3 signings the Phoenix Suns will regret come January

The Phoenix Suns have had an absolutely fantastic offseason ahead of a crucial 2023-24 campaign. They made their moves early, sending out Chris Paul for Bradley Beal, in a move everybody was able to get behind.

The ageing point guard being replaced by a 30-year-old sharpshooter, who can make some plays himself. This was followed up with a whole host of free agency signings, as well as a sneaky play late in the day to replenish some of their lost draft capital through a deal with the Orlando Magic.

On paper all of these signings made by the Suns look great and make sense, but a championship was never won on paper.

As good as the eight free agents signed to minimum deals look right now, and there really is very little you can say negatively about the acquisitions, once the season begins, it is going to be a different story. By January of 2024 in fact, it will be clear that some of these individuals aren’t going to work out with the organization, for all manner of different reasons.

Predicting who these will be can be tricky. Keita Bates-Diop for example won’t be appearing on this list, because he looks like a home run signing for the Suns. A 27-year-old who is an excellent defender? Sounds great! But Bates-Diop is also on his fourth team since 2019, including a brief stint with the defending champion Denver Nuggets. Nothing is guaranteed with these signings.

3. Eric Gordon

Like every player who is going to appear here, on the surface Eric Gordon is an excellent pickup who makes all the sense in the world. He’s a veteran player who provides the Suns with some high level defensive play, and can also make some 3-pointers when required.

He has tons of experience playing with James Harden in the past with the Houston Rockets, and so will have no problem standing in the corner while one of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant or Beal do their thing. The only issue is health, but it is a glaring one when you consider the makeup of this roster.

Durant can no longer be trusted to play most of a regular season, and Beal is starting to show signs of wear and tear as well. At 34-years-old and with over 800 regular season games played, relying on him too much could lead to disaster. The Suns will need Gordon to be in top form for the postseason… but they’ll also need him for those signature games in December as well.

The Suns were smart to draft Toumani Camara, in the hopes he can learn from Gordon while they play together. Bates-Diop is another who can do a lot more work during the regular season. But with the franchise hoping Gordon can close out certain opponents come crunch time, that is a big gamble to take on a player who is not getting any younger. This could blow up in their faces.

2. Drew Eubanks

This isn’t really a criticism of Drew Eubanks, but rather what the Suns could have gotten instead. Eubanks has been a solid professional since entering the league, but 6.1 points and 4.7 rebounds for his career so far tell their own story.

Eubanks won’t be challenging Ayton for the position of starter, and on certain nights the opponent will dictate that Durant spends some time at the five, with a mix of scorers and defensive stoppers surrounding him. With that in mind, what exactly is the point in having Eubanks then?

He has started 65 games total for his career (248 games), averaging 16 minutes of action on the court per night. Save for a 22 game stretch when he was traded from the San Antonio Spurs to the Portland Trail Blazers and he put up 14.5 points and 8.5 rebounds, there hasn’t been much more to get excited about.

The Suns have to hope that 22 game sample size was not an outlier, and instead a peak into what he can be if given more of an opportunity. The catch here however, is that Eubanks is surely going to find those opportunities hard to come by on a stacked roster. It is easier to have breakout moments when you’re playing for a panicked Trail Blazers group.

To make this situation even worse, Christian Wood still remains available, and would surely have joined the Suns on a minimum deal. Not that Wood is the answer to all of their problems. He most certainly is not. But the chances of him making more of an impact on this roster, and perhaps even being a better fit instead of Eubanks, definitely exist. A potential dud come January for the Suns.

1. Bol Bol

Once again the logic of the Suns was sound here. Why not take a chance on the enigmatic Bol Bol with one of their last remaining roster spots? The merits of adding him to this team have already been discussed, and the case is airtight. On a minimum deal, and with that intriguing skill set, you sign him every time.

But there has to be a reason the Magic just let him walk away. Especially after he was instrumental in helping the organization stay afloat last November amid a myriad of injuries. During that period he was a freak offensively, going coast-to-coast for layups and making a notable amount of 3-pointers.

Yet by the end of the season, one in which the Magic didn’t even make the play-in tournament and instead found themselves with two lottery picks, Bol was once again buried on the bench. Going back even further, and the Nuggets were the franchise who drafted him, and gave him his first taste of the league.

It would be fair to say the Suns are trying to get to where the Nuggets are now in winning a first championship, but the Nuggets didn’t have a use for Bol? Obviously they have the best player in the league in Nikola Jokic at the center position, but the Suns have Ayton and Durant in that spot as well. Not exactly a bad position to be in.

The problem has always been Bol’s defensive inabilities, and it has caused both a contender in the Nuggets and an up-and-coming group in the Magic to give up on him. With the Suns going to be shaky defensively already, even with new head coach Frank Vogel working miracles, Bol is not going to help on that end. Which is why it will be no surprised if he’s a regret come January.