The Phoenix Suns have been the antithesis of a winning organization in the last several years. Finishing last season with a record of 19-63, the Suns ended the year with the worst record in the Western Conference, culminating in the firing of Igor Kokoskov as Head Coach after only one season. New Head Coach Monty Williams will have a tall task on his hands if he wants to turn the Suns around and ensure better job security than his predecessors.
Despite the lackluster results of last season, the Suns were never expected to have any success, but still enjoyed some bright spots. 2018 first overall pick DeAndre Ayton averaged a 16.3 point, 10.3 rebound double-double in 71 games of his first professional season. Phoenix will hope Ayton continues his development into one of the NBA’s elite centers this season, and may be aided in his development by one of the new additions on the Suns roster, in veteran Aron Baynes, who joined in free agency from the Boston Celtics.
The center-piece of the Suns roster though is still Devin Booker, entering his fifth NBA season out of the University of Kentucky. The sharpshooting 6′ 6″ guard put up career high averages in both points (26.6) as well as assists (6.8) last season, with the assist total particularly eye-opening. Accumulating an average of 4.7 assists per game in 2017-18, an increase of 2.1 additional assists per game represents Booker’s adept ability as a playmaker as well as his willingness to expand the dimensions of his game. As the Suns continue to add pieces, most realistically through high draft picks, Booker will continue to be at the forefront of all the team’s efforts.
The offseason brought some new and intriguing pieces to Phoenix. Acquiring rookies Cameron Johnson and Ty Jerome, the Suns have added more potential to grow their guard depth in the future, but it remains to be seen if the potential will materialize. More intriguing however are the additions of Aron Baynes to play competent backup minutes for Ayton, Dario Saric from the Philadelphia 76ers, who will provide length and shooting and Ricky Rubio, who joined the Suns prior to being named MVP of the FIBA World Cup in Spain’s gold medal run.
In Rubio, the Suns gain a point guard with elite passing vision, having averaged over eight assists per game in five of his professional seasons. Having played alongside the tandem of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert last season, the adjustment to playing with an adept guard-center combo such as Booker and Ayton will be a perfect role for Rubio. Being able to hit Booker with passes at a high rate for open shots and getting Ayton looks for dominant post positioning will be an aspect of the Phoenix offense that was missing last season. This should help the Suns take a step forward.
While Monty Williams has long been considered one of the premier assistant coaches in the NBA, he isn’t a miracle worker. This Suns squad has several good pieces but they are predominantly composed of young players yet to enter their primes. Being in the ultra-competitive Western Conference absolutely doesn’t help their chances. With the core of the Suns offense poised to take a step forward this season, I expect the Suns to have more success this year, but the Playoffs still feel very far away. Don’t expect a postseason run for this iteration of the Phoenix Suns, with the more realistic expectation being that the Suns can get another top pick in the 2020 draft lottery.
