Grayson Allen was outstanding during his first season with the Suns, but the experience didn’t end the way he wanted it to, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. After leading the NBA in three-point shooting at 46.1%, Allen suffered an injury during the first-round playoff series against Minnesota. He sprained his ankle in Game 1, re-injured it in Game 2 and wasn’t available for the series’ final two games.
Allen started spending time in the weight room shortly after the season ended in an effort to become stronger and more durable. He recently posted a video of himself shooting and doing weight training.
“I’ve got a strong base,” Allen said. “Now it’s moving more towards more speed and explosion, some plyometrics stuff. Moving the weight faster if it’s weighted. A lot of unweighted stuff. Working on some speed, power explosion. Trying to get back into that playing shape and be ready and in better shape. A little faster, a little stronger and be ready for October.”
Allen played for four teams in his first six NBA seasons, but his future in Phoenix appears secure after signing a four-year, $70MM extension in April. He’s focused on maximizing his role in an offense where he’s surrounded by elite scorers in Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.
“Getting in some of the explosive stuff to get ready to hit the court hard for training camp and preseason coming up and getting all the shots I feel I’m going to get in the season,” Allen said. “Shots I got last season playing with these guys.”
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports takes a closer look at Mike Budenholzer‘s coaching staff with the Suns, which includes longtime NBA assistants Vince Legarza and Chad Forcier, former Knicks and Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale and ex-players Brent Barry and James Posey.
- Now that the Warriors have reached an extension with Stephen Curry, Sam Gordon of the San Francisco Chronicle examines whether they’ll pursue rookie scale extensions with Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody before the October 21 deadline. Both players will become eligible for restricted free agency next summer if they don’t sign new deals prior to opening night.
- Since they’re teammates, Lakers rookie Bronny James can’t refer to LeBron James as “dad” when they’re on the court together, according to Chuck Schilken of The Los Angeles Times (subscriber only).
Fizdale is the worst coach ever
Dad I’m open!
Ya know what Bronny should call his dad at work, Hoopsjunkie? I’ll give you a hint: it’s REAL close to ‘dad’……………
DUD. The….Chosen…..Dud.
THAT…..would be awwww-suuuhhhhhmmmm
I’ll never get why Bronny is not a PG. Daddy knew he wasn’t going to grow. As a real PG in today’s game. He’d have a longer and more productive career.
Agree on the surface but he doesn’t have the handles or ability to break down the first line of defense , sans an elite shot ( which he’s nowhere near ) Pg just isn’t an option currently imo
He’s going to have to be a defensive wizard early and we shall see if the O ever develops … fortunately in todays game you can be small at the 2 guard as long as your active and bust tail every possession ( like melton kinda / early Lowry D ) Think he does have this trait in the bag ( one of few currently ) We shouldn’t ( but will ) judge him till about year 3 imo
That’s the point. His dad is one of smartest ballers ever. He should have been teaching since he was 10. And Bronny should know that he’d have a better chance at Point. It’s called developing skills and talent. If I can see this. Bron should have seen this at birth.
Bronny biggest problem will be his ego. His skills are very raw and needs to go down to the G league and improve them. Playing on the bench in limited action will stunt his growth. Bronny has said he thinks he is NBA ready when he is not close to it.
I agree his ego definitely gets in the way. Happens to all privileged kids.
In every interview I’ve ever seen with Bronny he seems like he’s down to earth considering his situation. He’s confident but you have to be to make it as a pro. His response after the first summer league game to a question about playing in the G-League “I’m just looking forward to any basketball I play, no matter what level I’m playing at.”
IMO he’s still young enough to improve his gm. And at his size. Success is at PG. I’ve seen plenty players become better PGs after yrs in NBA. Nash is probably best example. How bad does he want to be a pro.
Let’s be honest, please. It’s completely reasonable to evaluate Bronny on the basis of future potential. We’ve seen him play in college and Vegas. As an offensive player, he can’t get to the basket, can’t shoot, and doesn’t understand the game well. He lacks the size and length to guard anybody other than 1’s and 2’s. Worst of all, he has no dog in him. There’s a reason so many call him the least qualified drafted player in history.
I completely disagree on the comparison with Melton, who was dominant in his freshman year at USC, and a defensive terror.
I doubt you know his heart. But I get the criticism. He has the talent to play in NBA. But will he accept being the 10th guy. Maybe that’s his peak. Like I said. He’s still young enough to make an impact. He’s not his dad. He can still be a solid backup PG. I get you give up on 20 yr olds. I don’t.
Knickerbocker, when you say “I don’t know his heart”, did you watch Bronny’s performance in Vegas? If not, you’ll find plenty of clips on YouTube showing how lazily he played.
He often wouldn’t run back on defense at all, and, in general, played no help defense in the half-court. It was more or less the same at USC. You’ll see flashes of intensity, but he rarely plays like his future depends on it.
Wasn’t a Melton comp on production just an Undersized guy who could can still guard 2s elite.
I think just about the only thing he has currently is dog on the defensive end and a pretty good Iq there –
disagree pretty strongly there and as far as ego that others have stated I haven’t seen a hint of that so far, seems just about as well adjusted as can be considering the backdrop
Far as pg Al , I agree it’s ideal but he just doesn’t have those skills ( and maybe / probably ) never will – Can’t force something that’s not there
A good defensive 10 Th man would be a great outcome, we can agree on that AL
Knickerbocker is completely right. At LeBron James Jr’s height, he should be playing PG. Developing his dribbling and passing IQ.
6’1 people not 6’4
So what happens when Bronny calls LeBron Dad on the court? Technical Foul? Fine from the league?
You know it’s off season when someone writes an article about that.
I very much doubt Kuminga or Moody signs a extension before the season. After what happened with Poole and needing to keep open money for in season trade the warriors will wait on extensions. Since they will be restricted free agents they can wait and match a contract if needed.
Kuminga is at 26 mins a gm. In this his third yr. Still a young player learning. Where imo Warriors messed up Wiseman. They are doing it right with Kuminga. Warriors biggest issue is Wiggins. I know he’s had personal stuff. Just seems balling is not a priority for him. Have always supported him. But I can’t help thinking about what Jimmy B said about him.
i agree with everything you said. Wiggins is a tough player to watch, When he is aggressive he is a all star but he seldom is all out 100%. Has so much talent but relaxes too much. This is the year for Kuminga to prove he is a future star. He has worked on his mid range jump shot. He will get the minutes this year with Thompson gone.
Jayson Tatum sucking in the finals is the only reason Wiggins has the contract he has. People thought he shut Tatum down at the time, now everyone knows Tatum hits a wall inthe playoffs in terms of efficiency.
Really …. did watch the playoffs.
Where the Warriors messed up was drafting Wiseman in the first place. He’s a low IQ player that has no feel for the game.
Father, pass me the ball.
Call no man on earth your Father, for one is your Father who is in heaven.
Gary 9:1, oops, Mathew 23:9. Hey it is Sunday !!
Fairy tales are fun…
My father is an alien…
Weeeeeeee…
You’re definitely in the majority with those thoughts.
Lebron thinks he is the father, the son and the holy spirit
Trade means upgrade.
I want to trade both Kuminga and Moody.
Towns, Ingram and Isaiah Hartenstein are better players than Kuminga
Moody will absolutely be traded between now and the deadline. 100% guaranteed. Kuminga not so sure. Maybe.., maybe not. He has a lot of potential but it all depends on that contract and his demands.
A lot of Warriors have taken a little less in the past to build the team, with the exception of Harrison Barnes. He wouldn’t do it and ran to Dallas.
Unless Moody has some type of all star beginning to the season i see him getting traded at trade deadline. i am surprised a team like the Pistons doesn’t trade for him.
I’d be surprised if he has a spot in the regular rotation, Podz, Wiggins, Melton, Payton, Hield and Anderson will most likely be bigger priorities for minutes.
So Lebron can’t call him son right?
You know damn well the media is going to ask Lebron “What is it like playing with your son?” during in game interview. If Bronny is playing well they will ask him about playing with dad.
Is this only suppose to be on the court during action. He can call him Pops or Old Man.
Knickerbocker, I think you’re right on both Kuminga (including effect of handling Wiseman so badly) and of Wiggins being the team’s biggest question mark. I know you care about getting it right, so it’s worth talking more about Wiggins, especially given the high probability that he’s gone by mid season.
Re: the Jimmy Butler take you reference, that’s a common misconception that both Thibodeau and Butler have gone to great lengths to correct. Butler said that Towns was soft, but he never said that about Wiggins. What Butler did say about Wiggins was that he was too quiet, which is very different. Thibodeau, who was a paid consultant to the Warriors at the time, recommended the Wiggins trade, stressing the same points.
Since then, Kerr has always insisted publicly that Wiggins has strong, consistent effort, and he’s never stopped relying on him. Kerr continues (as recently as this month) to say that Wiggins is misunderstood…”still waters run deep”. You’ll hear the same from Chris Paul, Iggy, Draymond and Steph. I say all this to reaffirm that Wiggins does not have a reputation for not trying, even though he’ll NEVER be the assertive, alpha player you’d expect from the 1st pick in the draft.
So, what to expect from Wiggins this year? The Dubs hope that the first 1/2 of last season, the worst of his otherwise consistent 9 year career, was an anomaly. He was atrocious offensively, as was Klay, which put the team in a hole. But, in the 2nd half, Wiggins regained his previous form, and the Warriors had the 2nd best record in the league, after Boston.
Still, the difference between the good and bad versions of Wiggins last year was dramatic, so we all need to see more. It’s well-known that Wiggins showed up to camp last year out of shape, following on a rib-abdominal condition. How he looks at camp opening in 1 month will be telling. It’s also well-known to every NBA team knows that the Warriors want to move Wiggins, making the starting SF Kuminga. Last year, Wiggins was in the first of a 4 yr, $100M contract. In a career-worst slump, he was untradeable at mid-season. At this point, even after a decent 2nd half of season, the Dubs feel they’re “selling low”.
My prediction is that the Dubs play Wiggins ~26 mpg starting the season with the goal of re-establishing his trade value, and that he’ll be gone by mid-season. At 28 yrs old and, at that with only $25M for 2 more years, he’ll be much easier to move than last year. If they can’t get value in exchange, they’ll take an expiring contract. The Dubs will even package other assets if they need to, but there is no long-term future for him on this team.
What I read was. There were health issues in his family. So Wiggins chose to deal with it. Rumors were they were serious.
My Jimmy reference. Is cause at some point. You have to prioritize your life. I have always said Wiggins is capable of being a top player. Just really hasn’t put it together every yr. The yr Warriors won. IMO he was their MVP. A close second to Steph in Finals MVP. Warriors don’t win it without Wiggins big yr. He played both ways great. Something he never did in Minny.
What Jimmy said was they were soft. And he couldn’t change the culture there. Cause their top players weren’t interested. That’s why he forced his way out. To this day KAT hasn’t shown me he’s worth max money. And there are still questions about Wiggins.
So I’m with Jimmy. One of players I respect the most. Not every great player Wants to be best ever. Jimmy is probably Thibs favorite player ever. Two people I have high respect for.
I’m not hating on Wiggins. But like I said. He’s not mamba mentality player.
link to bleacherreport.com
At the end of the day, Wiggins was outstanding in the 2021-22 season, and a massive flop/dud/underperformer every other season. Looking more like that year was a mirage, but there’s always hope.
One thing we all can agree with is Wiggins is always mentally all over the place, sometimes locked in, mostly not. If he stays locked in, GSW adds an all-star back to this mix. But he just can’t lock in right now. I think it’s because Kuminga and he are too confused what roles they have when they are on court together, they had a really bad +/- last season, iirc.
I would like to see Kerr run mostly these two units while the game is on the line to avoid these “mixed roles” that seem to confuse players more than anything:
JacksonDavis-Kuminga-Green-Moody-Curry
Looney-Anderson-Wiggins-Hield-Podziemski
To me Wiggins and Kuming play same position. I think it’s best to get Wiggins playing. Build his value up and move him. Kuming is ready to start and be the guy with Steph.
Al I believe that’s been the plan for the last year and a half.
Not at 26 mins bro.
I’m referring to trying to “trade Wiggins after building up his value.” They’ve been working on that for a year and a half or longer. I should have clarified because you made two separate points.
Got it …. to be honest. I like Wiggins and Kuminga. But you can’t wait on Wiggins.
Al, you’ve got some unique takes, including a uniquely positive view of Wiggins, because I don’t think you’ll find anybody else that says Wiggins was the MVP over Steph in 2022 season/playoffs, where Steph played arguably the best of his career.
Wiggins doesn’t want the spotlight. He’s not an alpha, nor a leader, and never will be. But that’s different from being “soft”. We’ve seen Wiggins play for 4 years now, and he’s put that one to bed.
I believe you’re wrong that Jimmy *believes* that Wiggins is “soft” because Jimmy has tried so hard to clean that up when talking about Wiggins publicly. Butler wanted out of Minny, and was willing to do anything to make it happen. Thibodeau
Obviously, Jimmy says a lot of things, which is the main reason . People can decide for themselves.
MVP during yr …
Knickebocker , You said Wiggins was the Warriors MVP in 2022.