Suns missing out as former player having best season yet elsewhere

The Phoenix Suns are off to a stellar start so far this season, and they have their trio of superstars to thank for that. Fans might want more authority out of Devin Booker - who still shows shades of his Team USA persona for the Suns - but Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal have been exactly who this franchise needed them to be out of the gate.

Durant might be out with a calf strain right now, but he'll return and get back to giving this group 27 points and performing heroically in the clutch soon. Beal on the other hand has arguably been better defensively, showing a level of grit in staying on the court after twisting his knee - plus an all around better level of play on that end - that has contributed massively.

There is another former Sun having a career year elsewhere currently.

That would be Cameron Johnson of the Brooklyn Nets, one of the two young players the organization gave up in the trade to acquire Durant. We don't need to go back and re-visit that trade again. It was one you do every day of the week, and it has already paid off because Durant alongside Booker and Beal gives the Suns the best chance to win.

Johnson wasn't even the main player in that deal - that would be Mikal Bridges - while the boatload of first round picks are what got the transaction over the line. Bridges began life with New York's second team in flames, and for a minute there he looked like he might actually be good enough to be a first option for a playoff level team.

We now know that's not the case, while Bridges has upgraded from the Nets to the New York Knicks. Yet through all of this, it is Johnson who has steadily improved his game. He's averaging the third most minutes for the 5-6 Nets at 33.7, while the rebuilding team are only one game back in the loss column on the expensively assembled Knicks featuring Bridges.

The Nets aren't going anywhere right now, but the fact they've been a much more difficult out than most predicted is something Johnson can take some credit for. Those aforementioned minutes per game are a career high, and so too are the 17.2 points per game he's averaging. The 38.6 percent from deep may trail previous campaigns, but that is on eight attempts, another career high.

At 28-years-old, Johnson looks like he is entering his prime in great shape. He's capable of scoring in a myriad of different ways, while defensively he doesn't quite get the love he deserves either. He's not on the level of Bridges and never will be, but it is his athleticism and frame more than anything else that keeps certain matchups honest when facing him.

It can never happen, but Johnson would clearly fit in as the final piece of this current version of the Suns as well. Their roster is 10 deep right now, and they're even getting some productive minutes out of backup point guard Monte Morris in Durant's absence. The thought of Johnson off the bench with rookie Ryan Dunn is an amazing one, or even in place of Beal. It is great to see him thriving elsewhere.