The Suns are a veteran bunch and Coach D’Antoni didn’t like to give many minutes to younger players. First round pick Alando Tucker (F) rarely made it to the court as a rookie. He played in 6 games (0 starts) for the Suns as a rookie and he averaged 8.0 minutes, 3.7 points and 1.3 rebounds per game. He never had the time to get into a shooting rhythm and the result was that he only shot 36.4% from the floor. Tucker might get a chance to get more playing time next season because the Suns will have a new coach.

Guard D.J. Strawberry also had a really rough rookie season as he only shot 31.5% from the floor. He played in 33 games (0 starts) for the Suns this season and he averaged 8.2 minutes, 2.2 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. Don’t look for him to get extended playing time any time soon as his shot selection was very poor as a rookie.

The Suns don’t play many players in their rotation so the rookies are often left out like this season. First round pick Alando Tucker has only played in 5 games (0 starts) so far this season and he is averaging 4.6 minutes, 2.4 points and 0.6 rebounds per game. He is shooting 41.7% from the floor and 50% from the free throw line this season. He does have potential to work his way into the Suns rotation in the future but it might have to wait a couple of seasons. D.J. Strawberry has not played too well as a rookie. He has played in 24 games (0 starts) for the Suns this season and he is averaging 8.5 minutes, 2.5 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Strawberry has shot pretty poorly this season as he is only hitting 33.3% of his shots from the floor and 45.5% from the free throw line.

Guard D.J. Strawberry and forward Alando Tucker have not gotten much playing time for the Suns this season and that’s not likely to change as the Suns rotation only has 7-8 players in it. Strawberry has been pretty awful this season as he’s only hitting 25% of his shots from the floor so far this season. In 6 games, Strawberry is averaging 6.2 minutes, 2.0 points, 0.7 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. Tucker has only played in 3 games this season and he is averaging 5.7 minutes, 4.0 points and 1.0 rebound per game.

It was odd on draft night to hear that the Phoenix Suns had sold their draft picks for cash.  With the team so close to the salary cap, they just decided that they would rather spend their money on veterans instead of rookies.  It was probably a good move because of the Suns goal….which is to win a NBA Championship now.