Gambo says the Phoenix Suns want a ‘combo guard.’ Four players make the most sense
By Adam Maynes
John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 says the Phoenix Suns want a combo guard for this roster. These are four primary options the Suns should target.
*Note – I heard Gambo make this comment seemingly in passing while driving and was unable to note the time, which I subsequently put off looking up and over time have thus even forgotten the day he said this. That said, he did make that statement, and thus deserves the credit for the idea that this list originated from.
A few years back Arizona State University’s basketball program nicknamed itself “Guard U” for their plethora of talented guards on their roster. If ASU could have used that moniker for even a short period of time, then the Phoenix Suns should have one for themselves for their historical wealth of talented point guards throughout their 50+ years of history.
At least that was the case until Eric Bledsoe passive-aggressively demanded out of Phoenix, and is now two wins away from the NBA Finals.
Since that ridiculous tweet, the Phoenix Suns have not had a viable point guard on the roster (which is three games short of two years) something that has not only made winning nearly impossible, but made the professional lives of the influx of young players on the roster much more difficult.
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Just imagine if Shawn Marion didn’t have Jason Kidd, Stephon Marbury, or Steve Nash for the first eight and a half years of his career? Or if Amar’e Stoudemire didn’t have Starbury or Nash for his own first eight?
Is it possible that either one of them blunder around and although potentially still reaching their full potential athletically, never put up the stats that they ultimately put up with fantastic point guards to give them the ball?
*Before you scoff at the notion that Stephon Marbury was “fantastic,” do not forget that while in Phoenix he averaged 8.1, 8.1, and 8.3 assists per game. Bledsoe never averaged more than 6.3 and Goran Dragic only averaged above 5.9 once, and that was his first season back with the Suns when he averaged 7.4.
Who was the last Phoenix Suns player to average at least 8 assists a game?
You guessed it, Steve Nash, when he averaged 20.7 – in 2011-12.
But John Gambadoro said that the Suns didn’t just want a pure passer, but a scorer as well (a combo guard) – something that at least recently only Dragic could have been associated with such a stylistic definition, although not to the degree of two of his predecessors in Nash and Starbury.
Those kinds of point guards do not grow on trees and often come very expensively, the cost (and often age) being some of the reasons why Phoenix shouldn’t be and isn’t interested in players like Mike Conley, Chris Paul, and Kyle Lowry.
However, there are potentially four point guard who either do or can fit that definition, all of whom either are or can be available this offseason – and all of whom are very likely at the top of the Phoenix Suns’ wish list of ‘combo’ guards.