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2016–17 Phoenix Suns season

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2016–17 Phoenix Suns season
Head coachEarl Watson
General managerRyan McDonough
OwnersRobert Sarver
ArenaTalking Stick
Resort Arena
Results
Record12–25 (.324)
PlaceDivision: 5th (Pacific)
Conference: 14th (Western)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionFox Sports Arizona
RadioKTAR
< 2015–16 2017–18 >

The 2016–17 NBA season is the Suns' 49th season in the NBA.[1] It'll also be their 24th season the Suns will play in the Talking Stick Resort Arena (second season where it was named that when it used to be called both the America West Arena and, most recently, the U.S. Airways Center beforehand). Not only that, but it's also their first season where they provide D-League affiliation with the nearby Northern Arizona Suns that's located in Prescott Valley, Arizona.

Key dates

  • April 19, 2016: The Suns removed the interim tag that Earl Watson was placed under as he signed a three-year deal worth around $7.5 million to be the team's newest full-time head coach moving forward.
  • May 5, 2016: Former Senior Adviser and President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby steps down after six years of service with the team; assistant coaches Corey Gaines, Bob Hill, and Irving Roland, as well as assistant video coordinator Ross Geiger would not get their contracts renewed.
  • May 17, 2016: The NBA Draft Lottery takes place, with former rookie Devin Booker and Jenna Warren, a 16 year old Suns fan with Down's Syndrome, representing the team during the event, as well as the team's current vice president of basketball communications in Julie Fie taking part in seeing the very rare event of picks remaining exactly where they were at earlier in the season unfold in the lottery room for their selections.
  • May 18, 2016: The Suns announced that former Portland Trail Blazers assistant coach Jay Triano would be the team's newest associate head coach.
  • June 19, 2016: The NBA announces that the salary cap would increase from $70 million all the way up into $94 million, while the tax payroll for teams that would be forced to pay taxes for the amount they spend would be at $113 million and the salary floor would go up to $84.7 million.[2]
  • June 23, 2016: The 2016 NBA draft takes place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York; the Suns would trade their 13th and 28th picks of the draft (which were Greece's Georgios Papagiannis and Haiti's Skal Labissière from Kentucky University respectively), as well as Serbia's Bogdan Bogdanović (a player they drafted from the 2014 NBA draft) and the Detroit Pistons' 2020 second round pick to the Sacramento Kings for their 8th pick in power forward Marquese Chriss from the University of Washington in a trade idea the team came up with in the morning of the NBA Draft. In addition to Marquese Chriss, the Suns also selected the Bosnian-born Croatian forward-center Dragan Bender (who previously played for the Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv in Israel) with their 4th pick and Kentucky University's undersized, yet award decorated point guard Tyler Ulis with their 34th pick.
  • June 25, 2016: The Phoenix Suns announced that former Suns player Tyrone Corbin would be one of the team's newest assistant coaches.
  • June 27, 2016: It would be reported that the Suns would have two games being played at the Mexico City Arena in Mexico City, Mexico in January this next year. One of the games there would be against the Dallas Mavericks, while the other would be against the San Antonio Spurs.
  • July 1, 2016: The NBA free agency period has begun; Jared Dudley would officially return to the Suns on a 3-year deal worth $30 million, being one of the few players from the team's last playoff run to return to the Suns.
  • July 6, 2016: Another former Suns player, this time being Leandro Barbosa of the 73–9 Golden State Warriors, would return to Phoenix once again for the third time. This time, he signed a 2-year deal worth $8 million.
  • July 7, 2016: The new July Moratorium Period begins, which means that players can now sign up with their new teams this season; the Suns also announced that the long-time NCAA Division I assistant coach Scott Duncan is going to be a new player development head coach for the team.
  • July 17, 2016: Both rookie point guard Tyler Ulis and power forward/center Alan Williams would earn All-NBA Second Team Summer League Honors and All-NBA First Team Summer League Honors respectively during their 2016 NBA Summer League season in Las Vegas.
  • July 20, 2016: It would officially be confirmed that the Phoenix Suns would play two games in the Mexico City Arena in Mexico City, Mexico as the home team there. Their first game would be on January 12, 2017 against the Dallas Mavericks. Two days later, they'd be playing their second game there on January 14 against the Tim Duncan-less San Antonio Spurs. The Suns would be the first NBA team to hold two NBA games at Mexico City during the same season, as well as hold this news under the 25th anniversary of the first NBA game that was ever played in Mexico. Both Mexico City games have tickets that would cost around 400 Mexican pesos together or 270 Mexican pesos apart from each other.
  • July 27, 2016: Phoenix would officially announce that their newest assistant coaches/player development coaches for the season include Jay Triano, Tyrone Corbin, Nate Bjorkgren (who'd return from last season), former college teammate of Steve Nash, NBA player, and video coordinator/player development coach for the San Antonio Spurs in Marlon Garnett (as both assistant coach and player development coach, similar to Nate Bjorkgren last season), long-time college assistant coach Scott Duncan (for player development), and another returning assistant coach/player development coach in Jason Fraser, who's also for player development exclusively. In addition to them, the Suns announced that Chris Damnell would be the team's video coordinator with Long Beach State's Jason Tilton and video intern for the 73-9 Golden State Warriors and Team U.S.A. video coordinator Julian Mills being assistant video coordinators, as well as Michigan State's Quinton Sawyer joining up as the team's assistant athletic trainer and sports science coordinator.[3]
  • August 2, 2016: The preseason schedule for the Suns gets revealed.
  • August 11, 2016: The NBA announces every team's official schedules for the season. The Suns will have two nationally televised games on ESPN and two games on TNT this year.
  • August 24, 2016: The Phoenix Suns announced that their training camp regime would return to Flagstaff, Arizona for this season after having their previous season be near the downtown region around the old Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
  • September 1, 2016: Footage from a trailer released by NBA 2K17 leaked out a new court design for the Phoenix Suns, which showcased only a minor change on the out-of-bounds region, going from black to purple to represent the older colors of the team; Alan Williams would get the second year of his contract fully guaranteed for the rest of this season due to not only the consistent performances he had during the two Summer League seasons he played for and improving from last season to this season in terms of production, but also putting in the work to transform his body and his skill-sets while also taking a big part of team and community efforts throughout the season (even excluding the fact that his mom, Jeri Williams, had a recent promotion to being the Chief of Police for Phoenix now.)
  • September 6, 2016: The Suns officially unveiled their new, updated court design featuring a purple out-of-bounds region similar to the old court design from the 1990s, only it also includes every other design choice from the Suns' previous season on the court beyond the color of the out-of-bounds region and removing the hashtag from the "WE ARE PHX" slogan; during a concert performance by rapper Drake at the Talking Stick Resort Arena, he gave the Suns' Kentucky teammates a shout out while wearing a black Civic Pride "PHX" Phoenix Suns jersey with Devin Booker's number on it.
  • September 13, 2016: The Phoenix Suns announced a couple late, last-minute additions to their staff with former NBA Finals champion and All-Star power forward/center Mehmet Okur joining the team as a player development coach, as well as Jason Hervey (not to be confused with the actor) from the Minnesota Timberwolves (and the Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons before that) as an advanced scout.
  • September 15, 2016: P.J. Tucker has a low back microdiscectomy procedure done to him. He's expected to be out sometime between six and eight weeks, thus allowing T.J. Warren some time to potentially start for the season now that he's the only considerable candidate at this time to start at small forward for right now; the Suns also would announce some of their training came invitees for the season, one of which includes the undrafted freshman known as Derrick Jones Jr. from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
  • October 3, 2016: Head coach Earl Watson would confirm that the starting lineup for their first preseason game against the San Antonio Spurs (without Tim Duncan) would be the same starting lineup set for the regular season; their lineup would be Eric Bledsoe at point guard, Devin Booker at shooting guard (instead of Brandon Knight), T.J. Warren at small forward (even in the event P.J. Tucker returns to action), Jared Dudley at power forward over either one of the rookies (at this time), and Tyson Chandler at center over Alex Len. They would end their first preseason game with a 91–86 win over San Antonio.
  • October 24, 2016: In a rather surprising move, the Suns decided to part ways with 2013 rookie Archie Goodwin despite having a fully guaranteed deal with the Suns this year, while also making sure they kept both John Jenkins and 2016 (undrafted) rookie Derrick Jones Jr. on the roster to start out this season. It was later on announced that the Suns were trying to trade Archie Goodwin at his own request before the season began, but couldn't find a good deal for him on time.
  • October 26, 2016: The Phoenix Suns begin their regular season against the Sacramento Kings at home; it would also be announced before the game began by owner Robert Sarver that legendary sports announcer Al McCoy would enter the Phoenix Suns Ring of Honor on March 3, 2017 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
  • November 2, 2016: The Suns would win their first game of the season thanks to Eric Bledsoe hitting a game-winning, buzzer-beating three-pointer in a close 118–115 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
  • November 3, 2016: The Phoenix Suns would announce their first transfer to the new affiliate Northern Arizona Suns squad out in the D-League, with latest addition Derrick Jones Jr. heading off to Prescott Valley in order to prepare for the team's first season under their new name.
  • November 8, 2016: Rookie Marquese Chriss would gain his first official start of the season for the Suns.
  • December 26, 2016: Rookie Dragan Bender would start earning more playing time moving forward into the season.

Offseason

Draft picks

Main article: 2016 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality(-ies) College / Club
1 4 Dragan Bender Forward/Center  Bosnia and Herzegovina
 Croatia 		Israel Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv
1 8 Marquese Chriss Power Forward  United States Washington
2 34 Tyler Ulis Point guard  United States Kentucky

The Phoenix Suns would once again enter the draft with three first round picks and one second round pick this season, tying the 2013–14 season for the most first round selections the team has ever had. They own their first selection in the first round, which was at the original Pick 4 and is now the highest selection they'd ever have since 1987, while their second first round pick (which was stuck in Pick 13 for the fourth time in six years) was had by the February 18, 2016 trade deadline with the Washington Wizards trading it away to them (similar to what happened in the 2014 NBA draft) along with the temporary additions of power forward/centers DeJuan Blair and Kris Humphries in exchange for removing Markieff Morris from the team due to his incessant demands of wanting out of the team after an earlier trade involving his twin brother, Marcus Morris, occurred on July 2, 2015. The Suns would be the only team this season to hold multiple NBA Draft lottery selections because of it. Not only that, but the Suns also got their third first round selection from the newly defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers due to an earlier trade involving the Boston Celtics, where they got the Cleveland Cavaliers' first round draft pick that Boston acquired in an earlier trade alongside the also-temporary addition of Marcus Thornton in exchange for Isaiah Thomas. The lone second round pick they have is also the pick they had on their own accord in spite of having a continuously declining record (done in by injuries and other turmoil involving the team placed throughout last season, which included the aforementioned trade that Markieff Morris demanded during that season) in the process. The Suns were also initially planned to getting the Minnesota Timberwolves' second round selection for this year (which would have been Rade Zagorac at Pick 35 this year), but traded it away in a different trade with the Boston Celtics (back when it was still considered to be a first round draft pick) in order to get Brandan Wright on the team under the same season they first acquired Isaiah Thomas.

With the fourth pick of the draft, Phoenix would select the Bosnian-born Croatian power forward/center Dragan Bender from Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel. During his time with Maccabi Tel Aviv, Bender would hold many different averages due to playing in multiple European competitions the previous season. Most notably, Bender would average 5.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.8 blocks, and 0.6 steals per game in Israel in 13.8 minutes of play off the bench during his second season with what was considered a star-studded team in Maccabi Tel Aviv, with him putting up 2.1 points, 1.4 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 0.4 blocks, and 0.3 steals per game in the Euroleague with 10.6 minutes of similar play off the bench. However, he'd also be an Israeli League Cup champion for his team in 2015, a two-time Israeli State Cup champion for his team, and he'd also be an Israeli All-Star in 2016. He would be signed with the Suns this season instead of becoming a draft-and-stash candidate for the team this season, thus becoming the newest, youngest draft player the Suns have ever taken in the draft, ahead of last year's first round draft pick, Devin Booker. He'd also be the youngest Suns player in franchise history ahead of Maciej Lampe, a player that made his NBA debut with the Suns at around 18 years old himself.

After the fourth selection came and went, the Suns would make a trade involving the Sacramento Kings where they'd trade their 13th and 28th selections (which would be Greek center Georgios Papagiannis at Pick 13 and a Haitian power forward/center from Kentucky University in Skal Labissière at Pick 28 respectively), the draft rights for Bogdan Bogdanović, and the 2020 second round draft pick they acquired from the Detroit Pistons due to an earlier trade involving Marcus Morris and the Kings would select Marquese Chriss from the University of Washington for them with the eighth pick of the draft. During his only season at Washington, Chriss would average 13.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, 0.9 steals, and 0.8 assists in 24.9 minutes of action, with him breaking the university's freshman record for the most blocks in their first season and being mentioned as an honorable mention for the All-Pac-12 Freshmen Team. It would also be revealed later on that Phoenix was neck-and-neck between the two power forwards before the trade, with Phoenix deciding to go for Dragan first due to the fact that he was more likely to be selected by a team like the Minnesota Timberwolves, the New Orleans Pelicans, or the Denver Nuggets instead of Sacramento if he fell than Marquese did,[4] although the Suns figured either choice would have given them both power forwards with Jaylen Brown being selected by Boston at Pick 3 and the next three teams likely wanting players that were guards anyways.[5]

Finally, with the thirty-fourth pick of the draft, the Suns selected Tyler Ulis from the University of Kentucky. In his two seasons with Kentucky (one of which being spent on the bench alongside Phoenix's 2015 first round selection Devin Booker), Ulis averaged 11.3 points, 5.3 assists, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game with the Wildcats, also being a part of the SEC All-Freshman Team for 2015 similar to Devin. However, his sophomore season would provide a major jump for Ulis, recording 17.3 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game for Kentucky, which resulted in many honors for him in his second and final season with the team, ranging from the SEC Tournament's MVP and All-SEC First Team to the SEC Player of the Year and the SEC Defensive Player of the Year (with him also being the second guy in the SEC behind Anthony Davis to earn those two honors in the same season) to even gaining major honors and awards with the Bob Cousy Award and being a part of the consensus All-American First Team for 2016.

Free agency

Main article: List of 2016–17 NBA season transactions

Players Mirza Teletović, Jon Leuer, and Chase Budinger, as well as the returning Ronnie Price all became unrestricted free agents as of the end of the 2015–16 NBA season. In addition, both power forward/center Alan Williams and shooting guard John Jenkins also had player options that could potentially make themselves unrestricted free agents as well, so long as the team ended up declining their player options before September 1 and October 24 respectively. Furthermore, former starting small forward P.J. Tucker also has a player option for this season as well, but he would end up accepting his option before the free agency period began. With Alan Williams, he was considered very likely to have his contract guaranteed considering his All-NBA Summer League First Team worthy performance during his time in Las Vegas this season, according to a statement that general manager Ryan McDonough made about him on July 24, 2016. His deal would be made official, though, on September 1, 2016, when he did get his second year fully guaranteed by the Suns officially. Meanwhile, John Jenkins originally held his player option for the team to decide upon around July 11. However, both Jenkins and the Suns agreed to extend their option before the beginning of the regular season, which was mainly dependent on circumstances at hand involving not just Jenkins, but the team as well. At the end of the day, though, the Suns also decided to keep John Jenkins on October 24, 2016 despite not performing so well in the preseason due to not just trade purposes, but also the fact that his second and third years on his contract are still non-guaranteed years for Jenkins (especially his third year, with his second year remaining non-guaranteed until the league-wide deadline on January 10, 2017), as well as his own shooting abilities he displayed during last season. The Suns also planned to convince their 27th pick from the 2014 NBA draft, Bogdan Bogdanović, to leave his current team in Fenerbahçe (Ülker) from Turkey to play in the NBA early before the salary he gets from the team rises exponentially next season due to him no longer being bound to the rookie scale deal. However, it was later confirmed before the 2016 NBA draft began that Bogdan would end up staying with his current team in Turkey for at least one more season. In the end, though, that decision would get him traded to the Sacramento Kings alongside their 13th and 28th picks and the Detroit Pistons' 2020 second round pick for the draft rights of power forward Marquese Chriss.

At the beginning of free agency, the Suns got back shooting guard/small forward Jared Dudley, a player who had previously played with Phoenix from 2008–2013 (including the team's last playoff run in 2010), on a 3-year deal worth $30 million. However, they'd also lose power forward Mirza Teletović to the Milwaukee Bucks earlier in the day, who was worth exactly the same amount as well. With that said, Dudley sees his second stint with the Suns as him being a stretch power forward instead.[6] He also wants to help bring back the same sort of atmosphere the team held back in their 2009–10 season again.[7] A day after that, the Suns would let their other power forward they had last season, Jon Leuer, leave on a 4-year deal worth $42 million for the Detroit Pistons. On July 6, it would be announced that another former Suns player from the Seven Seconds or Less era of Suns teams would return with the Suns in combo guard Leandro Barbosa, a player who was with the team twice from 2003–2010 and 2014, coming back again (this time from the previously 2015 NBA Finals champion and 73–9 Golden State Warriors) on a 2-year deal worth $8 million this time around. The signing would be official on July 19, which was over two weeks before he'd begin playing for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro for his home nation of Brazil. Six days later, it was announced that Ronnie Price would sign a 2-year deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder due to the combination of Phoenix re-signing Leandro Barbosa again and drafting Tyler Ulis in the second round, although Price's signing wouldn't be official until August 13. Coach Earl Watson also hinted that Ronnie Price could also return to Phoenix as an assistant head coach for the staff when the time is right for him to do that. Finally, Chase Budinger would sign a non-guaranteed deal to try his luck at signing an official, regular season deal with the Brooklyn Nets on September 21, 2016, although his signing wouldn't be ready until five days later. However, he would ultimately be waived by the Nets about a month later on October 18, 2016. Almost a week afterwards, Ronnie Price would be waived by the Oklahoma City Thunder on October 24, 2016, despite the fact that his two-year deal with the Thunder was fully guaranteed. Chase Budinger would sign with the Saski Baskonia in Spain for the rest of the season on October 27, 2016, while Ronnie Price still hasn't decided on where to go now as of January 3, 2017.

On August 20, 2016, the Suns were projected to sign a D-League affiliate point guard (who had previously played for the Bakersfield Jam before the location and team name change) named Askia Booker (who is not related to Devin Booker) to a non-guaranteed training camp deal after a strong enough performance he showcased for the team during the Summer League. However, instead of signing Askia Booker, the team would sign up former Nevada–Las Vegas Runnin' Rebels freshman small forward Derrick Jones Jr. to a deal on September 13, 2016, with the move almost feeling like a sign for the Suns before T.J. Warren officially announced his return to action, yet P.J. Tucker would announce he'd (likely) be out for the start of the regular season this time around. A day later, the Suns also signed 2014 second round pick Alec Brown to a non-guaranteed deal as well. Furthermore, the team would also have the likes of Hapoel Holon forward Mike Moser and Tulsa Golden Hurricanes guard Shaquille Harrison join the training camp squad alongside both Alec Brown and Derrick Jones Jr. just another day later. Two days after that, though, the Suns decided to waive Alec Brown in order to retain his draft rights, although they would later on trade him and remove his draft rights via their new Northern Arizona Suns D-League affiliate squad on October 29, 2016 to a new D-League expansion squad known as the Windy City Bulls well over a month later. On September 25, 2016, instead of having the likes of Mike Moser joining Derrick Jones Jr. and Shaquille Harrison due to a health issue, the team would also include Olympique Antibes Sharks center Gracin Bakumanya (the only international underclassman that didn't play in college to be undrafted this year) and D-League affiliate power forward Derek Cooke Jr. (who also had a satisfying enough performance in the Summer League) as their official training camp invitees. However, none of Shaquille Harrison, Gracin Bakumanya, nor Derek Cooke Jr. would play a single game for Phoenix in the preseason, as they'd all be waived on October 10. The only invited player that did get some preseason action, Derrick Jones Jr. (who was an undrafted 19 year old small forward), not only wound up getting one of the last roster spots with the Suns, but he also took over a spot on the roster over the currently more established shooting guard in Archie Goodwin, who not only spent three full seasons with the team as it was, but also had guaranteed money over both Derrick Jones Jr. and John Jenkins to boot. It also meant that with Derrick Jones Jr. on the roster, the Suns would enter the season with four rookies on their roster after all, with four of their players also being teenagers to start out the regular season. It was later on confirmed that Archie Goodwin did request a trade out by the Phoenix Suns in a respectful manner before the end of the pre-season, but the team unfortunately couldn't find a good deal for him on time. All three of the original, non-guaranteed deals that did not stay with the Phoenix Suns (as well as Askia Booker) would soon find themselves as a part of the nearby Northern Arizona Suns D-League affiliate team, while Archie Goodwin would sign a two-year deal with the New Orleans Pelicans on November 6, 2016, although he'd only last until November 20 that same year before playing for the newly formed Greensboro Swarm D-League team ten days later.

Coaching changes

The Suns had initially planned to start a coaching search after their previous season ended. Some of the candidates that were linked to the Suns at the time as potential new candidates included Luke Walton, Mike D'Antoni, Jay Wright, and Dan Majerle, just to name a few examples. However, because of overwhelmingly positive support from both the team's players and the front office alike (which included an improved performance throughout the last two months of the season, even with injuries to Eric Bledsoe, T.J. Warren, and later Brandon Knight in mind), Earl Watson would earn his new three-year deal worth $7.5 million to become the full-time head coach for the Suns, effective as of April 19, 2016.[8][9] During Earl's re-introduction conference as full-time head coach, fellow players (at the time) Devin Booker, Brandon Knight, Mirza Teletović, and Ronnie Price all showed up to the event in support of the move, with the rest of the roster (at that time) also expressing profound support of it. On May 5, 2016 (exactly the same day Senior Adviser Lon Babby resigned from his duties with the team), three assistant coaches the team had throughout last season in former Phoenix Mercury head coach Corey Gaines, replacement assistant coach Bob Hill, and player development assistant coach Irving Roland would not have their contracts renewed after the season the team had last season, with Chris Damnell taking up the absent player development role led by Irving until further notice.[10] That left with only assistant coach Nate Bjorkgren and player development coach Jason Fraser as the only assistant coaches/player development coaches left from last season's debacle. Watson later told people that the assistant coaches he's got that he wants them to join him by sitting next to him or moving on to lead their own program somewhere else later on down the line.

On May 18, a day after the 2016 NBA Draft Lottery ended with everyone remaining exactly where they were at all this time, the Suns hired the Canadian Portland Trail Blazers' assistant coach Jay Triano into being the team's official associate head coach for Earl Watson on a three-year deal of his own.[11][12] On June 25, two days after the 2016 NBA draft ended, the Phoenix Suns announced that one of its former players, Tyrone Corbin, would be a new assistant coach for Earl Watson's staff. During the 2016 NBA Summer League, it was announced that both Bret Burchard and Scott Vaughan would be assistant head coaches for the Suns throughout the event.[13] On July 7, 2016, the Suns would add an old college assistant coach named Scott Duncan to their team as a player development assistant. Duncan was previously an assistant coach for various Division I campuses in the NCAA since 1978, ranging from coach Watson's campus at UCLA and Oregon to Clemson and Washington State, with Northern Illinois, Fresno State, New Mexico, and Cleveland State all holding him around at one point or another, with his most recent tenure being a part of the University of Montana as an associate head coach for six straight seasons. Later on that month, on July 27, it was announced that the Suns would be close to completing their coaching staff by having a former college teammate of Steve Nash, as well as a former NBA player and video coordinator and player development coach for the San Antonio Spurs named Marlon Garnett join the team as both an assistant head coach and a player development coach similar to what current assistant head coach Nate Bjorkgren held last year under former head coach Jeff Hornacek before the first coaching shake-up of last season left Nate exclusively as an assistant coach only. Finally, on September 13, it was announced that the team had a last-minute addition to their player development staff with former 2004 NBA Finals champion and All-Star Mehmet Okur joining the team as an official player development coach, thus becoming the first Turkish born citizen to enter an NBA coaching staff in some way. It was a move to bring some extra help for the Suns' young big men, especially the Suns' first round rookies this season in Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss. More specifically, it was done to have the players learn how to do moves in the post and utilize those moves properly. Both Triano and Okur would mark the first time a team had two or more foreign born coaches being a part of the same NBA coaching staff, although it wouldn't mark the first time the team had an international head coach altogether.

Front office changes

Two weeks after announcing that Earl Watson would be the full-time coach of the Suns, former president of basketball operations and senior adviser Lon Babby announced his resignation from his duties with the team after his six-year tenure with the Suns.[14] At the same time, assistant video coordinator Ross Geiger would not get his contract renewed himself. On July 27, 2016, it was announced that in addition to retaining Chris Damnell as their head video coordinator, the Suns also got former Long Beach State University, St. John's University, California State Fullerton University, and Los Angeles Clippers video coordinator Jason Tilton and former video coordinator for the San Antonio Spurs and Team U.S.A., as well as video intern for last season's 73-9 Golden State Warriors Julian Mills as the team's newest assistant video coordinators with former Campbell University, Southeastern Louisiana University, North Carolina University, and Michigan State University athletic trainer Quinton Sawyer joining as the team's assistant athletic trainer and sports science coordinator. Then, on September 13, 2016, alongside the new addition of former NBA Finals champion and All-Star Mehmet Okur to the coaching staff for a player development role, it was announced that former Minnesota Timberwolves, Washington Wizards, and Detroit Pistons scout Jason Hervey (not to be confused with the actor) would join the Suns as an advanced scout.

Roster

Phoenix Suns roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From
G 8 Allen, Grayson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 1995-10-08 Duke
G 3 Beal, Bradley 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 207 lb (94 kg) 1993-06-28 Florida
F/C 11 Bol, Bol 7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1999-11-16 Oregon
G 1 Booker, Devin 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 206 lb (93 kg) 1996-10-30 Kentucky
F 15 Bridges, Jalen (TW) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 2001-05-14 Baylor
G/F 0 Dunn, Ryan 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 2003-01-07 Virginia
F 35 Durant, Kevin 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1988-09-29 Texas
G 12 Gillespie, Collin (TW) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1999-06-25 Villanova
F/C 4 Ighodaro, Oso 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 2002-07-14 Marquette
G 21 Jones, Tyus 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 196 lb (89 kg) 1996-05-10 Duke
G/F 10 Lee, Damion 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1992-10-21 Louisville
G 23 Morris, Monté 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 183 lb (83 kg) 1995-06-27 Iowa State
C 20 Nurkić, Jusuf 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 290 lb (132 kg) 1994-08-23 Bosnia and Herzegovina
G 2 Okogie, Josh 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 213 lb (97 kg) 1998-09-01 Georgia Tech
F 00 O'Neale, Royce 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 226 lb (103 kg) 1993-06-05 Baylor
C 22 Plumlee, Mason 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 254 lb (115 kg) 1990-03-05 Duke
G 14 Washington, TyTy Jr. (TW) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 2001-11-15 Kentucky
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • (GL) On assignment to G League affiliate
  • (TW) Two-way affiliate player
  • Injured Injured

Roster
Last transaction: November 4, 2024

Salaries

Player 2016–17 Salary
Eric Bledsoe $14,000,000
Brandon Knight $12,606,250
Tyson Chandler $12,415,000
Jared Dudley $10,470,000
P.J. Tucker $5,300,000
Oleksiy "Alex" Len $4,823,621
Dragan Bender $4,276,320
Leandro Barbosa $4,000,000
Marquese Chriss $2,941,440
Devin Booker $2,148,360
T. J. Warren $2,128,920
John Jenkins $1,050,961
Tyler Ulis $918,369
Alan Williams $874,636
Derrick Jones Jr. $543,471
Total $78,497,348

Once again, the Suns would be forced to pay the remaining salary they originally had left for Michael Beasley under this season due to the buyout the Suns did on September 3, 2013, which was $777,778. However, this would actually be done as the team's official last year for payment for him since, similar to the amnesty of Josh Childress beforehand, they would no longer have to pay him again after his value is fully paid off. Not only that, but former Suns player Kris Humphries would have the salary of his previous contract he had during his short stint there be paid out throughout this season (which would total out to $4,630,000) due to the stipulations of him being waived on February 27, 2016. Furthermore, the Suns would wind up releasing Archie Goodwin before the start of this season, which means that currently, the Suns will also pay Archie Goodwin the rest of his salary this season (which was around $2,094,089) to essentially not play for them anymore.[15]

Pre-season

For the second straight season, the Suns would start out their season by having six pre-season games to play under before the regular season began. Oddly enough, this time around, they'd start the preseason really early, only to have their biggest gap come for an entire week between their last home game of the preseason in Arizona against Dallas and the last official home game out in Anaheim against the L.A. Lakers. The reality is this season is the first season where a new system decided how the schedule will be done for every team in the league, and due to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement that was updated in 2017, the pre-season is going to be shortened as well after this season. The Suns would also actually be the very first opponent of the San Antonio Spurs without having Tim Duncan around playing for the team there whatsoever since he first arrived in the late 1990s. They would win their game by a score of 91–86 with their starting line-up being Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker, T.J. Warren, Jared Dudley, and Tyson Chandler, which would also be their starting lineup for at least the start of the regular season. However, the Suns would lose two straight close matches before staging their biggest comeback in pre-season history, going from a 30-point deficit to winning their road match against the Utah Jazz with the final score of 111–110 with a few key slam dunks late in the fourth quarter by the now-former Suns shooting guard Archie Goodwin to close out the game. Ultimately, the Suns would end their pre-season with a 4–2 record with a three-game winning streak to end the event, although none of their games would end with a higher margin differential than 5 points.

Game log

2016 pre-season game log
Total: 4–2 (Home: 2–1; Road: 2–1)
Pre-season: 4–2 (home: 2–1; road: 2–1)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
1 October 3 San Antonio W 91–86 Devin Booker (19) Tyson Chandler (8) Eric Bledsoe (4) Talking Stick Resort Arena
8,076 		1–0
2 October 5 Utah L 99–104 Brandon Knight (17) Marquese Chriss, Alan Williams (8) Eric Bledsoe (4) Talking Stick Resort Arena
8,407 		1–1
3 October 7 @ Portland L 110–115 Devin Booker (34) Marquese Chriss, T.J. Warren (8) Eric Bledsoe (7) Moda Center
19,441 		1–2
4 October 12 @ Utah W 111–110 Devin Booker (20) Eric Bledsoe, Oleksiy "Alex" Len,
Alan Williams (7) 		Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker,
Jared Dudley, Tyler Ulis (3) 		Vivint Smart Home Arena
16,521 		2–2
5 October 14 Dallas W 112–107 Eric Bledsoe, Marquese Chriss (17) Alan Williams (9) Eric Bledsoe (7) Talking Stick Resort Arena
12,209 		3–2
6 October 21 @ L.A. Lakers W 98–94 Oleksiy "Alex" Len (16) Tyson Chandler (11) Brandon Knight (5) Honda Center (Anaheim)
13,489 		4–2
2016–17 season schedule

Regular season

Division

Pacific DivisionWLPCTGBHomeRoadDivGP
z – Golden State Warriors6715.817–36‍–‍531‍–‍1014–282
x – Los Angeles Clippers5131.62216.029‍–‍1222‍–‍1910–682
Sacramento Kings3250.39035.017‍–‍2415‍–‍267–982
Los Angeles Lakers2656.31741.017‍–‍249‍–‍326–1082
Phoenix Suns2458.29343.015‍–‍269‍–‍323–1382

Conference

Western Conference
#TeamWLPCTGBGP
1z – Golden State Warriors *6715.817–82
2y – San Antonio Spurs *6121.7446.082
3x – Houston Rockets5527.67112.082
4x – Los Angeles Clippers5131.62216.082
5y – Utah Jazz *5131.62216.082
6x – Oklahoma City Thunder4735.57320.082
7x – Memphis Grizzlies4339.52424.082
8x – Portland Trail Blazers4141.50026.082
9Denver Nuggets4042.48827.082
10New Orleans Pelicans3448.41533.082
11Dallas Mavericks3349.40234.082
12Sacramento Kings3250.39035.082
13Minnesota Timberwolves3151.37836.082
14Los Angeles Lakers2656.31741.082
15Phoenix Suns2458.29343.082

Game log

2016–17 game log
Total: 12–25 (Home: 7–9; Road: 5–16)
October: 0–4 (home: 0–2; road: 0–2)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
1 October 26 Sacramento L 94–113 Devin Booker (18) Tyson Chandler (10) Eric Bledsoe (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena
18,055 		0–1
2 October 28 @ Oklahoma City L 110–113 (OT) T.J. Warren (30) Tyson Chandler (10) Eric Bledsoe (6) Chesapeake Energy Arena
18,203 		0–2
3 October 30 Golden State L 100–106 T.J. Warren (26) Tyson Chandler (18) Eric Bledsoe (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena
17,011 		0–3
4 October 31 @ L.A. Clippers L 98–116 Brandon Knight (18) Eric Bledsoe (8) Eric Bledsoe (5) Staples Center
19,060 		0–4
November : 6–9 (home: 3–3; road: 3–6)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
5 November 2 Portland W 118–115 (OT) T.J. Warren (27) Tyson Chandler (18) Eric Bledsoe (4) Talking Stick Resort Arena
17,284 		1–4
6 November 4 @ New Orleans W 112–111 (OT) Devin Booker (38) Tyson Chandler (18) Eric Bledsoe (4) Smoothie King Center
15,379 		2–4
7 November 6 @ L.A. Lakers L 108–119 Devin Booker (39) Tyson Chandler (12) Devin Booker (7) Staples Center
18,997 		2–5
8 November 8 @ Portland L 121–124 Eric Bledsoe (31) Oleksiy "Alex" Len, P.J. Tucker (9) Brandon Knight (6) Moda Center
19,239 		2–6
9 November 9 Detroit W 107–100 Eric Bledsoe (21) Oleksiy "Alex" Len (14) Eric Bledsoe (8) Talking Stick Resort Arena
16,719 		3–6
10 November 12 Brooklyn L 104–122 T.J. Warren (18) Oleksiy "Alex" Len (11) Eric Bledsoe (8) Talking Stick Resort Arena
17,126 		3–7
11 November 13 @ Golden State L 120–133 Eric Bledsoe, T.J. Warren (18) P.J. Tucker (8) Eric Bledsoe, Jared Dudley (5) Oracle Arena
19,596 		3–8
12 November 16 @ Denver L 104–120 Brandon Knight (32) P.J. Tucker (8) Eric Bledsoe (5) Pepsi Center
10,247 		3–9
13 November 18 @ Indiana W 116–96 Brandon Knight (17) Alan Williams (15) Jared Dudley (6) Bankers Life Fieldhouse
16,780 		4–9
14 November 19 @ Philadelphia L 105–120 Eric Bledsoe (27) Alan Williams (11) Eric Bledsoe (6) Wells Fargo Center
18,125 		4–10
15 November 21 @ Washington L 101–106 Devin Booker (30) Oleksiy "Alex" Len (10) Eric Bledsoe (6) Verizon Center
12,790 		4–11
16 November 23 @ Orlando W 92–87 Oleksiy "Alex" Len (17) Oleksiy "Alex" Len (12) Eric Bledsoe (5) Amway Center
17,069 		5–11
17 November 25 Minnesota L 85–98 Eric Bledsoe (23) Oleksiy "Alex" Len (11) Eric Bledsoe (10) Talking Stick Resort Arena
16,728 		5–12
18 November 27 Denver L 114–120 Eric Bledsoe (35) Tyson Chandler (15) Eric Bledsoe (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena
15,365 		5–13
19 November 30 Atlanta W 109–107 Brandon Knight (23) Oleksiy "Alex" Len, Tyson Chandler (9) Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker (4) Talking Stick Resort Arena
15,909 		6–13
December : 4–10 (home: 3–4; road: 1–6)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
20 December 3 @ Golden State L 109–138 Eric Bledsoe (27) Tyson Chandler (9) Devin Booker (5) Oracle Arena
19,596 		6–14
21 December 6 @ Utah L 105–112 Devin Booker (21) Brandon Knight, Jared Dudley (7) Brandon Knight (5) Vivint Smart Home Arena
18,997 		6–15
22 December 7 Indiana L 94–109 Eric Bledsoe (15) Tyson Chandler (10) Devin Booker (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena
17,452 		6–16
23 December 9 @ L.A. Lakers W 119–115 Eric Bledsoe (30) Oleksiy "Alex" Len (13) Eric Bledsoe (9) Staples Center
18,997 		7–16
24 December 11 New Orleans L 119–120 (OT) Eric Bledsoe (32) Tyson Chandler (21) Eric Bledsoe (8) Talking Stick Resort Arena
16,949 		7–17
25 December 13 New York W 113–111 (OT) Eric Bledsoe (31) Tyson Chandler (23) Eric Bledsoe (8) Talking Stick Resort Arena
16,429 		8–17
26 December 15 San Antonio L 92–107 Devin Booker (17) Tyson Chandler (8) Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena
17,165 		8–18
27 December 17 @ Oklahoma City L 101–114 Devin Booker (31) Tyson Chandler (9) Devin Booker (5) Chesapeake Energy Arena
18,203 		8–19
28 December 19 @ Minnesota L 108–115 Eric Bledsoe (27) Tyson Chandler (12) Brandon Knight (4) Target Center
12,008 		8–20
29 December 21 Houston L 111–125 Devin Booker (28) Tyson Chandler, Devin Booker, P.J. Tucker (6) Devin Booker (7) Talking Stick Resort Arena
18,055 		8–21
30 December 23 Philadelphia W 123–116 Eric Bledsoe (24) Tyson Chandler (12) Eric Bledsoe (11) Talking Stick Resort Arena
16,535 		9–21
31 December 26 @ Houston L 115–131 Eric Bledsoe (24) Dragan Bender (13) Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker (4) Toyota Center
18,055 		9–22
32 December 28 @ San Antonio L 98–119 T.J. Warren (23) Tyson Chandler (7) Brandon Knight (5) AT&T Center
18,418 		9–23
33 December 29 Toronto W 99–91 Eric Bledsoe (22) Tyson Chandler (13) Eric Bledsoe (10) Talking Stick Resort Arena
18,055 		10–23
34 December 31 @ Utah L 86–91 Devin Booker (20) Tyson Chandler (11) Eric Bledsoe (8) Vivint Smart Home Arena
19,911 		10–24
January: 2–1 (home: 1–0; road: 1–1)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
35 January 2 @ L.A. Clippers L 98–109 T.J. Warren (24) P.J. Tucker (12) Eric Bledsoe (9) Staples Center
19,060 		10–25
36 January 3 Miami W 99–90 Devin Booker (27) Tyson Chandler (20) Eric Bledsoe (7) Talking Stick Resort Arena
16,772 		11–25
37 January 5 @ Dallas W 102–95 Eric Bledsoe (26) Tyson Chandler (18) Eric Bledsoe (7) American Airlines Center
19,570 		12–25
38 January 8 Cleveland Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
39 January 12 Dallas Mexico City Arena (Mexico City)
 0–0
40 January 14 San Antonio Mexico City Arena (Mexico City)
 0–0
41 January 16 Utah Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
42 January 19 @ Cleveland Quicken Loans Arena
 0–0
43 January 21 @ New York Madison Square Garden
 0–0
44 January 22 @ Toronto Air Canada Centre
 0–0
45 January 24 Minnesota Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
46 January 26 @ Denver Pepsi Center
 0–0
47 January 28 Denver Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
48 January 30 Memphis Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
February : 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
49 February 1 L.A. Clippers Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
50 February 3 @ Sacramento Golden 1 Center
 0–0
51 February 4 Milwaukee Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
52 February 6 @ New Orleans Smoothie King Center
 0–0
53 February 8 @ Memphis FedExForum
 0–0
54 February 10 Chicago Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
55 February 11 @ Houston Toyota Center
 0–0
56 February 13 New Orleans Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
57 February 15 L.A. Lakers Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
All-Star Break
58 February 24 @ Chicago United Center
 0–0
59 February 26 @ Milwaukee BMO Harris Bradley Center
 0–0
60 February 28 @ Memphis FedExForum
 0–0
March : 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
61 March 2 Charlotte Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
62 March 3 Oklahoma City Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
63 March 5 Boston Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
64 March 7 Washington Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
65 March 9 L.A. Lakers Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
66 March 11 @ Dallas American Airlines Center
 0–0
67 March 12 Portland Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
68 March 15 Sacramento Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
69 March 17 Orlando Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
70 March 19 @ Detroit Palace of Auburn Hills
 0–0
71 March 21 @ Miami AmericanAirlines Arena
 0–0
72 March 23 @ Brooklyn Barclays Center
 0–0
73 March 24 @ Boston TD Garden
 0–0
74 March 26 @ Charlotte Spectrum Center
 0–0
75 March 28 @ Atlanta Philips Arena
 0–0
76 March 30 L.A. Clippers Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
April : 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
77 April 1 @ Portland Moda Center
 0–0
78 April 2 Houston Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
79 April 5 Golden State Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
80 April 7 Oklahoma City Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
81 April 9 Dallas Talking Stick Resort Arena
 0–0
82 April 11 @ Sacramento Golden 1 Center
 0–0
2016–17 season schedule

Player statistics

Legend
  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

Awards and records

Awards

All-Star

Week/Month

Records

  • The five Kentucky University players the team held before the start of the season in Eric Bledsoe, Archie Goodwin, Brandon Knight, Devin Booker, and Tyler Ulis would be the highest amount of players that would ever be taken from one college at any time. All five of those players would wind up playing in some of the same games throughout the preseason, but not in the regular season due to the fact that Archie Goodwin would get waived before the start of the regular season, albeit at his own request.
  • The Suns would become the first team in NBA history to have three players at age 19 or younger play in the regular season with Devin Booker continuing to be a 19 year old until October 30 (their third game of the season), and the likes of 19 year old Marquese Chriss and 18 year old (at least until November 17) Dragan Bender all playing in the same game on their opening night game against the Sacramento Kings. It also happened again twice in the season due to their latest addition (at the time), Derrick Jones Jr., joining in on two games himself in the regular season (after being called up from the D-League affiliate Northern Arizona Suns originally) before his 20th birthday on February 15, 2017.[16]
    • The Suns also became the second team in league history (behind only Kevin Garnett's final season under the 2015–16 Minnesota Timberwolves) to have four players around the age of 20 to play for the team during the season, with point guard Tyler Ulis being set to remain 20 years old until January 2017. Not only that, but they also became the first team to have five players around the age of 20 also with Derrick Jones Jr. officially playing for the team on November 19, 2016 (and would play again later on in December 15, 2016). Derrick Jones Jr. would be an undrafted rookie that remained 19 until February 15, 2017; as a result, they became the first team to have four rookies at 20 or younger playing in the same game for the team.
  • This season's Phoenix Suns team became the fifth team in NBA history to hold three different overtime games to start out their first six games of the regular season. The other four teams that did the same thing themselves were the 1962-63 San Francisco Warriors, the 1976-77 Boston Celtics, the 1991-92 Los Angeles Lakers, and the 2005-06 Charlotte Bobcats.
  • Devin Booker would become the youngest player in NBA history to record consecutive games of 38 or more points scored in the regular season, with him recording 38 points in a close 112–111 overtime win against the New Orleans Pelicans on November 4, 2016 and then recording 39 points in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers two days later, which happened about a week after his 20th birthday came and went.
  • Rookie Dragan Bender would be the second player (behind Tracy McGrady back in 1998) to record a double-double with a diverse stat range at around 10+ points, 10+ rebounds, 2+ assists, 3+ steals, and 2+ blocks as a teenager. Bender would record a double-double of 11 points and 13 rebounds to go with 3 steals, 2 assists, and 2 blocks in a 131–116 loss to the Houston Rockets on December 26, 2016.[17]
    • Furthermore, Dragan Bender would also be the fourth-youngest player to have a double-double while also recording 3+ steals and 2+ in a game behind Tracy McGrady, Dwight Howard, and Josh Smith.
  • Dragan Bender would also be the eighth-youngest player to ever record a double-double in a single game, behind only Tracy McGrady, LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Andris Biedriņš, Josh Smith, Andrew Bynum, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Team Records

Milestones

Team Milestones

  • Tyler Ulis would be the first rookie to have consecutive games with at least four steals involved since Leandro Barbosa, with Tyler doing it on November 18 & 19, 2016.
  • Eric Bledsoe would be the first player since Jason Kidd back in 2000 to record at least five consecutive games with 15 or more points scored, 5 or more rebounds grabbed, and 5 or more assists given from November 17–27, 2016.
  • Devin Booker would play his 100th game in the NBA on December 13, 2016 against the New York Knicks, the team of his former head coach, Jeff Hornacek. He'd end the game with 1,490 total points scored during his first 100 games with the Suns. The only Phoenix Suns players that scored more points in their first 100 games while making their debuts with the team are Walter Davis (2,420), Alvan Adams (1,834), and Armen Gilliam (1,658).
  • Eric Bledsoe became the first Suns player since Amar'e Stoudemire back in the 2009-10 season and the first guard since Stephon Marbury back in the 2002–03 season to record three straight games of 30 or more points from December 9–13, 2016 (even though two of those three games ended in overtime).
  • Leandro Barbosa would play his 517th game with the Suns on December 28, 2016 against the team that originally drafted him back in 2003, the San Antonio Spurs. Barbosa would move past Amar'e Stoudemire to become the 10th longest tenured player in franchise history.

Injuries/Personal Missed Games

Player Duration Reason for Missed Time Games Missed
Start End
Devin Booker October 31, 2016 November 2, 2016 Sprained right big toe during the first road Oklahoma City game. 1
Derrick Jones Jr. November 3, 2016 November 19, 2016 Assigned to the Northern Arizona Suns by Phoenix. 8
Tyson Chandler November 8, 2016 November 16, 2016 His mother, Vernie Re Threadgill, passed away. 4
Tyson Chandler November 18, 2016 November 25, 2016 Attended funeral services for his mother. 4
T.J. Warren November 19, 2016 December 17, 2016 Got a concussion during the road Indiana game. 13
Derrick Jones Jr. November 25, 2016 December 15, 2016 Assigned to the Northern Arizona Suns by Phoenix. 9
Jared Dudley November 27, 2016 November 30, 2016 Hurt left foot during practice. 1
Olexsiy "Alex" Len December 13, 2016 December 17, 2016 Had a right hip contusion. 2
Derrick Jones Jr. December 23, 2016 January 2017 Assigned to the Northern Arizona Suns by Phoenix. ??
Brandon Knight January 3, 2017 January 5, 2017 Sprained his right wrist during the second road L.A. Clippers game. 1

Transactions

Trades

June 23, 2016
 To Phoenix Suns

United States Marquese Chriss (Pick 8)

To Sacramento Kings

Greece Georgios Papagiannis (Pick 13)
Haiti Skal Labissière (Pick 28)
Serbia Bogdan Bogdanović (Player Rights)
2020 second round pick (from Detroit)

Free agents

Additions

Player Signed Former team
Jared Dudley Signed 3-year deal worth $30 Million Washington Wizards
Leandro Barbosa Signed 2-year deal worth $8 Million Golden State Warriors
Derrick Jones Jr. Signed 3-year deal worth $2.5 Million University of Nevada, Las Vegas Runnin' Rebels

Subtractions

Player Reason left New team
Bogdan Bogdanović Traded Sacramento Kings / Turkey Fenerbahçe (Ülker)
Mirza Teletović Unrestricted free agent Milwaukee Bucks
Jon Leuer Unrestricted free agent Detroit Pistons
Ronnie Price Unrestricted free agent Oklahoma City Thunder
Chase Budinger Unrestricted free agent Brooklyn Nets / Spain Club Deportivo Saski-Baskonia, S.A.D.
Alec Brown Waived Northern Arizona Suns / Windy City Bulls
Archie Goodwin Waived New Orleans Pelicans / Greensboro Swarm
John Jenkins Waived Unknown

References

  1. ^ 2016-17 Phoenix Suns
  2. ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--nba-salary-cap-projected-to-increase-more-than-previous-estimates-210930102.html
  3. ^ http://www.nba.com/suns/press-release/suns-announce-2016-17-coaching-staff
  4. ^ http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2016/6/25/12027078/anatomy-of-a-deal-phoenix-suns-pick-bender-chriss
  5. ^ http://www.nba.com/2016/news/features/ian_thomsen/09/04/phoenix-suns-rookie-frontcourt-marquese-chriss-dragan-bender/index.html
  6. ^ http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2016/07/01/jared-dudley-accepts-deal-return-phoenix-suns/86626702/
  7. ^ http://www.theplayerstribune.com/jared-dudley-suns-my-return-to-phoenix/
  8. ^ Baum, Bob. "Suns remove interim tag, name Watson coach". NBA.com. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
  9. ^ "Suns name Earl Watson 17th head coach in team history". NBA.com. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
  10. ^ Coro, Paul. "Phoenix Suns not renewing 2 assistant coach contracts". azcentral.com. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
  11. ^ https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/733096997977239552
  12. ^ http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2016/09/17/phoenix-suns-top-aide-jay-triano-fits-teams-vision/90522442/
  13. ^ http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2016/7/1/12083212/devin-booker-officially-is-on-the-suns-2016-summer-league-roster
  14. ^ Coro, Paul. "Lon Babby ends tenure with Phoenix Suns". azcentral.com. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
  15. ^ "HoopsHype – NBA Salaries – Phoenix Suns". hoopshype.com. September 22, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  16. ^ http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2016/10/25/13374080/phoenix-suns-teenager-heavy-rotation-crystalizes-as-opening-night-approaches
  17. ^ http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2016/12/27/14088126/phoenix-suns-dragan-bender-youngest-in-12-years-to-post-10-10-plus-3-steals-and-2-blocks
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