Projecting the Rotation for 2020-21
Acquiring Beal and playing Booker, Beal, and Rubio on the court together for stretches next season could absolutely work and would solve the Suns’ backup point guard problem.
Minutes and lineups could be staggered at the position between Rubio, Booker, and Beal, with a guy like Jevon Carter stealing some minutes on a nightly basis as a perfect fit next to either Booker or Beal serving as the initiator and go-to scoring option of a unit.
The Suns could clear out their max amount of space this summer by not picking up the options or releasing bird rights to Saric, Kaminsky, Diallo and Baynes and use that space to take on $10 million more in salary in the Beal trade and the remainder of their money on a veteran power forward like Paul Millsap.
Here is what their rotation could look like:
Rubio
Booker
Beal
Millsap
Ayton
Bench: Bridges, Baynes (brought back on mid-level exception), Carter, Justin Holiday, Ty Jerome
I don’t know about you, but I think this is a team that could win 50-plus games in 2020-21.
The Suns are upgrading their arena for the first time since 1992, the same time they acquired Charles Barkley in a blockbuster trade and became one of the most memorable teams of the 1990s.
Is it time for history to repeat itself?