Phoenix Suns hoping to keep chemistry together

Labels of a non-playoff team and a four-postseason drought can make the Suns appear farther away from elite than how they feel.

The Suns tied for the NBA's 11th best record despite their best players, Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe, starting only 34 games and going 23-11 in them.

The Suns will look to add a frontcourt option, improve passing and continue defensive improvement. They will be aggressive with salary-cap space and an ability to package their three first-round picks for a trade. They also know they have something to hold onto after a 23-win improvement to 48-34.

"We feel like we do have a special chemistry," Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough said. "We still do need to get more talented. We know that. But there are some good things in place here. We don't want to rock the boat too much and screw that up."

The roster overhaul came last summer with four trades. This time, the Suns have control for most of the roster, including plans to retain restricted free-agents Bledsoe and P.J. Tucker by negotiating with them before they sign an offer sheet elsewhere.

McDonough said the roster does not have any obvious holes and that they will expect some improvement to come internally, citing Markieff Morris and Miles Plumlee as examples for what they did this season.

"At their age and with their character and ethic, you try to factor in some continual improvement from them," McDonough said. "I don't see any reason why those guys can't take a big step next year.

"We feel like we're not that far away. If we can use our draft picks to get better to get a veteran or use some package that we think will help us take the next step, to get from wins in the upper 40s to the 50s or ideally the 60s, then we'll do that."

McDonough said the Suns will pursue the best available players. They could have as much as $20 million in cap space but any on a major acquisition could require paying a luxury tax if they also keep Bledsoe, Tucker and Channing Frye (player option).

"We do need to find a way that, when we can't get going up and down, when we can't run and teams slow us down, how do we counter that?" McDonough said. "I felt like sometimes this year we didn't have the answers. Part of that is my fault and Lon's (Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby) fault. We didn't give (coach) Jeff (Hornacek) that option. It's something we'll continue to address through free agency and the draft and hopefully, most importantly through the improvement of our young guys."

Brass on Bledsoe

Bledsoe has been non-committal about his wishes with the restricted free agency that he enters in July. Since he did not agree to a contract extension in October, Bledsoe has not expressed any wish to remain in Phoenix when asked about his future. It also has been clear in watching Bledsoe that he is close to his teammates, likes his coach and appreciates the staff.

"He's well-represented and well-advised," said Babby, a former agent. "If I were representing him and advising him, he would say the exact same thing he would say yesterday. We don't read too much into that. It's a process. We'll go through it with him. We have every reason to think he likes it here. We know we like him."

Free throws

Babby said the team's broadcast ratings on Fox Sports Arizona increased 104 percent from last season and that 91 percent of season tickets have been renewed.

— McDonough said most of the Suns expressed plans to work out in Phoenix this off-season. Babby said, "Despite my powers of cross examination, we couldn't ferret out any complaints (in exit interviews). The likelihood that will be the same next year? Not very high."

— For exit interviews, Hornacek wrote on the room's board that the team went 12-14 against the league's top eight teams with 10 of those losses coming by eight points or fewer.

— If their five-in-1,000 draft lottery chances do not move them into the top three, the Suns' first-round draft choices will be Nos. 14, 18 and 27 in June. Washington lost a drawing tiebreaker Friday with Brooklyn, putting Washington at No. 18 for the pick it owes the Suns. McDonough said the Suns likely will not bring in three rookies next season. Instead, they could package the picks for a veteran, trade to move up in the draft, trade to move into a different draft or draft a foreign player who continues development overseas.