By Paul Coro
Suns fans: Watch the Suns have five chances out of 1,000 in the NBA Draft Lottery in May? Or watch the Suns compete in the playoffs in late April for experiences they never have had?
That is the base of the argument between those who want a draft-lottery-bound Suns team and a playoff-bound Suns team.
The difference in the Suns’ draft pick is likely to be between No. 14, the spot they get as a non-playoff team (if that five-in-1,000 chance does not pop up), and No. 19, the draft spot they would likely land as a playoff team.
The difference in what they would get back could be much more. The Suns’ active roster does not have any players who have started a playoff game. Seven Suns have never played an NBA postseason game. Even these Suns’ most memorable playoff combatants, Goran Dragic and Channing Frye, have not done so since 2010.
With 14 games remaining, the Suns (39-29) can catch Dallas (41-28) or pass Memphis (4027) from a 11⁄ game hole to taste the fruits of the second season.
“Maybe we thought if we just played hard and we won 25, 30 games, we’ve taken the right steps,” Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said. “You get in the playoffs and win a game or a round, and those are your steps and you just build from there.”
Suns guard Leandro Barbosa, who is out with a broken hand, actually has nearly as much playoff experience (75 appearances) as all of his teammates combined (81 games).
Most of those players have no idea how much more intense a playoff crowd can be. They have never felt how well a defender will know every nuance of their games because of more detailed scouting reports and the adjustments between games. They think they know how many fouls go uncalled, how the game can slow down and how every possession becomes more physical and important, but none of them can know the extent unless they get there with the expanded roles they have with the Suns.
“It’s totally different basketball,” said Dragic, who reached the playoffs once as Steve Nash’s backup on the 2010 Western Conference finals team. “More tough. Everybody is more focused. Sometimes, young players, they’re under a lot of pressure. But at the same time, they can grow. If they’re going to be focused and we make it, it only will benefit them, like I did. Mysecond year, making the playoffs was a great experience for me.”
Dragic took one of those steps when he had a 23-point fourth quarter in the Suns’ sweep of San Antonio. Frye experienced the flip side when he missed 18 consecutive shots during the 2010 conference finals. He made 13 of his final 24 shots that series, including 9 of 19 on 3-point attempts.
“When I went 1 for 21, they told me to keep shooting it,” Frye said of that series. “After that, nothing really fazes me about shooting. I don’t really get too high or too low. That was horrific, getting booed and then making nine and getting cheered. As soon as you’re the king, you can be the goat.”
Even Frye and Dragic — along with Eric Bledsoe, who played a significant reserve role last season for the Clippers — were not targeted by opponents. Their star teammates — Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire, or Chris Paul and Blake Griffin — were.
Anyone in or out of the game can feel the intensity of the difference and benefit from having gone through that.
“In the playoffs, from Play 1, it’s played like it’s the last shot of the game,” Hornacek said. “That’s the level we need to try to get to and try to finish this off and make the playoffs.”