Jared CohenPhoenix Suns first round pick from 2013 T.J. Warren proved that hard work and patience ultimately pays off in year one.
After spending much of the season going up and down from the Suns roster to the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Developmental League, Warren was brought up for good during the stretch run of the 2013-14 season and was given some time to prove what he is capable of, even in crucial moments of the teams’ push to try and make the playoffs.
Now as the Suns begin Summer League play in Las Vegas, Warren is now in a position where he is no longer the young guy or the new guy both from the team standpoint as well as in the League. Warren was one of the Suns’ top performers last summer and hopes to pair that with the positive momentum from the end of last year to make a nice little statement to the coaching staff and front office leading up to training camp.
“I feel very familiar with what is going on right now,” said Warren. “Just building off my first season in the NBA and this whole off-season just taking it all in and building off that momentum from the end of the season. Just trying to carry it over to Summer League and Training Camp and then the regular season.”
“That’s the plan going into training camp is to play a lot and even start if that’s the case,” he mentioned. “Just need to continue to get better and do what the coaches need me to do.”
A lot of the attention Warren gets is from what he does offensively but Summer League Head Coach for the Suns Nate Bjorkgren points out that there is a lot more to his game than what is seen on the surface.
“He’s more composed, he’s more confident, he can really score that ball,” Bjorkgren explained. “In the final minute, final two minutes, he’s really hounding that basketball. And he’s out there showing and proving what he can do on both sides of the ball. We know he can score but he’s really out there playing D so you’re going to like what you see.”
“Defense is just all effort,” Warren added. “Just the will to go out there and play defense and compete and go hard every time you can.”
Warren at the end of last year latched on to veteran Danny Granger to learn about the game and from his experience. Granger was traded last week to Detroit but the Suns did bring in another veteran that Warren is eager to learn from and play along side.
“Tyson is a professional guy, been in the league a long time and his presence alone is going to will everyone to want to get better,” Warren stated. “His energy, he has a lot of passion for the game. So it’s going to be good for us and for young players like myself.”
Warren and the Summer Suns begin play in Las Vegas Saturday and play three games before the tournament action starts.
