The Phoenix Suns need a veteran star
I have figured out what the Phoenix Suns’ on court problem is: they need a veteran star.
But more importantly, they need a veteran star who has both already tasted success and who is so competitive that he will demand the young Suns to follow his lead.
Tyson Chandler is great – as a person, but not as a player.
Ryan Anderson is great – as a person, but not as a player.
Trevor Ariza is great – as a person, but not as a player.
Those three players are probably great for teams (like the Houston Rockets) who have a core set of veteran stars who demand more of themselves and their teammates and thus the purpose of the veterans who are now on the Suns would only fill in the holes of an otherwise talented and veteran talent-heavy roster.
But they are not the kinds of players who are going to either carry a team or raise a young one to unexpected levels.
Phoenix Suns
I have come to realize that the idea that they can “teach” the young players is so overblown, it’s laughable.
Be honest with yourselves: Devin Booker is already so good at this point in his career that none of the veterans on the roster can demand a single thing of him. He’s already significantly better than every one of them, and in eight months will be making over twice what any of them will be making themselves.
What good to him is a veteran who can’t shoot (Anderson), who can’t score (Chandler), and who is otherwise fading in their careers (all three of them), just as he is entering his prime?
The young players do not need to be taught, they already have coaches. The young players need to be kicked in the butt by someone (or someones) who are in it only to win, and who have the skills to almost do it by themself. A player who too will look at the other spoils of being a filthy rich athlete as wholly secondary to their primary goal of winning.
The Phoenix Suns need a veteran star.
They need someone who doesn’t need to learn how to win, but strictly wants to win at all costs and will drag his teammates behind him if he needs to.
They need someone who is going to focus on his game and the games of his teammates and hold the young players accountable when they struggle or make mistakes because he’s not going to let them hold him back.
They need someone who’s competitive fire is so strong that while he leads by example, it’s entirely incidental. That player is in the practice gym first and leaves last because that is just their nature, and when the young players start winning games, they follow his example only because they see it working, and not because he called them all out to do what he does.
They need a player with the pedigree to demand more of his teammates than they are giving because he’s so damned good already, his practices focus more on the microscopic and minute details of his game because the rest are already polished.