Archie Goodwin is a litmus test for the Phoenix Suns’ long-term intentions
On January 23rd of this year, Suns guard Archie Goodwin put the team on his shoulders and won the city of Phoenix back, hitting a game-winning buzzer beater against the Atlanta Hawks at home. After being drafted 29th overall by the Suns in 2013, Goodwin arrived in Phoenix during a period of low expectations for his new team. He and fellow rookie Alex Len joined the team during the same offseason with Guard of the Future Eric Bledsoe and first-time coach Jeff Hornacek, but these four acquisitions did little to move the media-planted “needle” as far as competitiveness was concerned. In CBSSports’ first weekly Power Tankings column, the Phoenix Suns sat in second place, expected to be behind only the Philadelphia 76ers in future-mindedness.
Of course, we know how that all turned out. The Suns were in contention for a playoff spot until the last day of the regular season behind a dual-point guard hammerhead, Hornacek finished second in Coach of the Year voting, and Miles Plumlee was great at basketball. Archie Goodwin mostly watched from the bench, amassing a mere 500 minutes across 52 games.
With the signing of Isaiah Thomas before the 2014/15 season, it seemed Goodwin would be the odd man out before even getting a shot to show himself, the team’s strengths overshadowing his own too specifically. He spent a large part of the season with the team’s D-League affiliate, the Bakersfield Jam, even earning the MVP award for the D-League’s showcase tournament. It seemed Goodwin’s destiny might be as a guard whose unfulfilled promise would never go realized — at least not in Phoenix.
Looking back now, we have the benefit of realizing expectations may have been set too high for a guy who’s still only 21-years old. I’ll spare you any stats about all of the draft prospects from this year who he’s younger than, but it’s worth noting that Goodwin still has plenty of time and room to grow. He’s got a long way to go in leading an offense, and doesn’t shoot well enough to survive off the ball for long stretches.
But look closely enough, and he was encouraging this year. He uses the length and athleticism that the good lord blessed him with to finish through contact, and whether he makes the basket or not, he’s capable of drawing the foul. This year, he solidified that part of his game to the tune of six free throw attempts per 36 minutes and a nice .458 free throw rate (free throws per field goal attempt). It looks like it’s here to stay.
Guys like DeMar DeRozan and even Giannis Antetokounmpo have shown in recent years that wings can survive if they improve their ball-handling and passing by constantly driving to the hoop and making either the shot or the correct decision. That Goodwin possesses that outrageous length puts him in perfect company with those two guys.
Look specifically to January and February. Over that stretch, Goodwin joined rookie surprise Devin Booker in the backcourt to replace the two money-makers on the team, Bledsoe and Brandon Knight. Together, the two impressed. Booker is the perfect compliment to Goodwin, especially with his own sudden development as a ball-handler. However, Goodwin still made less than 30 percent of his three-point opportunities during that stretch, which wrangles in whatever optimism his play-making lent itself to.
The Suns will face real decisions on Goodwin coming soon, and those decisions will go a long way in showing what the team wants to do moving forward. With Knight and Bledsoe coming off injuries and Booker stamping himself into the backcourt rotation for the foreseeable future, the Suns might not have room for an unproven guy who overlaps with that core three. Of course, the Suns have primed themselves for personnel gunslinging, but Goodwin has not done enough to earn a spot in their plans. They’re not trading someone like Knight with a rotation spot for Archie Goodwin in mind.
Next summer, Goodwin will be a restricted free agent. Will he have enough playing time to eke some long-term money out of the team? Will he play his way into a contract elsewhere? If he does, will that team help him realize his potential and put him in a place to succeed? All of the asset-collection Ryan McDonough and the Phoenix front office have done has alienated two point guards and two forwards now. It has also put a veteran All-Star in front of Goodwin’s draft mate for the next four years at the center position. Will it cause them to lose out on an extremely physically gifted guy who made legitimate leaps forward this year?
The Suns have been miles from exciting the past few years, and plays like that buzzer beater are what Goodwin has shown himself to be capable of. Unfortunately, high-stakes competition has highlighted an opponent’s ability to gameplan a player like DeRozan out of effectiveness, and the Greek Freak is out of Goodwin’s league physically. He’s naturally paradoxical, but there are far worse things to be as an 21-year old already earning NBA playing time.
If he never handled the ball at Kentucky and was allowed to flourish off ball, would the league see him differently?
His defense has been shockingly bad considering the height and length advantage he possesses in nearly every matchup. The dude looks like Thabo Sefolosha, but defends like Kyrie Irving. His ability to survive against the Jimmy Butler and James Harden-esque wrecking balls that the regular season will throw at him on a nightly basis will be paramount to his success going forward. If he can defend, the other stuff becomes less important when considering his ability to make good on a second contract. Guys making millions of dollars get their minutes trimmed every May — just ask Corey Brewer.
Flourishing off the ball is a lot easier said than done. For Archie Goodwin thus far, most things have been that way, unfortunately, expected given his talent and physical gifts, far too difficult because of the situation around him.
Regardless, Brandon Knight was far too Jamal Crawford and not enough Chris Paul this year, and Eric Bledsoe has missed considerable time in two of his three seasons in Phoenix. Devin Booker can’t stay in front of anyone yet, and all of the guards in the draft have sizable question marks. The Suns have no reason to say goodbye to Goodwin unless one of those issues is resolved.
Of course, they also had no reason to trade Isaiah Thomas or to make the move for Knight either and that happened. They operated behind the facade of a LaMarcus Aldridge signing last offseason, and figure to convince themselves into another possible marquee free agent this year. The Suns do silly things.
They fought the restricted free agency battle with Bledsoe until the bitter end two years ago, and have several similar decisions upcoming. Goodwin is but one piece of the puzzle, but in Phoenix, the backcourt puzzle pieces tend to crowd out the others. How the team decides to handle the last year of his tenure and his future will make clear their long-term view for the roster and give insight into how high on the priority board player relations truly are in the desert.