The Suns have no leader
A team of young players doesn’t necessarily need to be around veterans to improve long-term. But to have immediate success, it helps to have guys who can show them the way. Not just guys like Tyson Chandler who don’t really play, but players in the actual rotation.
It also helps to have a guy like this at each position. Trevor Ariza will be a great mentor to wings like Bridges and Jackson, but a guy with such a specific role won’t be as useful to players in other roles.
And even if Ariza is up to the task of being the team’s locker room leader (something he’s never done before), he can’t even be much help to the young players off the bat. There’s a new coach, so he doesn’t know the system, and he’s a new addition, so he doesn’t know the roster.
Ariza’s entire “mentorship” will come down to work ethic, something that’s not easy to teach and is usually already instilled in a player.
Between the new coach, the lack of veterans, and all the new players, there isn’t anyone that stands out as the emotional and mental leader of the team. And when the Phoenix Suns hit a rough patch or certain guys get in slumps, they’re going to miss that presence.