TJ Warren off to a blistering start. So why is he coming off the bench for the Suns?

The addition of the 6’7 Mikal Bridges (#10 overall pick) and the signing of 6’8 Trevor Ariza seemed to be the writing on the wall that the Suns were moving on from former NC State star TJ Warren. These were some peculiar moves seeing as Warren averaged almost 20 points and 5 boards last season. However, his inability to stretch the defense and hit from 3 seemingly hurt him.

The moves have pushed Warren to the bench, but he’s still serving as the 6th man for the Suns, and so far this season he’s proving that they may want to rethink that.

Warren has started this season where he left off last season. He’s averaging 20 points per game in just 23 minutes (he averaged over 30 minutes the past 2 seasons). His rebounding numbers are down (2.7) but his rebounds per minute are close to his career average. One area Warren is shooting a blistering 58% from the floor and has shown significant improvements from beyond the arc.

Last season Warren struggled from long range (22%) and may be the reason the Suns were looking for someone more versatile. But Warren is out to prove that he can stretch the defense and is hitting a crazy 57% (8-14) from beyond the arc so far this season. If this trend continues, the Suns will be forced to give Warren more minutes and likely move him back into the starting role.

These are the kind of shots that would really revitalize TJ Warren's career. I really like the rest of his game. Is a preternatural finisher, really nice floater #TwitterNBAShow https://t.co/sQEnO9pomv pic.twitter.com/mz7EZADwEq

— Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) October 18, 2018

Check out the highlights above to see his latest big performance. A 27 point outburst in a loss to the Golden State Warriors.