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Suns Retorter: The Summer of Development

If years of watching Hollywood-produced television and movies have taught us anything, it’s that there are two ways to look at things in life. Events can either be the end of something or just the first installment in what will become a larger collection. For the Suns, they’re more interested in franchises than one-off films.

In Phoenix, the last game of a season isn’t the end of the story. When the final buzzer sounds those 82 games become the foundation to build upon rather than something to simply look back at. With that in mind, each offseason is given a theme by the Suns’ brass to keep themselves and the players focused on the ultimate prize, the Larry O’Brien trophy.

Two summers ago the theme was the training staff. Efforts were made to bolster the equipment and knowledge base for a group that was already known as one of the finest in the world at their trade. The result was taking the awarding winning group and ensuring they were the most technologically and clinically advanced staff in the league.

DUNK OF THE NIGHT: Miles Plumlee

The sequel the following offseason was dubbed “The Summer of Analytics” -- which could have also been the alternate title for that baseball movie starring Brad Pitt -- in which President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby and his staff made it a point to put an emphasis on strengthening the team’s gathering and processing of advanced data. It paid off in helping to identify players ready for breakout seasons -- SEE: Plumlee, Miles and Green, Gerald -- and aiding in the team’s 23 win improvement.

So what was the theme to complete the trilogy this summer? Hunger Games: Mockingjay … wait, wrong third installment. It was actually player development.

Each player was given an offseason plan for their workout and training. Much of the team spent their offseason in Phoenix working on their game on the court and in the weight room. Those who didn’t -- like Goran Dragic, who was playing for his home country of Slovenia in the World Cup -- worked on the plan with trainers and coaches where they were. The front office and coaching staff was so dedicated to the process that there were members of the staff always at US Airways Center to help out in the process. (OK, I'm pretty sure the hours of midnight to 4 a.m. weren’t covered.)

It’s had a halo effect as every player under contract, including the aforementioned Dragic who was back in the gym hours after his return from Slovenia, has been in the building and working out together as of the second week in September. It’s a feat that some teams can’t claim until the start of training camp.

The results? We’ll have to wait and see. Based on the dedication to improvement and the time and resources the players, coaching staff, front office and ownership have put in, the last season was just the first installment of a long string of success -- think Marvel movies --rather than a one-time event that came to an end.