Deandre Ayton is good, but he’s not a guard. He’s never going to bring the ball up the court himself. He can’t create his own shot. He needs a point guard to do that, and if the Phoenix Suns are going to build off of his skills in his rookie season, they need to get him one.
As every Phoenix Suns fan knows, point guard is the weakest position on the roster. After the loss of Brandon Knight last offseason, once Eric Bledsoe decided that he no longer wanted to be here, the franchise was sent into a tailspin at the position, going through nine total players at point guard, ending with nearly nothing to account for.
This offseason the Suns have yet to make any significant moves in either trade or free agency, so the expectation is that unless someone dramatic is acquired, Brandon Knight is the starter for 2018-19.
Overall, most Suns fans are okay with that. While Knight was actually pretty bad in 2016-17, he was pretty good the year prior, averaging over 19 points and 5 assists. Since his acquisition too he has not only played behind other point guards (namely Bledsoe) and thus never had the role that he should have had from the beginning. Not only that, but because he was playing with Bled, he was also playing out of position, off the ball at the shooting guard spot, not a strength for him.
Obviously from now until, whenever, Devin Booker is going to man the two-guard position and so Knight will never have to worry about playing the off-guard spot in Phoenix, which then means that unless someone is acquired to play ahead of him or he is shipped off himself, the starting point guard spot is his, not just to lose, but to have, for good.
As much fun as Shaquille Harrison has been to watch during the Summer League, he is no starting point guard. And as high hopes as fans have for Elie Okobo – myself included – he is not a starter either, and probably has no shot at the backup spot this coming season either. He is too young and unpolished and needs time to develop, preferably in practice where he cannot hurt the team’s chances at winning during the regular season.
If you have watched any of the Summer League you will know this. Harrison in particular has looked very exciting at times, but overall, he’s just as unable to run the point spot as anyone else.
Which gets us back to Ayton.
Deandre Ayton has star qualities. His size and strength alone makes him a menacing figure on the court that looks like he’s ready to tower over and physically dominate anyone on the court he confronts. If he can do that, great. But in order to score, somebody as to get him the ball.
Therein lies the rub with Ayton during the Summer League. He has planted himself in the post numerous times; gotten a step ahead of the defense on a break; and otherwise been in a position that if he can have the ball in his hands no one can stop him.
And yet – his point guards can not get him the ball with any regularity.
Whether it be because of a poor pass or poor placement, on more times than not, when matched up against a smaller defender than he (which has pretty much been every single time), Ayton’s point guards have been unable to feed him the ball so he can do what he did so well with the University of Arizona: dominate.
Hopefully Brandon Knight is the kind of point guard that can do that. Hopefully he not only knows when and where, but when not to try and feed Ayton in the post. Hopefully, even if Knight isn’t the point guard of the future, he at least can do a well enough job this season that Ayton’s growth isn’t stunted because he runs through an entire 82 game season unable to actually let the game come to him because no one can get him the ball.
More importantly, Ayton needs a backup point guard to do the same for him as well. While he’ll log plenty of minutes with Knight, he will also play a good percentage of each game with a backup point guard. If that backup cannot get Ayton the ball, then that percentage of the time will be nearly a waste of time.
Looking back on Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender‘s early careers, while they may not be any good anyway, one could definitely make the argument that their growth was stunted by having a poor team around them; management that was intentionally tanking; poor coaching with Earl Watson; and no real point guard for 50% of their career’s to date, someone who has learned where they each like and need the ball.
Next: Not playing Marqeuse Chriss in the Summer League might be genius
The Phoenix Suns cannot allow this to happen to Deandre Ayton. They cannot let the rookie season of their first overall pick go to waste on any level.
Watching the Suns in the Summer League it has become painfully obvious: Deandre Ayton needs a legit point guard in the worst way. The Phoenix Suns need to have more than one on the roster, and General Manager Ryan McDonough needs to make sure that happens this offseason.