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By Adam Maynes
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When the Phoenix Suns announced that Devin Booker was having hand surgery and would likely miss the first few games of the start of the NBA’s regular season, fans of the player and the team alike were shocked at the news.
Yes, Booker’s hand had been an issue at the end of last season, but it seemed that the injury was behind him and that he was entering the 2018-19 season with a clean bill of health.
And he will, presumably, once his hand has healed from the procedure and the issue that is causing him discomfort (and apparently swelling) is healed.
While the announcement came as a bit of a shock, I do not believe that there should be any worry about his hand post-op. Professional athletes have minor surgeries such as this one all the time and recover from them without any lingering effects. Sure, we’d all rather that Booker have not had surgery (I’m sure Booker himself feels the same way), but what’s done is done, and when it has healed, there is no reason to doubt that that he’ll be as right as rain upon his return, with little issue from it moving forward in his still very young – and exciting – career.
With Booker out though, the most intriguing topic of discussion is what the starting lineup will look like at the shooting guard/small forward rotation.
Like the end of last season, likely veteran Troy Daniels gets the start at shooting guard with Josh Jackson opening up at small forward (that is if the plan is to play T.J. Warren off the bench, which we shall see). Then Troy will be backed up by both Mikal Bridges and Davon Reed, with my presumption that Bridges will receive the bulk of the minutes off the bench.
This then puts the small forward position into a bit of flux because Trevor Ariza too can play small forward and with Ryan Anderson now on the roster, Ariza can either play the three or the four, although in this case I believe that he will start at power forward with Anderson backing him up. This provides Phoenix with a tall starting lineup with Daniels at 2, Josh Jackson at the 3, and Ariza starting at 4 next to Deandre Ayton.
Unless Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough is able to pull off a trade for a decent starting point guard between now and Booker’s return, then I expect Isaiah Canaan to get the starts with Shaquille Harrison as his primary backup.
Next. The Phoenix Suns should trade for Spencer Dinwiddie. dark