It’s pretty clear to any Phoenix Suns’ fan that the team’s weakest position is at point guard and the club should look at all their options moving forward.
In the past, I wrote about how this season could determine the direction Tyler Ulis‘ career goes and as of now, it’s not looking good for him. Recently, Ulis lost his starting job to shooting guard Devin Booker. Booker struggled in his start at point guard and it’s not fair of the franchise to thrust him into a position he isn’t quite ready for. It’s pretty obvious that the Phoenix Suns have no one that can run the point guard position, besides Brandon Knight who’s recovering from an ACL injury. If the Suns continue to have bad play at point guard, it will only hurt the team in both the short and long term. Even general manager Ryan McDonough acknowledged the need at the point guard position and that the team will review short term answers for the position, according to Scott Bordow of azcentral. With that in mind, there are several short term fixes the Suns could look at and should choose one soon, so that the team can wait to properly address the problem this offseason.
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The Suns’ could continue to start Booker at the lead playmaker position and see if he can mature into that role. Ideally Booker could develop into a James Harden type of player in that role. Another option is starting Isaiah Canaan, but Bordow tweeted that interim head coach Jay Triano prefers to have Canaan come off the bench. Booker seems like the best option between himself, Ulis and Canaan at this point. However, Bordow relayed that Suns still see Booker as their shooting guard, so he doesn’t seem like a long term solution at the point guard position.
Phoenix could also look to their G-League team the Northern Arizona Suns (NAS) for an answer. Josh Gray has been playing very well for the NAS this season.
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Generated 1/27/2018.
Based on his solid play, Phoenix could offer the guard a 10-day contract. If Gray can continue his good play while with the Phoenix Suns, he could end up on the franchise’s roster for the rest of the season. However, the Suns would have to waive a player or make a trade to add Gray or any G-League player for the rest of the season.
Signing a veteran free agent for the rest of the season could help stabilize the position and help mentor the Suns’ young core. A veteran like Deron Williams could help make other Suns’ players better based on his play making skills. Any solid veteran point guard would help the franchise at this point. Like with adding a G-League player, adding a veteran point guard would require the Suns to make a roster move.
Next: Suns Squared: How Bagley would work in Phoenix
There are several different short term fixes at point guard the Phoenix Suns could choose from. Regardless of which way the team chooses to improve their point guard play, it’s clear that having Ulis starting at point guard isn’t working out for the club.