14 players the Phoenix Suns signed past their prime

The Phoenix Suns are going to enter the 2023-24 season as one of the few, true contenders in the NBA to win a championship. They have achieved this by pairing Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, with a new All-Star teammate in Bradley Beal, as well as Deandre Ayton.

The Suns also did a great job of signing players on minimum deals who, for the most part, are not ring chasing. Individuals such as Bol Bol, Keita Bates-Diop and Chris Eubanks still have a lot to prove in the league, and will be looking to use this platform to get paid in future.

Eric Gordon may be past his best and looking to win it all, but he is one of only a few players on this roster who you can say that about.

That hasn’t always been the case though, and like every organization in the league, the Suns are as guilty as anybody in investing in players who were past their best. The hope being that they could squeeze the last bit of high level play out of said player, with the prospect of selling a few jerseys surely lurking in there as a reason for adding them as well.

Even worse than this, are the players that the Suns truly believed could continue to be real contributors, before quickly realizing they were saddled with a dud. Shout out to A.C. Green, who you won’t find on this list (even though he should be here), but has the unfortunate distinction of finding himself in another recent, all-time worst compilation.

14. Kurt Rambis

An easy place to start here is with the grit and hustle of Kurt Rambis. Best known for those spectacles that were worn during the “Showtime” era of the Los Angeles Lakers dynasty, by the time Rambis got to the Suns, he was 31-years-old.

By today’s standards that is still young, especially when you consider Beal has been signed this offseason at 30 with the hopes he can have a huge impact for years to come. But Rambis is certainly not Beal, and the NBA of the late 80s and early 90s was an altogether different sport.

It is not that Rambis was overly bad during his 153 regular season games with the Suns (67 starts). It is just he gave more of the same that he’d shown on the Lakers, but was now older and playing for a group where the dirty work didn’t translate into fast break buckets by the likes of Magic Johnson and James Worthy.

By no means the worst offender on this list, Rambis would average 4.2 points and 5.1 rebounds in The Valley, and much like in Los Angeles, there were plenty of Suns fans who were big fans of what he did. Those averages aren’t even that much worse than what Rambis produced for the Lakers, and yet it just didn’t feel the same. Still, he did last four seasons with the team.

13. Jim Jackson

Younger NBA fans will recognize Jim Jackson as somebody who calls nationally televised games, but did you know in his third season in the league with the Dallas Mavericks, Jackson averaged a ridiculous 25.7 points per game?

The career of Jackson was long and fruitful one, and he was in the league from 1992 all the way up to 2006. That stint with the Mavericks was as good as it would get for him though, with Jackson playing for no fewer than 11 other organizations after leaving Dallas. Lost to time was the fact he shot 36.6 percent from deep for his career, and definitely could have made money in today’s NBA.

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By the time Jackson got to the Suns, he was 34 and his best days were behind him. Averages of 6.7 points and 3.3 rebounds in 67 games (four starts) tell their own story, but to Jackson’s credit he did shoot 38.9 percent from deep on over three attempts per game. Again, ahead of his time.

Jackson makes this list only because the start of his career, statistically at least, looked so promising from the offset. Interestingly however, he never managed to make an All-Star team, despite that blistering start to life as a professional.

He had already bounced around the league plenty by the time he arrived in Phoenix, and the Suns were contenders and knew what they were getting here. To be fair to him though, he played in 15 playoff games, averaging 11 points and 4.1 rebounds. After leaving, Jackson would play only 13 more games for the Lakers, before calling it a career.

12. Michael Redd

Long before Giannis Antetokounmpo came along, few players made you think of the Milwaukee Bucks more than Michael Redd. A certified bucket getter, Redd spent 11 seasons with that franchise, and was even named an All-Star in 2003-04. For seven straight seasons, he scored over 20 points per game.

Fans of the “NBA Live” games of around 2005 will remember Redd as being one of the best players in the game. He was not a superstar scorer who made it all look so cool in the way Carmelo Anthony did, but for a Bucks franchise that didn’t have much to cheer about, they were happy to have Redd.

In all he played 578 regular season games for them, but the Bucks only made the playoff three of the seasons he was on the team. Those 16 postseason games tell their own story, although Redd did average a ridiculous 27.2 points in his final playoff appearance, in 2005-06.

The Suns signed him, at only 32-years-old, for one season in which he put up 8.2 points in only 51 games played for the team. The Suns, helmed by Alvin Gentry, went 33-33 in what was a lockout shortened season and then — Redd was gone from the league entirely. He was never going to recapture the glory days of the Bucks, but the Suns expected a little bit more from the player.

11. Dennis Scott

Continuing a trend started by Redd here, and when you think of Dennis “3-D” Scott, you surely think of the Orlando Magic. Scott was also ahead of his time in that he was a marksman from deep, who was deployed to help spread the floor for his superstar teammate of the time, Shaquille O’Neal.

In fact you could make the case that prime Scott would have been the ideal role player to plug into the 2023-24 Suns roster with his spacing ability. During his time with the Magic, he shot a scorching 40.3 percent from deep on 5.5 attempts per game, as that young team had some memorable battles with the Chicago Bulls.

Scott’s time with the Suns wasn’t long, only 29 regular season games and four postseason appearances in the 1997-98 season. The Suns would exit the postseason at the hands of San Antonio Spurs in the first round, and Scott would play just 15.5 minutes per game and put up 4.3 points.

This is a strange one because Scott was only 29 at the time, and in theory given the way he played, there was still plenty left in the tank. Only two years previously, he had averaged 17.5 points per game. Yet after brief stops with three other franchises, Scott was gone completely by age 31. The Suns surely expected more than what they ultimately got with this player.

10. Danny Ainge

Danny Ainge is royalty to a certain vintage of Boston Celtics fans, although he did spend enough time with the Suns both as player and head coach to be remembered there as well. Ainge finished his career with the Suns, and unsurprisingly had the worst statistical run of his career while with the organization.

He did play 222 times for the team, and had another 44 postseason outings as well. This is the first player you can make the case that they shouldn’t actually be here, but if the criteria is signing a player past their prime, then as good as Ainge was at times, he was past his best. Use of the phrase “at times” is important here as well.

While with the Celtics, Ainge was an All-Star at age 28, putting up 15.7 points, 6.2 assists and converting 87.8 percent of his free-throws. He was also an absolute pain to play against. One of those guys you loved to have when they played for you, and loved to hate when he lined up on the opposite side.

There is no doubt Ainge did his job with the Suns, at a time when they they were contenders (Ainge started every game of the playoff run to the 1993 finals), but at 7.8 points and 83.1 percent from the charity stripe, he wasn’t quite the same player. He was an excellent role player for the Suns, but imagine how much better the team could have been if he was late Celtics good.

9. Jalen Rose

The NBA is an amazing place, where players show up on random teams and it is a ton of fun to look back on years later. Jalen Rose on the Suns is one such example of this, with Rose undoubtedly best remembered as one of Michigan’s “Fab Five”, a member of the Indiana Pacers, and also the player who Kobe Bryant torched for 81 points.

In 2006-07 though, as the 61-21 Suns were in the midst of their “seven seconds or less” era, Rose was actually a part of the team for 29 regular season games. At 8.5 minutes per game, it is no surprise that he retired after the year was through, although what most forget is that he actually appeared in the postseason for the organization that season.

Ok… so nine minutes and two points in one single game is not a lot as the Suns bowed out to the Spurs in round two, but it does still count! Given that Rose was 34-years-old and his career was clearly over, you may think that he then shouldn’t qualify for this list. If the inclusion of Ainge is harsh for one reason, then with Rose it goes the other way. He’s barely remembered at all.

But the year before joining the Suns, he suited up for both the Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks. Between the two, he started 45-of-72 games, and even managed 12.3 points per game in 27.5 minutes of action. Rose wasn’t signed to be a missing piece for the Suns, but given he’d actually been on the court some the previous season, the fall off from even that was huge.

8. Mario Elie

You can see the thinking behind signing Mario Elie to the 2000-01 Suns. Despite being 37-years-old, there was a timeless quality to Elie’s game. Much like Scott, he was able to do a lot of scoring not necessarily around the basket, which was still relatively rare in the league.

Elie arrived to The Valley having won a pair of championships with the Houston Rockets, and a third with the Spurs. The Suns went 51-31 that year, and Elie fit into his role really well. The team needed a veteran who had seen it all but who could still contribute, and Elie did his best to hold up his end of the bargain.

In fact, of the 68 games Elie played in his single season with the Suns before retiring, he started all but one of them. The 22.1 minutes he played made him a full-time starter, if not a player who was able to stay on the court for the whole game. Nevertheless, come the postseason Elie upped his minutes to 25.8, and his scoring from 4.4 points to nine points per contest.

This is one of the better outcomes on the list, but again, Elie was way past his best when he got to the Suns, even if he only made it to the NBA a decade earlier at 27. Thankfully he wasn’t signed with superstardom in mind, which is just as well because Elie’s star burns bright in Ireland of all places.

7. Anfernee Hardaway

Unfortunately for Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway, he is a player who absolutely should be on this list. Which in a way is not fair, because we all know he is only here because of the injuries that derailed a career that looked like it had no limits.

Hardaway spent almost as much time in Phoenix (five seasons), as he had with the Magic (six seasons). He also went from a potential dynasty alongside O’Neal in Florida, to never fully getting off the ground next to point guard Jason Kidd. As a result of injuries, the duo nicknamed “BackCourt 2000” would only play 45 games together.

That the duo went 33-12 in that span gives us a tantalizing look into what might have been. Hardaway did play 251 games for the Suns, and appeared in two playoff series. In those 15 postseason contests, he averaged 17.3 points, and played a whopping 42 minutes per game. A big number when you consider how badly his body broke down.

But given the potential that Hardaway had, this is sadly a case of a player never having a real prime to speak of. He exploded onto the scene with the Magic, and that was as good as it would ever get. You understand why the Suns engineered a sign-and-trade to get him. But it just didn’t work out for them and he Hardaway was never the same player he had been for the team.

6. Vince Carter

No matter where Vince Carter went, fans seemed to warm to him. What’s not to like about a player who had that dunk contest performance, was routinely doing incredible things on a basketball court early on in the NBA, and who played on until he was 43-years-old.

Yet the further we get from his career, the more it can leave you feeling a bit cold. Carter never won a championship, and it is hard to know for how long he was even the best player on a team. Even more difficult, how often – if ever – was he the best player on a roster that had even an outside shot of winning a championship?

Carter got to Phoenix after a pair of finals appearances with the then New Jersey Nets, and another finals appearance in 2010 with the Magic. He was 34 when he joined the Suns briefly, but the hope was that he could be that overqualified third or fourth option, as he had been with the Magic, on a contender.

Instead he played 51 games for a group that went 40-42 and didn’t even make the playoffs, offering up 13.5 points in 27.2 minutes. Carter quickly moved on to play for the Dallas Mavericks, with this being a case of right player at both the wrong time, and the wrong time in their own career.

5. Jamal Crawford

Your favorite player’s favorite player, nobody has anything bad to say about Jamal Crawford. The only negative is the fact he’s no longer in the league, although at 43-years-old, he is never coming back. Crawford played one season for the Suns, back in 2018-19.

Back then the organization were trying to figure things out around Devin Booker, and it showed as they want an ugly 19-63. Good for the worst record in the Western Conference. Crawford, as he so often did, came off the bench in every one of the 64 games he played. He averaged 18.9 minutes per game.

Even at 38, Crawford did all of the things that made him a record three-time Sixth Man of the Year. His handles were dazzling and he brought a little bit of street ball to the league, he was just not able to do all of the things that we’d become accustomed to nearly as consistently anymore. Shooting 33.2 percent didn’t help things either.

Offensively there were still moments, but it was wasted on a team that was going nowhere. Defensively Crawford was not good to put it lightly, and at 7.9 points per game he was way past his best as a scoring threat. It was worth a shot, but for Crawford the journey was almost over and in Phoenix, it showed.

4. Jermaine O’Neal

Center Jermaine O’Neal is not a name that comes to mind when you think of Phoenix Suns basketball, but he did spend one season there in 2012-13. He is also an ideal player to put on this list, because he had been a six-time All-Star with the Pacers from 2001-2007. Quite the accomplishment.

By the time he got to the Suns however, O’Neal’s best days were behind him. He was also part of a quirky roster that included Kendall Marshall, Michael Beasley and the Morris twins, although  young P.J. Tucker was also along for the ride. No surprise then that the team went 25-57, and Gentry replace Lindsay Hunter halfway through the season.

Those are not ideal conditions for a veteran like O’Neal to flourish, and he was pretty ineffective off the bench. 8.3 points and 5.3 rebounds were nothing to write home about, and he failed to beat out Marcin Gortat for the starting role. There is nothing wrong with Gortat of course, he had a fine career in the league.

But for a player of O’Neal’s previous talent, getting the better of his Polish counterpart would have been no problem. Instead this was his second last stop before a year with the Golden State Warriors. Had he hung on there for one extra season he would have won a ring, and he was arguably better for the Warriors than he was the Suns.

3. Grant Hill

Another contentious one is Grant Hill, because there are a section of Suns fans who rightly love him. This isn’t a question of Hill’s commitment to the cause, and he’s definitely one of the three most successful Suns that make up this list.

He played for the franchise for five seasons during a memorable era, and started 343-of-362 games. If anything, the Suns are where Hill got his groove back after injuries decimated his career during his previous stop with the Magic. If anything, Hill just adds to puzzling list that is continuing to grow here.

Between Hardaway, Scott and Carter, who knew the links between the Suns and Magic were so strong? Like some other players here, Hill makes the list because he follows the criteria closely. Despite being a really good player for the organization, in hindsight he absolutely was past his best, because his best looked like the heir to Michael Jordan at one point in time.

We’re holding Hill to a higher standard here, and so the fact he only appeared in 19 postseason games across two seasons for the Suns is a disappointment. Had he been the player he was for the Detroit Pistons, the Suns could have dreamt of winning a championship. Which again just illustrates why Hill is here in the first place.

2. Chris Paul

Wait Chris Paul? As in — possibly the greatest point guard to ever play for the franchise Chris Paul? The player who, after watching the Suns go 8-0 in the NBA’s Bubble, joined the team and they went to the NBA Finals the following year in 2021. Paul is rightly a franchise icon for all that he did for this group.

True as that is, that is again missing the point here. Paul arrived to Phoenix as an older player. Still a fantastic one who would be an All-Star in two out of his three seasons there, but also 35-years-old ups arrival. Smaller players tend to age poorly in the league, and yet he even managed to mostly avoid that.

Defensively he was still better than he had any right being, and his ability to read a game and a situation were second to none. All of that is still true of the player, yet they had no problem moving him on for Beal this summer. A move you do every time. Just because Paul was incredible for the Suns, it doesn’t mean they didn’t sign him past his prime, because they did.

An All-Star every season from 2007-2016, think of how good the “Lob City” Paul from the L.A. Clippers would have been with Booker and Deandre Ayton. Prior to that, the athletic do it all guard who was drafted by the New Orleans Hornets could have helped get the Suns over the top. In 40 playoff games, it was injuries at the wrong times which sadly define his time with the Suns.

1. Shaquille O’Neal

It is highly likely O’Neal was the first player you thought of when we started this journey, and he absolutely deserves to bring a close to this wildly entertaining journey. After dominating for the Magic (again with the Magic…) and Lakers, he had slowed down some by the time he won his fourth ring with the Miami Heat.

Yet despite being 35-years-old when he arrived and with questions around his weight never too far away, O’Neal was actually an All-Star in the second of his two seasons there. Did it help that the midseason exhibition was taking place in Phoenix that year? It certainly did O’Neal’s case no harm.

But to his credit, he was named the co-MVP of the game alongside the late Kobe Bryant (again, bigger storylines perhaps at play there), and he did put up 17.8 points and 8.4 rebounds, while posting a league leading field goal percentage of 60.9 percent. It wasn’t prime Shaq throughout these 103 games for the organization, all starts, but it did have a certain charm to it.

The ageing O’Neal was exposed in the playoffs though, when Tim Duncan and the Spurs easily disposed of the big man and his teammates in five games. Still, thinking of O’Neal, Stoudemire and Steve Nash together is fun, even if the version of “Shaqtus” the Suns got was nowhere near the player he had once been.