Phoenix Suns: Has Devin Booker Made Brandon Knight Expendable?
With rookie Devin Booker playing so well in the starting lineup, has he made Brandon Knight expendable for the Phoenix Suns?
No team in the NBA has been on a roller coaster ride quite like the Phoenix Suns over the last two and a half seasons.
In 2013-14, they stunned the league with their dual point guard lineup and won 48 games, narrowly missing out on the postseason behind the surprising play of Third Team All-NBAer Goran Dragic and half a season from Eric Bledsoe.
In 2014-15, general manager Ryan McDonough upset the balance by adding a third point guard to the mix, and the Suns wound up trading two of them away at the trade deadline. With Dragic and Isaiah Thomas gone, and an injured Brandon Knight joining the backcourt, the team stumbled across the finish line and missed the postseason again.
General manager Ryan McDonough spent the summer re-signing Brandon Knight, bringing along Tyson Chandler, trying and failing to coax LaMarcus Aldridge away from the Spurs and overall, attempting to address the team’s problem areas. Unfortunately, a team that was once overloaded at the point guard position is now overstocked on shooting guards, but the result is still the same.
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At 14-35, the Suns are in the middle of yet another lost season. They’re tied for the fourth worst record in the NBA, Bledsoe is done for the year, Knight is out until at least the All-Star Break with a groin injury and head coach Jeff Hornacek was fired following Sunday’s loss in Dallas. With the playoffs out of the question, the priority has shifted to giving the younger players as many developmental minutes as possible.
One such player, 19-year-old rookie Devin Booker, has made the most of those minutes, becoming one of the team’s leading scorers since joining the starting lineup. He will also join the likes of Stephen Curry (2010), Kyle Korver (2004) and Dennis Scott (1991) as the only rookies to ever participate in the NBA’s Three-Point Contest.
But it’s not just that Booker has played well or that he’s looked like an NBA-ready player at such a young age; it’s that he’s already one of the team’s best players and may have star potential. The question is, has Devin Booker made Brandon Knight expendable as the future of the 2-guard position in Phoenix?
Next: Knight's Flaws