Chris Paul choosing to reunite with the Los Angeles Clippers comes as a huge bummer for the Phoenix Suns, leaving them further away from resolving their biggest issue: They need a freaking point guard if they’re serious about optimizing both the current and, believe it or not, future iterations of this team.
“Future” is not a term commonly associated with an undersized floor general heading into his age-40 season. And it’s not one being bandied about here.
To most, CP3 represented someone who could immediately manage the game and the team’s turnover rate, while most importantly allowing Devin Booker to wear fewer hats. Equally critical, though, the former Suns star offered an opportunity to simplify and maximize the development and effectiveness of the team’s big men, most notably Mark Williams, sophomore Oso Ighodaro, and No. 10 overall pick Khama Maluach.
The real reason the Suns need to sign a point guard
In the event saddling Booker with this burden is part of Phoenix’s plan, it hasn’t done a good enough job dotting him with the right complementary centers. He is best served alongside bigs who can make decisions with the ball that extend well past the catch-and-finish boundary. Aside from Ighodaro, the Suns do not have that archetype in the middle.
Williams, Maluach and Nick Richards are first foremost as athletic finishers. Last season, Williams and Richards both ranked in the 98th percentile or higher of roll-man touches per 75 possessions, according to BBall Index. Even Ighodaro finished in the 92nd percentile, though he can at least put the ball on the floor and make more passes from the short roll.
Maluach, meanwhile, clearly saw his offensive impact during summer league get muted due to a lack of bankable playmakers—the kind of game managers who specialize in passing guys open, and hitting them with lobs.
Phoenix doesn’t currently have that type of player on the roster. Throwing lobs has never been Booker’s strong suit. (To be fair, he hasn’t often found himself surrounded by legitimate lob threats, Deandre Ayton included.) The same goes for Jalen Green. Collin Gillespie has shown some lob-creation chops but hasn’t exactly graduated from wild-card status.
Phoenix may need to consider making a trade
Filling this void in free agency is a lot harder now that CP3 is off the board. The Suns have interest in Ben Simmons, according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line. That’s a fine flier. Simmons can throw lobs. But he also struggles playing beside non-spacing bigs. Maluach’s three-point touch would have to come along quickly for Simmons’ arrival to be more than a shot in the dark.
Reuniting with Cam Payne could be fun, yet he isn’t a high-end enough solution. Malcolm Brogdon doesn’t fit the bill. Ditto for De’Anthony Melton. Russell Westbrook is too much of a risk. The list of available names gets more underwhelming from here.
That leaves the trade market—which isn’t too comforting, either.
Buying out Bradley Beal renders the Suns more flexible, but their asset arsenal remains thin. Maybe it’s worth getting in on the Josh Giddey sweepstakes. Or calling the Minnesota Timberwolves about an aging Mike Conley. Jose Alvarado of the New Orleans Pelicans isn’t a tried-and-true floor general, but he knows how to throw lobs. How married are the Memphis Grizzlies to Scotty Pippen Jr.?
These are just a couple of off-rip ideas. There might be more. And the Suns need to explore every one of them. The value of so many of their big men (probably) depends on it.