I'd like to see TJ Warren get some meaningful minutes. Craig and Ross have not defended their playing time. When things are not working you usually have to try something different. Right?
By all means, if the starters are cold from 3 (Okogie or Craig) then put in Lee and Payne early. Even Shamet. If defense is too sloppy, put in... I don't know, Ish and Okogie? Maybe Bazely?
Most importantly, beat LA.
Bazley is garbage. He can make some flashy plays but he sucks out loud.
IMO, with Shamet healthy, he, Lee and Ish should get every minute that Ross has been playing... it might be sacrilege here, but I wouldn't mind seeing Okogie's minutes eaten into a bit; especially on nights when he is forcing things, gambling on D and building brick houses on offense.
As for Warren, he just isn't a fit. He is a bad defender and a massive ball hog on offense, outside of true interior bigs, I don't know that there is a player in the last 20 years who passes less than him. And that isn't an exaggeration.
27.6 minutes per game as a pro and he averages 1.2 assists per game. That is a wild stat. Dude is a small forward, he flat out does not pass the ball. He shoots 12 times per assist in his career. I tried to find a custom stat builder, NBA.com and basketball reference used to have them but now they're both behind pay walls. I suspect that of any non-big in the NBA he has the highest shots per assist in the NBA in the last 10 years.
Since being traded here he has played 51 minutes and has 0 assists.
I've made the joke before, but it's only half joking... does he know that passing is a legal move? On that note... his personal fouls nearly double his career assists.
TJ Warren is a true statistical oddity.
If the Suns had to cut one player, right now, to make room for someone, I am virtually certain it would be Warren.
