With a trade of Anthony Davis to the L.A. Lakers, the New Orleans Pelicans just made the Pacific Division that much more difficult. The Phoenix Suns need to counter to remain relevant.
We already figured that the Los Angeles Lakers were going to be a difficult team for the Phoenix Suns to overcome presuming that they landed Anthony Davis (which almost appeared to be an inevitability and has now finally come true).
With James Jones at the helm, the Phoenix Suns have still done nothing (as of yet), they have not been rumored with any major trades or free agency signings, and the sixth overall pick does not appear like it will land Phoenix anything special.
Unlike the Lakers who are trying to take advantage of the 2019-20 losses of Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson, and the New Orleans Pelicans who were trying to make the absolute best of an untenable situation, the Suns just need to show that they are serious about improving on four consecutive regular seasons with less than 25 wins by finding a legitimate point guard and another solid player to pair with Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton.
Yes, the Suns are probably a couple of years away from being serious competitors, but they must be aggressive now just to attempt to remain relevant in the Pacific Division.
If they can’t compete against those teams, they don’t stand a chance in the Western Conference.
The problem is that while LeBron is on his way out of his prime, he still has a few years remaining of being an absolute monster and in the meantime Anthony Davis (who we have to presume will re-sign with L.A. next offseason) is still only 26-years-old and has plenty of prime remaining in his legs (barring a Kevin Durant-type injury).
They further have a ton of cap space remaining to lure another major star, and if someone like Kyrie Irving or Kemba Walker signs (who are 27 and 29-years-old themselves), then the Lakers will jump right back to the top of the Division for the foreseeable future.
While Golden State will drop a little next season, they still have Stephen Curry and will be around for some time (they are likely not going to stand pat either letting the roster crumble around them.
At the same time, the Los Angeles Clippers have the ability to sign a superstar free agent and were already a playoff team last season with no expectation of a drop-off this summer, while the Sacramento Kings, who are about as young as the Suns yet won 39 games in 2018-19 finishing 9th in the West and with one surprise trade will be right there in the playoff hunt for at least the next five years – if not longer.
The problem for the Suns right now is that each time a trade goes down around them, players more and more align themselves to other teams and Phoenix loses more opportunities to make significant moves themselves.
Based on last season alone, General Manager James Jones has a propensity for being conservative and not making the deals that Suns fans have long begged for and had been primed to expect from the Colangelo years.
Now, fans should still give Jones the benefit of the doubt for now as there is a very reasonable chance that he has a legitimate plan in place and simply needs time more than anything to let things fall into place.
Not only are the young Suns not in a place to compete at the moment, but with a new head coach in Monty Williams still having not actually coached the team even once, there is no way to truly know exactly what the roster can be as there is a chance that Monty can get a lot more out of a roster than Igor did.
Does that mean that Devin Booker running point in a Monty-led system can actually get the Suns to 35 wins (which would be a huge improvement over last season, but still well below playoff competitiveness)?
Under Monty (and with his rookie year under his belt), can Deandre Ayton actually average 20+ points and still over 10 rebounds per game?
Phoenix Suns
With Monty at the helm, can Josh Jackson be the x-factor that we all thought he would be when Ryan McDonough drafted him and live up to the expectations of himself being the fourth overall pick?
Only time will tell, and if any or all of that comes to fruition, then Jones will have a better idea of exactly what the roster needs to become regular playoff participants (let alone the young core will have aged another year, and for everybody – save for Booker – that one year of additional patience means they are one year closer to the bulk of their prime).
However, if we can make the assumption that Monty can actually do all of that with a roster as is right now (which, I do believe should be well within the realm of possibility), then why not fill in those major holes and add another legit player to the roster in the meantime and not waste another season of Devin Booker’s already-in-his-prime-career?
Regardless of how much Devin Booker will be on the ball this upcoming season, the roster still desperately needs a point guard.
That player can be had in a trade like this one, or with the splashy signing of a player like D’Angelo Russell in free agency (if available) or the trading for a player like Jrue Holliday.
Any one of those would be big time events that would not only make the team that much better while also serving as the kind of deal that excites Suns fans in an offseason when every other move around the league are kind of bumming us out.
Phoenix too does not have a power forward, and while at this moment that is a position that needs a little less care and attention than point, they still need someone, and again, Jones has the ability to make a splash to excite the fans.
If James Jones sits still and plays things conservatively this offseason, the Phoenix Suns will continue to rest at the bottom of the Pacific Division, and thus the Western Conference. At this point it will take aggressiveness for them just to keep up with the other teams in their Division, let alone compete for a top spot in the Western Conference.
Anthony Davis to the L.A. Lakers just made the Phoenix Suns’ rise that much more difficult. Jones must be aggressive to counter that trade or they will continue to remain in the league’s basement.