Bring on Baynes
In the process of acquiring Johnson and Jerome in the draft, James Jones also obtained Dario Saric and Aron Baynes.
Saric is just 25 and he’s contributed as a starter for a playoff team back when he played for the Sixers in the 2017-2018 season.
As a 23-year-old, the 6-10 power forward averaged 17 points, 7 rebounds and 3.5 assists vs Miami and Boston during the 2018 NBA playoffs. The following season, he played part of the year in Philadelphia before being traded to Minnesota. That year (which was a struggle for him for a time) he still averaged a respectable 10.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 43.7% from the field, 36.5% from 3, and 88% from the charity stripe.
Many expect Saric to start next to young center Deandre Ayton and it would make sense in that the talented Croatian helped young bigs like Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns excel when starting next to them in Philly and Minny respectively.
Baynes brings a solid veteran to backup Ayton and also help him get stronger when they battle in practice. The big redhead has had years of experience contributing to winning teams – contributing to winning cultures.
The 6’10″/260 pound center from New Zealand played for two contenders in San Antonio and Boston for two elite coaches in Gregg Popovich and Brad Stevens respectively.
He also played together with Klay Thompson for Tony Bennett when they were all at Washington State.
“He’ll die trying,” Bennett reflected. “He just keeps going and going. He’s relentless with his pursuit of things offensively and defensively. That’s a rare quality in players. Most of them are first effort, maybe second effort guys, but Baynes is first, second, third. That’s huge.”
The presence and persistence of Baynes should make Ayton better.
Baynes’ contributions will not necessarily be measured with the box score, but will be with team play, hard work, nonstop effort, smart decisions and the continued culture change.
Just how impactful will these new additions be? It is too soon to tell.
With the season approximately two months away, no one really knows how the 2019-20 Phoenix Suns will fare. But on paper, it is easy to see that James Jones is doing his best to change the fortunes of the franchise – first, by changing the culture.