 or more points) to close out the season, thus making him the second-highest rookie to score 32 or more points during their rookie season.
- Alex Len became the 100th player in franchise history to score over 1,000 points for the Suns with his 31 points he'd record in a blowout 102–94 victory over the Orlando Magic on March 4, 2016. Furthermore, he became the second-youngest Suns player to ever record a 30+ points and 15+ rebounds (the youngest Suns player to do it was Amar'e Stoudemire four different times), as well as become the first Suns player since Stoudemire in the 2009–10 season to record such numbers for the team.
- From February 27 to March 6, 2016, Alex Len recorded five straight double-doubles of various performances. This was the longest streak since Shawn Marion with 11 straight double-doubles during the 2000–01 season (with Len being about 70 days younger than Marion at the time). In addition, Len had the longest streak of double-doubles with 12 or more points and rebounds of five games since Shawn Marion in the 2005–06 season, as well as become the first Suns player since Marcin Gortat in the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season to record five straight double-doubles involving points and rebounds.
- The March 6, 2016 performance where rookie Devin Booker had 27 points and 9 assists in a 109–100 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies made him the first Suns rookie since Michael Finley during his only full season with the Suns in 1996 to record a similar statline in a game, as well as one of six players alongside LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, former Suns player Stephon Marbury, Carmelo Anthony, and Kevin Durant to record such a line while still being a teenager in the NBA.
- The March 9 and 10, 2016 games against the New York Knicks and the Denver Nuggets, respectively, became the first time a Suns player (rookie Devin Booker) had back-to-back 30+ point games in a season since Amar'e Stoudemire back in 2010.
- Furthermore, the 35-point performance against the Denver Nuggets made Devin Booker the youngest player to ever have a 35-point game against another NBA team, beating out Amar'e Stoudemire during his rookie season back when he was 20 years old.
- In the February and March games against the defending champion Golden State Warriors, Devin Booker had two different double-doubles with 15 points and 10 assists (with 7 rebounds) on the February 10th game and then put up 18 points and a new season-high 11 assists on the March 12th game. As a result, Devin Booker became the first Suns rookie since Negele Knight in the 1990–91 season to record multiple games involving double-doubles for points and assists.
- Furthermore, the game on March where he had 11 assists against Golden State was the highest number of assists in Suns history for a rookie, beating out the record that was set by teammate Archie Goodwin during the 2013–14 season.
- From February 28 to March 17, 2016, Alex Len recorded a career-high (at this time) 10 straight games of 10 or more rebounds. It was the most recorded under a single stretch of time since Marcin Gortat did it under the lockout 2011–12 season, and he was the youngest player to ever record 10 or more games of 10 or more rebounds for the Suns since Shawn Marion during the 2000–01 season.
- The four games in which rookie Devin Booker recorded 30 or more points for the month of March was the first time since Amar'e Stoudemire in March 2010 that a Suns player had four or more games with 30 or more points against an opponent.
- Devin Booker became only the fifth rookie in Suns history to record at least 900 points in franchise history behind only Amar'e Stoudemire, Michael Finley, Walter Davis, and Alvan Adams, and the youngest player in franchise history to do so.
- The 22.4 points that Devin Booker recorded was the highest for a Suns rookie in the month of March since Walter Davis averaged 25.1 points per game in March 1978.
- The March 30 and April 1 against the Washington Wizards.
- Devin Booker became the youngest player in franchise history to record over 1,000 points as a rookie, beating out the record set by Amar'e Stoudemire, who had gone straight out of high school to play in the NBA. He recorded his 1,000th point on April 9, 2016 with 10:51 left in the first quarter against the New Orleans Pelicans and finished with 16 points in a blowout 121–100 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. He also became the fifth player in franchise history behind Alvan Adams, Walter Davis, Michael Finley, and Amar'e Stoudemire to record over 1,000 points for the Suns during their rookie seasons.
- Mirza Teletović tied Eddie Johnson for the most 20+ point games coming off the bench in the month of April with 6 games since the 1983–84 season. He also tied both Isaiah Thomas and Joe Johnson with four straight games of 20+ point outings coming off the bench since the 2000–01 season.
- Alan Williams became the sixth rookie to record a double-double for the Suns during their first 10 games of their rookie season. He'd join the likes of Markieff Morris, Shawn Marion, Steve Nash, Armen Gilliam, and Georgi Glouchkov since the 1983–84 season by recording a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds during the last game of the season with a 114–105 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on April 13, 2016.
- Devin Booker recorded the highest scoring averages of any Suns rookie since Michael Finley during the 1995–96 season.
- Devin Booker had the highest number of votes ever for a Suns player in the NBA Rookie of The Year Award voting since Amar'e Stoudemire won the award over #1 draft pick and eventual Hall of Famer Yao Ming in 2003.
- NBA All-Rookie First Team since the soon-to-be former NBA player Amar'e Stoudemirelast did it in 2003.
Transactions
Trades
June 25, 2015 |
To Memphis Grizzlies |
To Phoenix Suns |
July 2, 2015 |
To Detroit Pistons
|
To Phoenix Suns |
February 18, 2016 |
To Washington Wizards |
To Phoenix Suns
|
Free agents
Re-signed
Player | Signed | Date |
---|---|---|
Brandon Knight | Signed 5-year deal worth $70 Million | July 1, 2015 |
Cory Jefferson | Signed a 10-day contract worth $55,722 (total combined earned price $362,878)[a] | January 20, 2016 |
Additions
Player | Signed | Former Team |
---|---|---|
Tyson Chandler | Signed 4-year deal worth $52 Million | Dallas Mavericks |
Sonny Weems | Signed 2-year (team option) deal worth $5.8 Million[b] | PBC CSKA Moscow |
Ronnie Price | Signed 1-year deal worth $1.5 Million | Los Angeles Lakers |
Mirza Teletović | Signed 1-year deal worth $5.5 Million | Brooklyn Nets |
Cory Jefferson | Signed 1-year non-guaranteed deal worth $845,059[a] | Bakersfield Jam[c]
|
Bryce Cotton | Signed 1-year non-guaranteed deal for $700,901[d] | Utah Jazz / Austin Spurs[e] |
Lorenzo Brown | Signed two 10-day contracts worth $111,444 | Grand Rapids Drive / Phoenix Suns[f]
|
Jordan McRae | Signed two 10-day contracts worth $61,775 | Delaware 87ers / Phoenix Suns[f]
|
Orlando Johnson | Signed a 10-day contract worth $55,722 | Austin Spurs |
Phil Pressey | Signed two 10-day contracts worth $111,444 | Idaho Stampede / Phoenix Suns[f]
|
John Jenkins | Signed 3-year non-guaranteed deal worth $3,211,302 | Dallas Mavericks |
Alan Williams | Signed a 10-day contract / 2-year deal worth $988,920 | Qingdao DoubleStar Eagles
|
Chase Budinger | Signed 1-year deal worth $258,082 | Indiana Pacers |
^ a: While Cory Jefferson initially signed with the Suns when he was the only training camp invitee to become a part of the team earlier in the season, he was waived after the January 7, 2016 game against the Charlotte Hornets, thus earning only a partially guaranteed salary in the process. However, he returned to the Suns on January 20, 2016 for a 10-day contract because the Suns had no other power forwards when Markieff Morris, Mirza Teletović, and Jon Leuer were all out either due to injuries or ailments around that period. Once all three players returned to action when Jefferson was due for a new contract, the Suns decided not to give him another 10-day contract. As a result of those two deals and the time he spent with the group, Jefferson ended up with a total of $362,878 earned throughout with time with the team.
^ b: While Sonny Weems earned guaranteed money throughout his time with the Suns, he was not fully guaranteed. While Sonny was initially guaranteed the money he was fully expected to get this season, he stopped receiving money from the team on March 7, 2016 when he was waived. For the rest of the cash the team owed Weems, he was paid the rest of the amount needed to make sure he was satisfied and left in the process.
^ d: When Bryce Cotton initially signed his one-year deal with the Suns, he signed a non-guaranteed deal that was worth $700,901, similar to what Cory Jefferson was getting when he first signed up with the team. However, when he got waived in the same day that Jefferson first was waived on January 6, Bryce earned about $228,663 for the services he had provided for his hometown sports team.
^ e: Even though Bryce Cotton was originally a player for the Utah Jazz when the season initially began, he started the regular season with player development/assistant/(interim) head coach Earl Watson's former team, the Austin Spurs, before signing his contract with the Suns in November 2015.
Subtractions
Player | Reason left | New team |
---|---|---|
Andrew Harrison | Traded after being drafted[g] | Iowa Energy[h]
|
Brandan Wright | Unrestricted free agent | Memphis Grizzlies |
Traded | Detroit Pistons[i] | |
Gerald Green | Unrestricted free agent | Miami Heat |
Marcus Thornton | Unrestricted free agent | Houston Rockets / Washington Wizards[j] |
Earl Barron | Unrestricted free agent | Fubon Braves[k]
|
Jerel McNeal | Waived / Unrestricted free agent | Aris Thessaloniki
|
Cory Jefferson | Waived / 10-day contract expired | Bakersfield Jam[l]
|
Bryce Cotton | Waived | Austin Spurs / Xinjiang Tianshin Rural-Commercial Bank Flying Tigers / Memphis Grizzlies[m] |
Lorenzo Brown | Second 10-day contract expired | Grand Rapids Drive / Detroit Pistons[n]
|
Orlando Johnson | Waived / 10-day contract expired | Austin Spurs / New Orleans Pelicans[o] |
Markieff Morris | Traded | Washington Wizards |
Jordan McRae | Second 10-day contract expired | Delaware 87ers / Cleveland Cavaliers[p]
|
DeJuan Blair | Waived | Los Angeles D-Fenders[q]
|
Kris Humphries | Waived / Contract Buyout | Atlanta Hawks |
Sonny Weems | Waived | Philadelphia 76ers / Maccabi Tel Aviv[r] |
Phil Pressey | Second 10-day contract expired | Idaho Stampede[s]
|
^ g: While Andrew Harrison never played for the Suns throughout his tenure, he was drafted by the Suns before being traded away for Jon Leuer the same day, thus making him a brief member of the team at that time.
^ r: After Sonny Weems being waived by the Suns on March 7, 2016, he was signed by the Philadelphia 76ers a few days later. However, because of an injury involving his leg later in the season, Weems was waived by the 76ers on March 29, 2016, and returned to Europe with future Suns draft pick Dragan Bender and his team, Maccabi Tel Aviv, on a two-year deal worth $5,755,000 on April 7, 2016 (although that deal wasn't official until June 13, 2016 due to Israel's season still going on at the time Weems made that deal).
See also
References
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- ^ Coro, Paul. "Phoenix Suns make Jason Fraser player development coach". The Arizona Republic.
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- ^ "Suns Sign Teletovic, Weems, Price". Phoenix Suns.
- ^ "Suns Announce Basketball Operations Staff Changes". Phoenix Suns.
- ^ Coughenour, Jim (August 24, 2015). "Nash to join Suns Ring of Honor". Bright Side Of The Sun.
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- ^ King, Dave (October 26, 2015). "Suns keep Len, Warren, Goodwin for 2016–17". Bright Side Of The Sun.
- ^ "Delle Donne to Play in NBA Cares Special Olympics Unified Basketball Game at NBA All-Star 2016". OurSports Central. February 10, 2016.
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- ^ King, Dave (July 1, 2015). "Suns sign Chandler, bring him to Aldridge meeting". Bright Side Of The Sun.
- ^ Coro, Paul. "Phoenix Suns add 2 to training-camp roster". The Arizona Republic.
- ^ Coro, Paul. "Phoenix Suns add Henry Sims, Cory Jefferson for training camp". The Arizona Republic.
- ^ "Report: Phoenix Suns Sign Deonte Burton To Summer Deal". August 26, 2015.
- ^ Barloga, Sam (October 15, 2015). "Suns waive Terrico White and Kyle Casey". Bright Side Of The Sun.
- ^ King, Dave (February 18, 2016). "Foolishness over". Bright Side Of The Sun.
- ^ Coro, Paul. "Morris twins' motion for new grand jury delayed". The Arizona Republic.
- ^ Anderson, Sarah. "Ex-Suns Markieff, Marcus Morris court case slowed by cellphone issue". The Arizona Republic.
- ^ "Court proceedings continued for Markieff, Marcus Morris".
- ^ Garcia, Uriel J. "NBA's Morris twins trial: Witness testifies she saw one brother beat her friend". The Arizona Republic.
- ^ Bedore, Gary (October 3, 2017). "Morris twins acquitted of assault charges, now can report to NBA camps". Kansas City Star. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
- ^ Pompey, Keith. "Markieff Morris demands trade from Suns". www.inquirer.com.
- ^ King, Dave (February 22, 2016). "Watson credited for pumping up Morris trade value". Bright Side Of The Sun.
- ^ Joseph, Andrew. "The 10 biggest villains in Arizona sports". The Arizona Republic.
- ^ "Phoenix Suns News Headlines". Phoenix Suns.
- ^ "Phoenix Suns Announce Staffing Changes". July 31, 2015.
- ^ "Phoenix Suns Markieff Morris remains 'happy' camper".
- ^ "HoopsHype – NBA Salaries – Phoenix Suns". hoopshype.com. September 22, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
- NBA.com.
- ^ "Bledsoe, Knight lead way; Warren, Goodwin follow". Bright Side Of The Sun. November 18, 2015.
- ^ "Rookie Run: Devin Booker". Phoenix Suns.
- ^ Barloga, Sam (January 6, 2016). "TV analysts make history in Phoenix". Bright Side Of The Sun.