With Brandon Knight gone, can Point Booker finally be a thing?

When the Phoenix Suns traded point guard Brandon Knight, the player who figured to be the primary ball-handler and distributor was suddenly off the team with no apparent replacement for him. Are many of our dreams of a point Devin Booker finally coming to fruition?

I wrote last summer that the Phoenix Suns needed to revolutionize their offense and move Devin Booker to point guard.

Okay, so that idea isn’t entirely  revolutionary as the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets already run with similar systems, but the change would be a dramatic one for Phoenix.

So far this offseason, all signs seemed to point to Brandon Knight being the point guard for 2018-19 and Devin Booker continuing to settle into his familiar and traditional role as a shooting guard.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, Brandon Knight was traded to the Houston Rockets, and although Phoenix acquired De’Anthony Melton in return to suit up with Shaquille Harrison, Isaiah Canaan, and Elie Okobo, none appear to be long-term fits at point guard for the Suns, and if the franchise really is attempting to make some sort of a run towards the Western Conference playoffs this year, none appear to be suited to lead them there.

Many fans are hopeful that this trade was merely a precursor to a secondary move. That point guards like Kemba Walker or Damian Lillard might soon become available to Phoenix and having a larger contract like Ryan Anderson‘s on the books to help facilitate the move was needed to make such an acquisition.

While the names might be pure fantasy, the scenerio might be entirely true.

That said, it’s not all that likely.

In the meantime, the Suns will head into the regular season, one garnished with the catch phrase stating that it is Time to Rise,  leading to expectations that the tank is finally over and that all energy and effort will be spent on improving the team ASAP and the Suns finally again becoming the consistent winner fans have been clamoring for since Amar’e Stoudemire jumped ship for the Big Apple.

Fortunately for the Suns, their best player also happens to be a guard. While Devin Booker isn’t a traditional point  guard, he has the skills necessary to run the offense. Igor Kokoskov’s offense too appears to be predicated on a lot of passing in general, so the necessity for a point guard – specifically Booker – to run plays in the manner that Steve Nash once did does not at all appear to be the direction the team is headed.

Last season though, Booker, who needed to play point guard for some stretches due to the absolute poor play of his teammates, recorded 6 or more assists on 20 different occasions – he played in only 54 games. He too recorded 4 or more turnovers on 20 occasions, averaging 3.6 per game, a career-high, although an expected jump considering his lack of point guard play during his career and the poor talent around him.

Should Booker run point guard full-time in 2018-19?

Absolutely. He is at the heart of the team’s offense anyway and should be mandated to touch the ball at least once on pretty much every offensive possession he is a part of every single game.

Much like Stephen Curry and James Harden, he is the most important player on the roster and keeping the ball in his hands as much as possible will only make the team as a whole better.

Even if players like Harrison and Canaan are traditional point guards, Booker is a far superior player with the ability to handle the ball anyway, so playing the team’s best players as much as possible will lead to as many wins as possible.

And to that point, consider the difference in starting lineups with Booker running point guard rather than Harrison or Cannan:

There is no doubt that with Booker as the starting point, not only does the starting lineup immediately become more potent, but the team’s depth is actually utilized more efficiently at certain positions.

Note – it is my presumption that Josh Jackson will be in the starting lineup this season ahead of T.J. Warren barring a complete and total collapse by Jackson due to the sophomore’s defensive superiority over the veteran.

That said, both players are able to start with Booker at point, presumably allowing Mikal Bridges to receive more minutes as a backup small forward to at least one of them, giving Phoenix significantly more offensive fire power in the starting lineup while also better spreading the offensive and defensive talents throughout both units.

Unless Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough has trick and trade up his sleeve, his best point guard isn’t even really a point guard at all: Devin Booker.

Giving Booker the responsibility, guaranteeing that he will touch the ball at least once on every single possession maximizing his offensive game, will give the roster added depth and the starting lineup in particular, a stronger look.