And here is Torrey Craig again! The winger who had opted for Indiana during the last “free agency” is already back in Phoenix, the Suns having dropped Jalen Smith to recover it. Suffice to say that the dynamic is totally opposite to that taken by the Pacers.
The winger therefore rather welcomed the news with a smile, especially as Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Jae Crowder contacted him in the process via a group FaceTime call to wish him “re-welcome”.
“It feels good to come back to a place where the weather is nice, in a great group, with familiar faces, so I should quickly integrate”, did he declare. “It happened so quickly, I was training in Indiana, an hour before the trade deadline. When I got my phone back, I saw that I had missed calls from my agent. He called me back and explained the situation to me. It’s a quick change of situation. I took some things and came here. I’m excited to be back.”
A competitor delighted to find a… competitive environment
Even if the Suns have lost an interior with more than interesting potential, the arrival of Torrey Craig will be facilitated by his knowledge of the group, the coach and his principles of play. As for his role, the player does not set any limits, as long as the basic “non-negotiable” principles are there.
“We’ll see, I’ll just try to help in any way I can. I try not to set myself a role, but to do what I can to help the team win. Every night it could be a different role. The basis is to defend, take rebounds, that’s non-negotiable, so that’s what I’ll bring, whatever happens.
Even if he refused to speak of relief about his departure from Indiana, the fact of finding himself in a team capable of playing the title is necessarily a game-changer for him.
“If you’re a competitor, you always want to be in a winning environment. So I wouldn’t say it’s a release, but it’s more of a blessing, of living in Phoenix, with the lifestyle here, the people and the friends I have here, good weather, and being part of the best team in the NBA… It ticks all the boxes, it’s a godsend”.
As if he had never left, the number 13 Suns did not miss his first game back against the Magic tonight. A comeback facilitated by the undivided domination of Phoenix, allowing Torrey Craig to line up 14 points at 6/9 shooting, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals in 23 minutes.
| Torrey Craig | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2017-18 | DEN | 39 | 16 | 45.3 | 29.3 | 62.9 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 4.2 |
| 2018-19 | DEN | 75 | 20 | 44.2 | 32.4 | 70.0 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 5.7 |
| 2019-20 | DEN | 58 | 19 | 46.1 | 32.6 | 61.1 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 3.3 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 5.4 |
| 2020-21 * | All Teams | 50 | 16 | 48.0 | 36.8 | 77.3 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 3.9 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 5.5 |
| 2020-21 * | PHX | 32 | 19 | 50.3 | 36.9 | 80.0 | 1.4 | 3.4 | 4.8 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 7.2 |
| 2020-21 * | MIL | 18 | 11 | 39.1 | 36.4 | 50.0 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 2.5 |
| 2021-22 | IND | 51 | 20 | 45.6 | 33.3 | 77.1 | 1.2 | 2.7 | 3.8 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 6.5 |
| Total | 273 | 19 | 45.7 | 33.1 | 69.2 | 1.1 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 0.9 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 5.5 | |
