After the trade, are the Phoenix Suns still tanking?
By Adam Maynes
The Phoenix Suns just traded their starting point guard (Brandon Knight) and their starting power forward of the last two seasons (Marquese Chriss). Does this mean they still tanking?
For months now, Phoenix Suns fans have been looking forward (and expecting) to watch Brandon Knight play as the starting point guard in 2018-19. For the first time in his tenure with Phoenix, he was going to have the starting position all to himself.
And yet now he is the (presumably) backup point guard of the Houston Rockets, the very team Phoenix pilfered their new starting power forward from, Trevor Ariza.
Upon his acquisition, Ariza was immediately expected to supplant Chriss as the starting power forward, immediately relegating Chriss to the bench, potentially the deep bench though behind Dragan Bender who is a better shooter with less of an attitude.
However, no matter who was the starter and who was the backup at power forward, NBA teams need a starting point guard almost more than any other position – at least a ball-handler who would set up and execute the offense – and Brandon Knight was easily the best available point guard the team had, should they have gone forward with Knight this season.
Now with Knight suddenly gone, there is a void at the position, an issue that caused the team incredible stress last season.
Certainly many fans are excited about the opportunity that both Shaquille Harrison and Isaiah Canaan have just been handed, but let’s face it: no one believes that either of them are starting point guards in the NBA. Especially for a franchise that has missed the playoffs for an unprecedented eight years in a row and who just signed their star player, Devin Booker, to the largest extension in franchise history.
Not having a starting caliber point guard is a really big deal.
So,his move could be the signal of one unfortunately specific thing: the Phoenix Suns might be tanking for the 2018-19 season.
The Western Conference has never been tougher.
Hell, the Western Conference today is probably more difficult than any other conference, or even Division, in the history of North American professional sports.
For franchises like the Phoenix Suns, they have to play it both safe and methodical, building with a young team and waiting until the older teams finally begin to age out before the younger ones can make their mark.
This trade might have been for that soul purpose: pay now so you don’t have to pay later.
If the Suns were to win 40+ games and draft a mediocre prospect, then they could be set back for a number of years. They could have ended up similar to the 2013-14 team who wasn’t expected to win, but won 48 games yet missed the playoffs, and totally screwed up the long-term build as executives suddenly believed they were a lot closer than they really were.
However, if the franchise was to continue to lose in 2018-19 as they have been the past few years – while having its core securely under contract until at least 2021-22 – then why not shoot for the moon and hope to draft the next best superstar in 2019, continuing to build slowly through the draft, rather than free agency and trade.
Phoenix Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough might be shooting for the Moon by trading away his best opportunity to improve on 2017-18 this coming season.
Then again, in the game of Hearts, shooting for the Moon is the best strategy to win.