Did James Jones just make Devin Booker the starting PG

On Friday the 12th, Interim General Manager James Jones stated on Bickley and Marotta that he would be confident in Devin Booker at point guard. He also said that Booker would relish the opportunity.

The Phoenix Suns do not have a traditional starting point guard on their roster, with only days left before the start of the 2018-19 regular season.

Much has been speculated about what the team will do at point this season, whether they use one of their many backups, whether they make a trade for one, or whether or not Devin Booker should start in that role.

The closer we get to the start of the season the cloudier that answer becomes, and yet we might now have finally received a little clarity.

For a long time now, many Suns fans have been intrigued by the idea of Devin Booker starting at point guard. He is the best player on the roster, he is more than capable, he has experience with the franchise at point guard, and there is precedence in the NBA (most specifically James Harden) to play an off-guard as point guaranteeing that he has the ball on every offense possession.

The franchise has made no public mention about whether anybody internally likes that idea or not, until today when interim GM James Jones said that he would not only be good with Booker playing point guard, but that Booker himself would relish the idea as well:

While this is the first time someone in the Phoenix Suns organization has made a defined statement that the idea wouldn’t be the worst thing, more importantly, there is a reference to what Devin Booker might think about the idea, with James Jones believing that Book would embrace it whole-heartedly.

For those who have doubted that Booker would like regularly playing point guard, there has never appeared to be any reason for such doubt.

Booker is a highly competitive player (as we have all seen), he wants to be one of the greatest of all-time (as he has stated publicly), and what competitive athlete that wants to be great doesn’t want the ball in his hands as often as possible coupled with the most responsibility as possible proving that he is capable of such a weight on his shoulders?

It makes perfect sense that Booker would “relish” the opportunity because it would be the penultimate way for him to prove his value as a player not only on the Phoenix Suns, but as a great player in the NBA.

If you are still worried, be honest with yourself: would you rather Devin Booker bring the ball up the court every possession, or Shaquille Harrison?

If Booker turns the ball over, we do not worry that he has had too much responsibility and demand that the ball is taken out of his hands.

If Harrison turns the ball over, isn’t that exactly what we might say?

James Jones’ statement is by no means a guarantee that Devin Booker will open the season as point guard, or that if he does, that he will remain in the role for the duration of the season.

Yet you cannot ignore the fact that that was a very strong vote of confidence and that such confidence in the general manager will most certainly be felt throughout the organization and trickle down to Booker himself.

I have long called for Booker to be the franchise’s starting point guard for reasons I have articulated time and again.

While Jones did not just set the starting lineup against the Dallas Mavericks, it sure does make the answer to the question of “who is going to start at point guard on opening night ” a lot clearer, with the answer of “Devin Booker” being the most likely response.