2 experienced point-guards for the Phoenix Suns to target

The Phoenix Suns had a number of holes on their roster this past season, ones that sank their hopes of winning an NBA championship. So, what are the Suns currently lacking on their roster?

There was a lack of clutch three-point shooting. They could have really used a stretch five to pull the opposing big away from the basket, while also holding down the paint on defense. And of course, the play of backup option Cameron Payne was subpar, to put it nicely.

Payne played in 60 games last season and 58 games the season prior, recording effective field goal percentages of 46.9% and 57.6% respectively. Payne also played four more minutes per game last season. That means he played a similar amount of basketball for the same club in much the same role, yet his efficiency dropped immensely.

The playoff struggles of Payne were not pretty. After a personally disappointing playoff run in 2021, Payne did not redeem himself in the 2022 playoffs. Payne’s effective field goal percentage dropped from 49% to 33.1%. Suns fans have been left wondering if the 2020-21 Payne will ever show up again.

Rather than place all of their eggs into the basket of hoping that Cameron Payne can return to form, the Phoenix Suns should look to either add another guard to play in front of him, or replace him all together.

The search for a new backup point-guard should be focused on available veterans. These are players that’ll bring more professionalism, more leadership, and can handle the big stages better than their younger counterparts most of the time.

Heading into the 2022-23 season, the Suns should be confident that their roster is much better equipped to make a late playoff push. There have been a couple of dynamic shooters/scorers added to the roster in Duane Washington Jr. and Damion Lee. Dario Saric competed in Eurobasket, so he should be ready to play that stretch five role off the bench.

The only hole left is the lack of shot creation and playmaking outside of the starting backcourt. It’s no secret that the Suns role players aren’t adept at creating offense for themselves. This was greatly exploited by the Dallas Mavericks in their upset win over the championship hopeful Suns in the second-round of the playoffs.

Now, Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson have to be better at finding their shots off the dribble and making plays for teammates. But it’s also quite evident the Suns didn’t have guards capable of leading a championship level bench last year.

The Suns need to secure another point-guard that can back up Chris Paul and step up to run the offense when Paul is injured. Here are two point guards that would bolster the Suns bench and their chances of winning the championship this season.