27-year-old rookie Mike James convincing Suns he's part of future

PORTLAND, Ore. – Everyone, it seems, is amazed by the journey Suns point guard Mike James took to the NBA.

Everyone except James, that is.

So if you think it’s a big deal for James to be returning to his hometown of Portland for the Suns’ game against the Trail Blazers on Saturday, well, guess again. Except for the 15 tickets James has requested for family and friends, he’s treating this as if it’s just another game out of 82. Nothing special. Nothing to talk about.

“Not really,” he said. “It means a lot because we’ve won two in a row.”

See?

Just because James is nonplussed, however, doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t be amazed by his story. How many NBA players went to Eastern Arizona College, played their final two seasons at Lamar University, went undrafted and then spent five years playing overseas in five different countries before finally becoming an NBA rookie at the age of 27?

Yeah, it’s a group of one.

And yet here James is, the Suns’ starting point guard, averaging 11.6 points, 3.4 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game and proving that spending a half decade in Croatia, Israel, Italy, Spain and Greece can turn into a one-way ticket to the NBA.

“People underestimate the leagues in Europe and how tough they are,” interim coach Jay Triano said. “The environments for them to play in are sometimes very difficult. If you go through that, you become a tough player. If you can excel over there, you’re a good player. Mike has played in a lot of basketball games. He’s a veteran.”

Other than James, no one is less surprised about his emergence than Triano, who was an assistant with the Trail Blazers for four seasons and can remember James being a standout whenever Portland invited him to a free-agent camp as an extra body.

“We were always going, ‘This kid can play, this kid can play,’ ” Triano said.

So why did it take so long for James to get to the NBA? Clearly, the right opportunity didn’t emerge. But James said he also chose to play in Europe some seasons because the consistent playing time helped him grow as a player. Also, the money wasn’t bad.

“A lot of summers, I didn’t even take a chance. I got some offers and just said no off the bat,” James said. “I wasn’t ready to pass up on some money to come here yet. I wanted to make some more money and be more financially secure before I came back. Now I have a chance to take a pay cut for a year and possibly make more money.”

James is not one to think about what he doesn’t have in his life – “I focus on what’s ahead” – so he didn’t spend his years in Europe pining for the NBA. He’d watch games if he had a day off but said, “I was pretty content where I was at.”

Even when some European fans were throwing all sorts of items on the court.

“I just think the fans are really passionate,” James said. “It’s kind of like they’re more important to the team than you. I don’t know if it’s crazy or not. They’d light firecrackers or flares and just throw them on the floor. You kind of get used to it. NBA fans are kind of mellow.”

James played for the Suns’ summer-league team in 2015 and Devin Booker, who played alongside James can recall thinking, “ ‘Who is this guy?’ I had never heard of him. He came from overseas. I was like, ‘Why wasn’t he on an NBA team?’ ”

It took two more years, but James finally made it. Phoenix signed him to a two-way, 45-day contract, but his play already has convinced the Suns that they want to keep him beyond the 45 days. General Manager Ryan McDonough told azcentral sports Friday that he hopes the team can negotiate a deal with James.

Maybe then James will look back on what it took him to get here. Then again …

“I don’t reflect a lot,” James said. “I probably should. Maybe when I’m retired, I can look back and say I did that and that and that.”

Meanwhile, there’s a homecoming game to play.

Chriss questionable

Triano said Marquese Chriss (ankle) was a limited participant in Friday’s practice and his availability for Saturday’s game will be re-evaluated after the morning shootaround. Triano said that if Chriss can’t go, he’s reluctant to start Dragan Bender and break up Phoenix’s second unit, which contributed 38 points in the Suns’ victory over Utah on Wednesday.

One possibility, Triano said, would be to start veteran Jared Dudley, who is working his way back from offseason foot surgery. Dudley, however, said recently he’s nowhere close to 100 percent and won’t be in peak game shape until December.

Triano said he could also go small against a Portland team that starts 6-foot-9 Maurice Harkless and 6-foot-9 Al-Farouq Aminu at forward but, “We don’t want to get into against playing people as much as we want to build on what we’re trying to do.”

Retribution

It was Portland that gave Phoenix its worst loss in franchise history in the season opener (124-76), and Triano is sure his players haven’t forgotten.

“I hope that it still stings a little bit and that we go in looking for a little bit of revenge,” he said. “But it seems like a long, long time ago right now. But it should be in the back of our minds for sure.”

Coming up big

Point guard Tyler Ulis is just 5 feet 10 inches, but in scoring 13 points against the Jazz, he constantly showed off an ability to get shots off against bigger players, even when he got into the post. Almost imperceptibly, Ulis leans back with his upper body as he shoots, creating more space and making his shot harder to block.

“That’s just the amount of basketball he’s played,” Triano said. “How am I going to get this off? I have to get it off over this guy. He’s been able to do with the bounce and do it with the lean back, too.”

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Saturday's game

Suns at Trail Blazers

When: 7 p.m.

Where: Moda Center, Portland, Ore. 

TV/radio: FSAZ/KTAR-FM 98.7.

Update: The Suns get an opportunity for a little payback after suffering the worst loss in franchise history in the season opener against the Blazers. Portland didn’t have guard C.J. McCollum in that game (one-game suspension) and he’s averaging a team-high 25 points per game and shooting 66.7 percent from 3-point range. The key matchup for Phoenix will be in the backcourt. Can the point guard combination of Mike James and Tyler Ulis, as well as Devin Booker at shooting guard, just slow down McCollum and Damian Lillard, who’s averaging 21.8 points per contest?