Grayson Allen’s image has not been one with a consistent public narrative amongst basketball fans over the years. His earlier career, predominantly his four year tenure at Duke, consisted of serious foul play and a habitual play style that painted him out as a dirty and unsportsmanlike athlete in the eyes of many fans, myself included. Currently playing in his sixth season in the NBA, and his first with the Phoenix Suns, I can safely say that Allen has quite successfully rewritten the general public opinion of him and his contributing play style as a top athlete. He has transformed his formerly dirty aggression into a clear and positive team-basketball oriented intensity, that is breathing some life into the Phoenix Suns.
Has Grayson Allen Found His Purpose?
This season was supposed to be the first display of the Phoenix Suns’ superstar big three, in Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and the newly acquired Bradley Beal. However, as a result of injuries clouding Beal’s start to his time in Phoenix, Allen has emerged as a worthy third option on offense, with his own bag of on-ball skills that he showcases, occasionally more frequently than others. Being the third offensive option allows him the privilege of avoiding facing the opposing team’s best defenders on a nightly basis, with those better defenders often drawing their matchups to Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.
As a result of this privilege, Allen can more freely contribute on the offensive side of the ball whenever necessary, displaying a great sense of intelligent shot selection. He is currently knocking down an outstanding 48% of his three point attempts this season, on almost six attempts per game. These numbers are unbelievably impressive, especially given that the league average lies within the mid-to-high 30% range. In addition to this spectacular display of shooting ability, it is important to note that Allen has served as a starter in all 35 games that he has played in this season. His coaching staff has made clear to him that their trust in him as an important piece has grown and will seemingly continue to do so.
In my time watching the Phoenix Suns this season, I have noticed that Allen’s more shadowed presence on the offensive side of the ball allows him to embody a very selfless and team-oriented play style that any of the other 29 teams in the NBA would love to have on their roster. He is a player that willingly sacrifices his own shot count and embraces a smaller role playing alongside such big-name superstars, for a chance at experiencing more team success. This is a very selfless decision that very few players in the modern NBA could ever agree to, as opposed to becoming disgruntled and unhappy with the team as many do.
Allen gladly takes on the scrap-work in the hustler role, diving for loose balls, throwing his body around and playing with heart, as a way to instill the same mentality in the minds of his teammates, fostering a more high-effort and cooperative roster relationship. In addition to the role he plays on offense, his defensive coordination and scarce ability to guard superstar guards both on and off the ball makes him an even hotter commodity in the current state of the NBA. Three-and-D players have progressively become increasingly important, and Allen has followed suit to become one of the league’s best Three-and-D talents this season. His strong defensive-minded presence is crucial to the Suns’ success, as this also allows star guard Devin Booker to take a bit of a breather on defense and not have to matchup against the opposition’s best guard, saving his energy for leading and running the offense.
As someone who was personally never really a Grayson Allen fan in the past, I am so happy that over the last few years he has managed to reroute his priorly negative and unsportsmanlike tendencies towards finding and settling into an important role on a championship contender. His contributions to a possible championship would serve as a true testament to his player and character growth in recent years. Even in the absence of a championship ring on his finger by the end of this season, it is safe to say that Mr. Allen has shown out to the executives and General Managers around the league. He has already made a respectable name for himself, and as he enters Unrestricted Free Agency this coming off-season, he is looking like someone who is on track for a serious payday.