Jevon Carter finally seized backup point guard for the Phoenix Suns

The Phoenix Suns have struggled to find a reliable backup point guard all season long, but they may have finally landed on one in Jevon Carter.

It only took 64 games, but the Phoenix Suns finally have solidified their backup point guard spot, and his name is Jevon Carter. The Bulldog has been much more than a guy who plays stellar defense and eats rocks as of late. After several games of Elie Okobo inexplicably seeing the court before him, Carter was the first one off the bench Sunday against the Milwaukee Bucks and he continued to shine.

Bulldogs who eat rocks probably don’t shine, but you get the idea.

Carter will never be Ricky Rubio. He will probably never even be Rubio-lite. He is his own player. He might not facilitate the offense like a traditional point guard or dominate the ball with aggressiveness what like whatever kind of point guard you call Russell Westbrook, but his tenacity on defense, which has been consistent all year, has now been met with the ability to knock down an open shot.

Correction: it has been met with his willingness to shoot the open shot. That comes first because there have been many games this year he looked to be trigger-shy when the ball found his hands without a defender in his area code. But yes, it is also good he is knocking them down too.

Specifically, he’s willing to shoot and hit his 3-point shot.

For the season, Carter is shooting 39.6 percent from behind the arc. That is good for second on the team, just narrowly behind Cameron Johnson who is shooting 39.7 percent.

That’s not bad for a guy whose scouting report coming into the season may as well of been flashing a red siren emojis next to the words, “Weakness: shooting.”

What makes this even more helpful for the Phoenix Suns is that they do not really have a backup shooting guard, so he, Ty Jerome, and Okobo have found themselves playing a bit of a combo-guard role.

While he certainly cannot create his own shot like Devin Booker (not many people on Earth can, to be fair), Carter’s ability to hit open shots has given Monty Williams the confidence to plug him in for Booker when necessary.

Granted, it would be easier if he didn’t have to.

The waiver wire has been mysteriously quiet ever since Woj tweeted the Phoenix Suns were targeting Jordan McRae, who then subsequently received interest from the Detroit Pistons.

With the status of McRae unclear, the Phoenix Suns should consider signing a more pure shooting guard to fill their open roster spot. Maybe someone like Troy Daniels. That would free up Carter to play backup point guard exclusively and keep he (as well as Carter and Jerome) in their more natural position.

The truth is, Carter doesn’t care where he plays. Against the Bucks, he took Dario Saric‘s spot in the lineup to finish the game. Saric is no stranger to being a starter only to be pulled when the game is on the line in the fourth quarter.

Usually it has been Mikal Bridges filling that finisher niche, but considering he has solidified himself as an undisputed mainstay in the lineup, it was Jevon Carter who played a similar role and finished the game against the Bucks.

With only 18 games left in the season, the Phoenix Suns would have liked to have been better positioned for a playoff run, but regardless of the standings, I can tell you one guy who will keep up his high-level intensity throughout: Jevon Carter.

It is the only way he knows how to play.