If there is one area the Phoenix Suns are going to look to improve no matter what this offseason, it is at the point guard position. Not having one to fall back on hurt the team many times throughout the season, and it was especially evident during their playoff loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Devin Booker and Bradley Beal are both brilliant players - but with neither being a ball-handler first and foremost - the team didn't have a player to fall back on to settle things down when times got tough. Add in Beal's injury struggles, and it made trying to win games harder than it should have been. Even head coach Frank Vogel tried to show us how imbalanced this roster was during the campaign.
The Suns won't have much money to remedy the situation this summer, but they absolutely need to avoid even thinking about adding Patrick Beverley to the mix.
Beverley is one of the most divisive players in the entire league - and at 35-years-old - whatever prime he did have in the NBA is now gone. During the regular season he played with both the Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks, somehow wearing out his stay with two contenders over the span of about 70 games.
The 76ers were in freefall after injury to their superstar Joel Embiid, yet they still had no problem letting Beverley go to the Bucks. Once there he disgraced himself as the team bowed out of the playoffs to the Indiana Pacers in the opening round of the playoffs. Both by throwing a basketball at Pacers fans (which he has since apologized for) and doing this for some reason to a reporter.
Patrick Beverly tells female reporter from ESPN that she cannot interview him since she doesn't subscribe to his podcast. pic.twitter.com/sRFHiZJaSK
— Alex Golden (@AlexGoldenNBA) May 3, 2024
Why then would the Suns have any interest in the Patrick Beverley experience? Put simply, because they are desperate. This is the same organization that by season's end had Isaiah Thomas on their roster, and who will once again have to cobble together a rotation with minimum contracts this offseason.
Beverley is an unrestricted free agent, and he signed a minimum deal to join the 76ers last season. He is most certainly going to be available, and coach Vogel (if he remains with the franchise) may see the loud bark of Beverley and think he can turn him into some sort of asset on the defensive end of the court. That would be a massive mistake.
.@getnickwright goes through Patrick Beverley's NBA journey from Houston to Milwaukee: pic.twitter.com/0zPqr6671W
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) May 3, 2024
It speaks volumes that the Suns would arguably be better taking another look at Thomas, than they would be kicking the tyres on Beverley. If nothing else, Thomas appeared to be popular with his teammates, the coaching staff and fans once he came back to The Valley having been with the organization in the past.
Beverley has no such affection from fans throughout the league, and the last thing Booker, Beal and Kevin Durant need is any more drama and talking points around this roster next season. Instead what they need is a floor general who is quietly going to put the expensive pieces together, and help get the Suns closer to contention.
Not only is Beverley not the player to do this, but he's averaged just over three assists throughout his career to this point. Hardly the kind of table setting that this group really needs, while in the playoffs that number has dipped slightly to 2.9 assists in 71 games. He's a just about passable 37.1 percent 3-point shooter, but again that's not what the Suns need from their point guard.
They want quiet consistency, and an ability to know when to get out of the way when their stars start to cook. All Beverley has going for him is the fact the Suns could afford him - and really if that's your most impressive selling point - then you know it is a bad idea. As the offseason unfolds and Beverley remains sitting there, the Suns have to continue to look the other way for a solution.