Phoenix Suns draft day: Landry Shamet will beef up the backcourt

The Phoenix Suns added to the roster on draft day – just not in the conventional way.

In an afternoon trade with the Brooklyn Nets, the Suns acquired 6-4, 190-pound shooting guard Landry Shamet in exchange for Jevon Carter and the 29th overall selection in Thursday night’s first round of the draft, according to ESPN sources.

The Phoenix Suns now have Landry Shamet to serve as a vital cog in the offensive machine.

Shamet is on a rookie deal that will pay him $3.7 for the coming season unless he is extended.

With the Suns again facing the doubts of prognosticators, Shamet provides legitimate firepower as a backup behind Devin Booker – one of the few areas of need during the team’s dramatic playoff run.

The backcourt rotation could be almost set.

With Chris Paul perhaps shedding some light on his future plans with an Instagram post recently — “back to work” — the Suns could be looking to solidify only the backup point guard position through free agency if they opt against bringing back Cameron Payne.

The Philadelphia 76ers took Shamet with the 26th overall pick in the 2018 draft out of Wichita State.

This season, Shamet, 24, scored 11.1 points while shooting better than 40 percent from 3-point range in 28 games after the All-Star break.

He has matured rapidly during his NBA career as, these words to reporters in May during a brief shooting slump would indicate.

"If you chalk everything up to make-or-miss league, you’re letting things go by the wayside that you could control and maybe change. I don’t think you’re doing yourself any favors there,. But (we) just play so many games there’s going to be nights where it’s not going. It’s a midline.You can’t look too deep into things, because it’s not like I just forgot how to shoot. I’ve shot millions of shots and made millions of shots. In the grand scheme of things, it’s been three games. I’m my biggest critic. I’m hard on myself. I live in my mind a lot, I overthink. The challenge there is it’s not Pompeii. It’s not the end of the world. Just move forward. Make-or-miss league, but obviously you make adjustments and tweaks to things that you feel need."

The Phoenix Suns still have work to do during the offseason, not the least of which involves the search to land a rim-protecting backup big man.

Suns coach Monty Williams is familiar with Shamet, having coached him as a rookie when Williams served as a 76ers assistant.