Nick Richards has raised the floor of the Phoenix Suns immensely in just a week.
Not only are the Suns 3-1 since he entered the lineup, but they simply look like a much more functional basketball team. That doesn’t come as a huge surprise given how much of a black hole the center spot was in Phoenix before his arrival, but seeing it happen gives the Suns a proof of concept that if they can fix what ails this team, there is still hope for the season.
The Suns were outscored by 7 points per 100 possessions when Jusuf Nurkic was on the court this season until they unceremoniously benched him earlier this month. Once they turned the rotation over to Mason Plumlee and Oso Ighodaro, their weaknesses looked uglier under a bigger microscope with more minutes.
Richards easily clears the benchmark of being big, athletic and coordinated enough to man the center spot for a winning NBA team. In particular, his offensive rebounding and interior scoring have been huge for the Suns.
Overall this season, the Suns have averaged a tick under 43 points per game in the paint. In the past four games with Richards, that number has risen to 48. The team’s defensive rebounding rate has also gone up a bit, bringing them from a middle of the pack defensive rebounding team to closer to the top 10.
Structurally, Richards also gives the Suns a dimension they sorely lacked. As a legitimate threat to score rolling to the rim and on lobs, Richards bends the defenses downward and inward. They can’t sell out quite so easily to get the ball out of Devin Booker and Kevin Durant’s hands when they have to worry about Richards getting free for a layup or dunk.
Acquiring Richards wasn’t a home run move that will fix the Suns alone. But it addressed the team’s biggest hole and made them a lot better.
