Suns set to speed things up, play Markieff Morris at center 'a lot'

Last season, the Phoenix Suns and rookie head coach Jeff Hornacek played at the league's eighth-fastest pace, running opponents into the ground on their way to the league's eighth-most efficient offense.

Somehow, the team is now even more equipped to push the tempo. Channing Frye is out as the team's stretch five and hasn't been replaced inside, with the team instead adding guards Isaiah Thomas and Zoran Dragic with little concern for post play. They did Pop The Tolli with stretch-four Anthony Tolliver, but he represents their only frontcourt addition.

Instead, they'll be hoping for more minutes from young centers Miles Plumlee and 2013 No. 5 pick Alex Len, while also relying on the freshly re-signed Markieff Morris to man the pivot, apparently.

This should be a terrifying proposition for teams who can't match speed with the Suns, which is basically everyone. They mastered two-point guard lineups last season, and have the type of wings who can painfully stretch a defense out in transition and in the half-court.

If Morris can prove capable of handling center for stretches, it would allow the Suns to slide P.J. Tucker, Marcus Morris, or T.J. Warren to the four and try their hand at the rarely-used three-guard lineup. It would also allow them to get more playing time for their bevy of wings, papering over their lack of depth inside.

Listed at 6-foot-10 and 245 pounds, Morris wouldn't stick out as terribly undersized. The bigger issue may be that 68.6 percent of his field goal attempts last year were jumpshots, and he may need to improve his interior scoring to make this a workable strategy.

The key point here, though, is that Hornacek will continue breaking convention with his lineups. The Suns should once again be one of the league's most fun and interesting teams as a result.