Phoenix's late-season growing pains might be just that -- growing pains. Deals made at the trade deadline have made youth an across-the-board factor for the young Suns, who start just one player older than 25.
That, General Manager Ryan McDonough told Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, is by design. Eric Bledsoe (25), Markieff Morris (25), Marcus Morris (25), Brandon Knight (24), Alex Len (21), T.J. Warren (21) and Archie Goodwin (20) have all shown their respective talent in a Suns uniform despite their age.
McDonough is hopeful they'll all improve together in the coming years.
"We have a group of players within four or five years of each other who are very young relative to the guys who are playing a lot of minutes around the league, but at the same time are pretty good," he said. "Se still have a winning record playing in the Western Conference despite our recent struggles. I think that gorup will grow and develop. I think we'll continue to get better as a team as some of these older teams around the Western Conference fall off."
It's the same pattern Oklahoma City, Golden State and Portland took to their current contending statuses. Phoenix joins Utah and Minnesota as young-and-growing factors, though the Suns are further along in that regard.
Phoenix's youthful core appeared poised for a breakthrough after playing the Warriors close for a half on Monday, only to see Brandon Knight roll an ankle after scoring 13 points in just 13 minutes of play.
Knight, acquired from Milwaukee at the trade deadline, is averaging 17.2 points, 5.3 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals per contest this season.
"We're being cautious with [the injury]," McDonough said. "I think he'll miss [Wednesday's game against Minnesota] and maybe the next game on Friday [against Atlanta] as well. Then there are plans to reevaluate at some point over the weekend. The good news is nothing is broken. We'll be cautious with him. We need him. He's a big part of our team, but at the same time we're going to take a long-term approach and not rush him back before he's ready."