With a trio of starting-quality playmakers on the roster, the Suns figured to create plenty of offense this season. The only question was how it would unfold.
Three weeks into the season, habits are already developing. Eric Bledsoe, Goran Dragic, and Isaiah Thomas each excel in the pick-and-roll, a two-man play that usually creates preferred targets. In a way, each of the guards is no different than a quarterback in football: they get on the same page with a primary receiver and pick opponents apart because of how in-tune that combination is.
We looked at NBA.com’s pass tracking stats, which keep tabs on which teammates a player passes to, how often, and what results. Here’s what we found out:
Eric Bledsoe
- The fifth-year guard’s passes usually result in quality looks for his teammates. If/when they shoot after getting the ball from Bledsoe, six of his top seven “receivers” hit 46 percent of their attempts or better.
- Bledsoe’s most frequent target is fellow guard Goran Dragic. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Suns Head Coach Jeff Hornacek’s favorite aspect of a dual point guard system is the ball’s ability to “move side-to-side”, until the point guard with the best situation (matchup, space, pick-and-roll partner, etc.) can go to work. Dragic is Bledsoe’s best spot-up shooting option as well, hitting 45.5 percent of the three-point looks he gets off his passes.
- Bledsoe’s most productive recipient, however, is Markieff Morris. The forward scores 2.3 baskets per game off Bledsoe assists and shoots 52.1 percent on all his attempts on those passes.
- Big men, in fact, must love playing with Bledsoe. Miles Plumlee (70.6%) and Alex Len (66.7%) shoot astronomically well when he spoon-feeds them the ball. Bledsoe is highly aware of them in the paint, and has shown a willingness to thread the needle to them in traffic for an easy bucket right under the hoop.
Bledsoe Pass, Len Dunk
Goran Dragic
- Chemistry matters, but it’s hard to track it. We see a little tangible evidence here, however. Dragic’s most efficient receivers are P.J. Tucker (75 FG%, 50 3FG%), Gerald Green (63.6 FG%, 62.5 3FG%) and Markieff Morris. This is an obvious non-coincidence: those are the three remaining players on the roster who logged the most time with Dragic last season.
- The side-to-side ball movement is a two-way street. Dragic’s most frequent “receiver” is Bledsoe, who gets 25.5 percent of the Slovenian’s passes each game.
- Dragic loves running the pick-and-roll with a versatile power forward. He did so last year with Channing Frye and had great success. He’s experiencing more of the same with Markieff Morris, the teammate who scores the most (1.6 FGM) at an even 50-percent clip off Dragic assists. Keef is his second-most frequent target, seeing 21.9 percent of Dragic’s dishes.
Dragic Wrap-Around to Plumlee
Isaiah Thomas
- Suns.com’s Greg Esposito considers Thomas and Gerald Green a duo good enough to merit a nickname, and the numbers back it up. Green is Thomas’ top target, receiving 27.6 percent of his passes per game. He cashes in, too, hitting two shots per contest off of Thomas assists, one of which is almost always a three-pointer.
- Thomas’ most efficient targets are big men Alex Len and Miles Plumlee, but Eric Bledsoe is a more significant third-place due to frequency. He gets the second-most Thomas passes per contest (12.3%) and shoots 50 percent whenever he hoists up a shot after the catch.
- A sixth man role hasn’t diminished Thomas’ per-minute impact. Of the three point guards, he averages the most passes (1.59) per minute played. He’s making sure teammates get involved when he’s on the floor. That’s especially important because those receivers are usually fellow reserves who are coming in cold off the bench.