The ideal starting lineup for the Phoenix Suns
By Adam Maynes
As the roster stands right now, we don’t really know how the starting lineup is going to look for the Phoenix Suns this season. But as soon as Devin Booker comes back from his injury, this would be the ideal starting lineup on opening night.
The Phoenix Suns have been fortunate this offseason to have to deal with only one legitimate injury thus far, unfortunately it was to their star player, and the player most likely to start at point guard this season, Devin Booker.
The problem with Booker being out is that first year head coach Igor Kokoskov won’t be able to run any of his planned offense during the preseason with his new star player, and has been having to move forward with starting lineups that open with Isaiah Canaan, Shaquille Harrison, and Elie Okobo at point, the position they are obviously all capable of playing, but not against starting defenders in the NBA.
However, even with Booker out, Kokoskov hasn’t been showing his strategic hand and we thus far still do not know what he is planning on doing at the point guard position come opening night.
Obviously any lineup with Canaan, Harrison, or Okobo would be a traditional lineup, but there is no way that Koko is running with those players this season in the starting lineup, keeping the ball out of Booker’s hands.
Sure, maybe he has rotations that run that way in spurts, but overall, it hurts the Suns because there is a lesser talent carrying the rock for a majority of the time, and let’s face it: it is better for Booker to get the ball from an inbound pass, than another player attempting to drop it into him when the opposition has settled around them.
And yet, a traditional point guard allows Booker to play his natural position of shooting guard, taking some offensive pressure off, forcing the offense to stay fluid and in motion as the point guards facilitate the offensive motion.
This is the Phoenix Suns’ ideal starting lineup. This is the lineup that I believe would give the team their best chance at winning the most games this season, potentially getting them to at least the .500 mark for the first time in five years.