The Phoenix Suns finally moved on from center Deandre Ayton recently, and got a haul of no less than four players back in return. The additions of Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen, Keon Johnson and Nassir Little being met tepidly, to say the least.
On the surface at least one of these players is going to stick and make the rotation proper, with Allen the current dark horse. Although this trade was very much designed to get rid of Ayton and add a big who fit better with the current group in Nurkic, his injury history remains a concern.
No matter what though, after swinging on this Ayton deal, the Suns have now added different ways to hurt opponents once the regular season begins.
Any organization that boasts Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal is going to use them all in crunch time, and it should come as no surprise that the Suns will be doing exactly this when the going gets tough.
If we assume the Suns have full health when it really matters though, what sort of strange lineups could we see? More than that, are there any that will actually have success for the franchise, and so play important minutes, even if only a few at a time, once the postseason begins. This is one such lineup that would shock opponents, and could give the Suns an edge.
Point Guard – Devin Booker
It will come as no surprise to see Booker occupy this position. After all, he is sure to spend considerable time with the ball in hand once the season begins. The addition of Jordan Goodwin this summer in the Beal deal does help some, and the Suns may not be finished trying to add to their group just yet.
But “Point-Booker” has been on display before, and if he is to launch an assault on the MVP trophy, morphing into a high level ball-handler when the games are close and important would seem the next logical step here.
Doing so may mean that the flamethrower scorer we all know and love is kept in reserve a bit more, as Booker looks to set up his teammates. Really though Booker is going to be part of every meaningful lineup for this team, and more often than not it will be as the de facto point guard because of how this roster has been built.