When the Milwaukee Bucks traded for Damian Lillard, the most noteworthy player they sent in return was Jrue Holiday. Holiday was subsequently traded by the Portland Trailblazers to the Boston Celtics, and much of the discourse has been centered around Milwaukee and Boston as the top contenders in the Eastern Conference.
However, the Bucks also sent another player away in the trade. In order to make the deal work, the Phoenix Suns were added as a third team. They sent multiple players to the Blazers and, as part of their return, received Grayson Allen from Milwaukee.
As he did in Milwaukee, Allen started at shooting guard for the Suns in their first game of the season on Tuesday night against the Golden State Warriors. Also as in Milwaukee, he was overshadowed by the star power he played and failed to make an impact on the game.
It did not take long for Suns fans to take to social media, declaring him unfit for their team.
Phoenix Suns Fans Are Already Sick of Former Milwaukee Bucks Guard Grayson Allen
In the Suns’ opener against the Warriors, Allen was 0-6 from the field, including 0-5 from three. While Phoenix ended up winning the hard-fought game, Allen’s inability to contribute as their starting shooting guard was highlighted by fans on social media:
KD, Eric Gordon, and Grayson Allen all played as bad as possible, we didn’t have our superstar Bradley Beal… and we still beat the Warriors on the road 🤯
This Suns team is unfair bro 💀 pic.twitter.com/Jofs473FZY
— Suns Run The West (@DubSuns) October 25, 2023
Grayson Allen is so bad bro LMAO
— ً (@FanMahome) October 25, 2023
Grayson Allen has been far less than encouraging in his Suns debut tonight. As the season progresses, I think it’s more likely that Allen becomes a trade chip with his $8.9M expiring contract rather than a consistent role player for Phoenix.
— Jake Weinbach (@JWeinbachNBA) October 25, 2023
Grayson allen is awful
— Jack 🦌 (@JackSports27) October 25, 2023
Grayson Allen, Kevin Huerter, Joe Harris & Landry Shamet are the fakest 40% shooters in the NBA. https://t.co/VI5ucyLIxo pic.twitter.com/dkGS2dJ7NW
— kingtisemedia (@kingtisemedia) October 25, 2023
Typically, Allen would not be in the Suns’ starting lineup. However, Bradley Beal is still recovering from an injury and was unable to play in their season opener.
Allen still could be a useful piece for the Suns off the bench, if he finds his shooting stroke. As Bucks fans know, however, he is incredibly streaky and will go for long stretches of cold shooting. Along with his less-than-stellar reputation as a dirty basketball player, the possibility that Phoenix trades him at the deadline is real.
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1 Comment
I wouldn’t call him streaky. When you’re a starter and you’re the 6th option on offense you don’t get that many looks (he only got 10 or more FG attempts in a game last season 18 times).
His effective FG% was only below 50% in 4 of those games, and in 10 of them he was over 80%. In fact, and 2 or 3 of those 10, he managed the statistical anomaly of having an eFG% of over 100%.
Their fans aren’t very bright. He’s a solid player and an improved defender. He’s pretty good when he gets enough clean looks.