The Phoenix Suns said goodbye to Royce O'Neale this offseason, and replacing him with Miles Bridges in the starting lineup has ensured their offensive output will be much improved over last year.
Bridges is a 20 point a night scorer who can create his own shot
O'Neale was a diligent servant to The Valley, but flipping him and Grayson Allen (we won't mention the 2033 unprotected first) when they did for Bridges was a smart decision. The Suns will miss Allen and his secondary playmaking and 3-point shooting, but he also spent a fair amount of time on the treatment table.
Bridges is not a good defender, and he's nowhere near as willing as O'Neale was in that area either. But he has a much bigger frame and is five years O'Neale's junior. Really, though, this was a move designed to give Devin Booker another high-powered scorer, and Bridges will bring that from the jump.
He has averaged over 20 points per game in three of his last four seasons, while last time out, the Suns could only manage 114.2 points per game. Just below average at 18th in the league, a fact made worse as they scored the same number of points each night as the ghastly Orlando Magic.
Not the kind of company you want to keep.
The Suns' ability to defend at a top-10 level is what got them to the playoffs, and although O'Neale played his part, he was not a crucial cog in that machine. If anything, he was the weak link with certain lineups, so in theory, Bridges won't make them much worse on that end of the court.
But you can be sure his scoring ability is going to take the offense above league average right away, with the potential for more if he can figure out how to share the court with Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green.
Higher scoring output next step in Suns' development
There is no bright future on the horizon for the franchise to look forward to, so they have to win games right now. Bridges was an expensive addition, but he will help make that happen.
If Coach Jordan Ott can figure out a way to make him even an average off-ball defender and care enough to track his man, then this trade is going to look even better before long.
The organization had outgrown O'Neale in their pursuit of more regular season wins. Now it is on Bridges and his elite scoring ability from the forward position to prove that he was the right player to add to the mix.
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