Paul Coro

azcentral sports

FLAGSTAFF – It is appropriate that Marquese Chriss' pro introduction has come during Suns training camp in Flagstaff, a vibrant art community.

Chriss is that fresh piece of clay that the Suns can shape into something to hold his immense promise.

Chriss is only 19 years old, but the Suns have drafted other teenagers. Fellow rookie Dragan Bender left his Bosnian home for a Croatian basketball academy two years before Chriss played his first organized basketball game. Devin Booker’s father, Melvin, cut a pro European career short to propel Devin’s high school career before Chriss even made his varsity team.

Less than five years after playing his first basketball game somewhere other than a park, Chriss has been wowing the Suns with the flashes of talent and a desire to learn in NBA Summer League, voluntary workouts and this week's training camp. He is carrying himself thoughtfully and seriously despite outsiders miscasting him as immature based on court mannerisms as a Washington freshman.

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Chriss has more curves ahead in his learning than a Monte Carlo race track. The Suns plan to not hit the gas pedal too hard. It ideally will be an endurance race.

“I see a ton of potential, just like the other rookies,” Suns coach Earl Watson said. “But with Marquese, you really have to stay in tune. He has so much great talent. The greatest way to describe him is a young person with endless potential. He’s so young and understands it and he’s trying to figure out how to express it. Sometimes when you can’t figure it out as a young person in life, you have situations where you just get frustrated. With Marquese, I can see it coming. You just talk to him and bring him back. He’s always respectful. The main thing is, don’t be so hard on yourself.”

Chriss can be startling with his abilities at 6 feet 10 and 233 pounds. He bounds off the floor like a 6-10 Gerald Green, as P.J. Tucker put it. He has a soft shooting touch with consistent 3-point range. He handles the ball well for any player in his sixth season of organized basketball but great for a big man at this level. He showed crossover dribbles and spin moves at NBA Summer League, where his rebounding countered another criticism from his Washington freshman season.

“He’s a lot more skilled than I thought he was, but it’s all raw,” Suns center Tyson Chandler said. “It’s our job to guide him and pull him to the side after every drill because he’s just going to continue to grow.”

The Suns were torn between Bender and Chriss on draft night in June before taking Bender with their fourth pick and giving up their No. 13 and 28 picks, a future second-round pick and the rights to Serbian star guard Bogdan Bogdanovic to snag Chriss with Sacramento’s No. 8 pick.

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Chriss' activity since then has flown on a track like one from Tinkerbell, who is on the backpack that veterans gave him to wear during preseason. It is only his second year out of his Sacramento childhood home, but he already speaks of this time being the most fun of his “career.”

“It’s a blessing for me and Dragan with the situation we’ve been put into because we both have an opportunity to play really early and contribute to the team,” said Chriss, referring to backup power forward minutes available behind Jared Dudley. “I think we’re going to take advantage of it.

“I’m confident in myself and what I’m capable of doing, and I’m ready.”

Already, Watson said he has seen Chriss run the gamut with moments from "challenging" to "spectacular." Chandler, Tucker and Dudley have become mentors, focusing on the consistent effort, communication and thought process needed at this level.

“He has a world of potential and God-given ability that every player doesn’t have,” Chandler said. “It’s our job to mold him and help bring that greatness out of him.”

Chriss has basketball basics still to learn before he can get nuances. His athleticism, aggression, strength and upright posture make up for some of that, but floor positioning on each side of the floor is his toughest NBA curriculum. The only time he shows selfishness is when he force-feeds the ball to himself on the NBA 2K17 video game.

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“I listen,” Chriss said. “I’m coachable. I just try to do what people tell me to do on the court. If it flows into my game and I’m able to do it, then it happens faster.

“I feel like I always have to learn and adjust because I’m still new to it. I think I have a good concept of what I’m able to do, what people can do against me or what I need to stop them from doing it.”

Chriss admittedly felt like he was walking in the dark when he came to Phoenix ,but he is not reticent with older players or coaches. The progress he showed in one college season to be consistent later in the season bodes well for what he might do as a full-time player.

The task now is to keep his perspective when those rookie speed bumps come.

“He’s a perfectionist and he’s a competitor, so you can’t really explain that mind-set,” Watson said. “Those guys who compete so high do not understand that. I always say to make it in the NBA, you have to have a false reality. You have to think you’re good enough to overcome anything. The equations of real life don’t make sense to you. Just to be here, you’ve overcome all odds.

“He needs to embrace where he is at and the destination is going to be an amazing thing for him. He’s going to be a great one.”

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Reach Paul Coro at paul.coro@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-2470. Follow him attwitter.com/paulcoro.