From this year to last, the reserves look like:
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2017-18 Reserve 1 | 2017-18 Reserve 2 | 2018-19 Reserve 1 | 2018-19 Reserve 2 |
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| Point Guard | Who knew, one day to the next? | Shaquille Harrison | Shaquille Harrison | Elie Okobo |
| Shooting Guard | Troy Daniels | Danuel House | Troy Daniels | Davon Reed |
| Small Forward | Josh Jackson | Danuel House | T.J. Warren | Mikal Bridges |
| Power Forward | Marquese Chriss/Dragan Bender | Jared Dudley | Marquese Chriss/Dragan Bender | Richan Holmes |
| Center | Alex Len | Eh, nobody, really | Tyson Chandler | Richan Holmes |
The position of point guard last season was an atrocious mess – although it was sort of on purpose.
Granted McDonough’s hands were tied when Eric Bledsoe made his ridiculous twitter proclamation that he wanted out of Phoenix, but by all accounts the plan was to trade Bledsoe at some point anyway, McDonough just wanted the best return he could possibly cultivate – even if it took until the February trade deadline.
Once Bledsoe spoke out, the tank was full on since that loss of talent in the backcourt created a gigantic vacuum at point and McDonough never brought in anybody actually good enough to help the team win. Sure, Elfrid Payton looked really good for nine games, but then he looked equally as God-awful for nine games and when interim head coach Jay Triano called him out for visibly quitting on defense, Payton never played again.
As of right now, depth at point guard is still weak as Shaquille Harrison is still probably not a talented enough player to be the first backup, where he is slotted at the moment. Equally out of position is Elie Okobo who will probably spend significant time in Prescott with short-term call ups here and there. Another acquisition is probably still coming so that Knight can have a veteran point guard to back him up (or be a replacement all-together), but at the moment, point guard is still the weakest link on the roster.
The only projected change in the shooting guard depth chart right now will be the addition of Davon Reed on the full-time roster. I still believe that Troy Daniels needs to remain in Phoenix as his outside shooting is just far too dangerous a talent to move off the roster for nothing, but there seems to be some rumbling that by guaranteeing Reed’s contract for this season he might have earned the backup shooting guard spot allowing Phoenix to trade Daniels.
That said, if Booker gets hurt, I would personally much rather the veteran Daniels be the primary replacement, and if Reed’s 3-point shooting does return to his college percentage which closely matches Daniels’ NBA percentages (Reed averaged 39.5% at Miami and Daniels shot 40.0% last season for the Suns), then that is one helluva good shooting guard reserve tandem, a huge upgrade over last season and a great problem to have in terms of playing time.
As I mentioned in the starting position breakdown, the presumption is that T.J. Warren will come off the bench swapping with Josh Jackson. However, while last season there was not a good reserve for the two of them, Mikal Bridges’ age and college experience actually provides a level of veteran depth for a rookie. At 22 and with two NCAA National Championship under his belt, if Bridges can shoot and defend the way he did in college, the depth the Suns will have at small forward – granted, still young and generally inexperienced – will be a huge step forward over last season.
Power forward is the most confused and convoluted position as neither Dragan Bender nor Marquese Chriss have shown that they deserve a whole lot of playing time as either the starter or primary reserve. Regardless, they will be coming off of the bench behind Ariza, and when neither Chriss nor Bender are in a groove, Richaun Homes will see minutes there as well.
Unfortunately, none of those three will scare opponents and even as a group they do not provide great depth overall. That said, the fact that they provide three varying dimensions of strengths and weaknesses, new head coach Igor Kokoskov will have the ability to mix and match depending on what the opposition is throwing at him at least for now, something to watch with interest.
Finally the backup center comes down to Tyson Chandler and his potential return. If Chandler is back, then the Suns not only have arguably a top-five backup center in the league, but also the quintessential veteran backup for rookie Deandre Ayton. Holmes will take over for Alan Williams as a backup power forward/center providing excitement and energy off the bench, and will likely see good minutes at center as well as power forward because Tyson is rested so often as well. While Holmes won’t be counted on for a whole lot, he should be just as much fun to watch as Williams, and even a little bit more exciting because of his athleticism around that rim that Big Sauce lacked.