As the Phoenix Suns’ roster stands now, they no longer have a starter-quality point guard. For as poor as Brandon Knight was, he was better than who they have now. So does his trade hurt or help Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton‘s chances at becoming All-Stars in 2019?
The Phoenix Suns have not had an All-Star since 2012 when Steve Nash was selected for the final time of his career. The franchise has languished for six seasons without All-Star representation, the longest stretch in team history.
The previous record?
One.
Before this current stretch, the longest the Phoenix Suns had gone without having an All-Star is one year.
The player most likely to break that streak is of course Devin Booker. Already a budding star in the league, and at his age he only has up to go, Booker has the capability to finally be honored with a selection, and even pass s couple of players who are generally expected locks to the All-Star roster each year.
But now too do the Suns have an ace in the hole: Deandre Ayton.
Granted rookies rarely make All-Star teams, and the Las Vegas Summer League proved that Ayton is still fairly rough around the edges, but as a big man in a tremendously guard-heavy Western Conference, he stands a slightly better shot of making an All-Star roster than Booker does – if he has an exceptional first year out.
That said, if someone had told me this summer that they had peered through the looking glass and seen vividly that both Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton had become All-Stars in 2019, I would have presumed, without a shadow of a doubt, that much like Stephon Marbury once aided both Shawn Marion and Amar’e Stoudemire to early All-Star teams, that Brandon Knight had done the same for the current lot, and was having a good year himself. (Marbury too made the 2003 All-Star team with Shawn Marion.)
But now that Knight is gone, the Suns are looking again to be a rudderless ship, one that without a starting-caliber point guard will find it difficult to guide itself through the rough waters that is the white-water-rapid-Western-Conference.
Phoenix Suns
This would then allow the presumption that neither Book nor Deandre stands a chance at making the All-Star team in 2019 as they will be without a point guard to set them up the offense.
Or will that be a problem for them?
Had Brandon Knight remained, there is every chance in the world that he would have been a terrible player, reverting back to his 2016-17 self that was statistically one of the worst players in the NBA. His mere presence may have pulled the team down as a whole, hurting Booker and Ayton’s offensive opportunities.
As the primary ball-handler, he too would have more than likely stolen shots away from both Booker and Ayton as he looked for his own, often times first, before allowing the offense to even set up around him (that’s not entirely uncommon so that observation is less of a dig at Knight and more of an explanation of general expectations for scoring point guards).
Eric Bledsoe did this in his time in Phoenix padding his stats while inherently also pulling Booker’s down somewhat. Granted age, maturity, experience, and coaching played a large role in Booker’s shallow statistical rise from year one to year two as well, but look at Booker’s scoring statistics last season versus the year before with Bledsoe on the roster – no Bledsoe meant way more opportunities for Booker.
Aside from Josh Jackson and T.J. Warren who need the ball facilitated towards them and will not start the offense themselves, the roster only has two primary scorers in Booker and Ayton, and Booker is bound to have the lion’s share of the ball this season, especially if Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough doesn’t find a traditional, veteran point guard.
Devin Booker might take it upon himself to score as much as possible, pushing his scoring average closer to 30 than 20, and should he still manage to grab 5+ rebounds and dish out 4+ assists (or even the other way around), then regardless of record, he will make an extremely hard case for his own All-Star favor.
For Deandre Ayton’s sake, Booker will still need those assists to help boost his credentials and now has a new toy in the post to dish to, helping both their causes.
Granted, “center” is no longer a voting option for All-Star rosters so Ayton is unfairly thrown into a mix with everybody from Kevin Durant and LeBron James to LaMarcus Aldridge and Draymond Green. Just three seasons ago too, rookie Karl-Anthony Towns had started all 52 Minnesota Timberwolves games and averaged a very respectable 17.1 points, 10.1 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, and shot 54.3% from the field – yet no All-Star nod.
However, if Booker can funnel Ayton shots and thus help each other’s causes, and Ayton plays well on defense, averages a double-double (which has never happened in franchise history for a rookie) and has at least a couple of SportsCenter-worthy games leading up to the end of voting, maybe Ayton too can claw his way onto the roster, and if he makes it with Devin Booker, will mark the first time since 2010 (Nash and Amar’e) that the Phoenix Suns have boasted two All-Stars in the same season.
There is no doubt that the trade of Brandon Knight muddles up the team’s chances at having strong point guard play this season, potentially diminishing the offense potential of the core, in particular that of Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton.
At the same time, if those two play somewhat selfish and look to fill the stat sheet each time out, then maybe there really is an opportunity there for them, and the longest streak in franchise history without an All-Star representative, will finally be broken.