What to do at Point Guard
Devin Booker had been logging a lot of minutes recently at point guard, a situation that I am utterly in favor of. However his extra time at point has taken minutes away from Mike James, who as of today, December 6, will have either been signed for the remainder of the season or waived.
There is a chance that with Booker logging these minutes now, the Suns could have decided to waive James and retain Derrick Jones Jr. (who I presume will be the odd-man out and will be released to keep a roster space for James), allowing Booker to continue to develop his point guard skills while the coaching staff schemes with the knowledge that their only other point guard is Tyler Ulis.
This was probably not the case, but you never know. Jones Jr. is still highly regarded, and much younger than James. Jr.’s defense in particular won him extra minutes last season under Watson, and should his shooting improve there is no reason to believe that he can’t yet develop into a decent rotational player.
While there seems to have been little doubt that Mike James was going to be extended as the Suns need that additional point guard on the roster, should Booker be out for an extended period of time, I cannot imagine a scenario in which he is not retained.
The Suns will likely know the full extent of Booker’s injury in the morning, giving McDonough plenty of time to adjust any final decision. Should Booker need to sit for sometime, then James is all but a Sun for the rest of the season and, I’m sorry to say, Derrick Jones Jr. is likely off the roster.