Phoenix Suns: The pros and cons of starting Devin Booker at point guard

Pro: Booker might be this team’s best PG

Point guard is not Booker’s natural position, but the court vision and playmaking ability he demonstrates on a nightly basis — especially for a 21-year-old — suggests his career arc could be on a closer path to someone like Harden than a Klay Thompson, J.J. Redick or Bradley Beal.

Unlike those spot-up specialists, Book is rarely used off the ball as a catch-and-shoot specialist. Phoenix’s offense is at its best with the ball in his hands, either to create looks for himself or for others — even when he doesn’t have shooters around him to spread the floor.

Ulis leads the team in total assists (180 to Booker’s 169) in 207 fewer minutes, but Booker’s played eight fewer games and has spent far less time as the team’s designated point guard. Book’s 4.7 assists per game lead the team, just a tad above Ulis (4.1 per game) and Canaan (4.4 per game).

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With the ball being in Booker’s hands so much and the recent shooting woes of Ulis and Canaan weighing the offense down, it’s no wonder Phoenix has lost five of its last six games in such ugly fashion.

Ulis is averaging 7.2 points and 4.1 assists per game this season, shooting a miserable 37.4 percent from the field and 26.1 percent from 3-point range — a shot the Suns desperately need him to make if he’s going to play alongside a frequently double-teamed star like Booker.

Gone is the undersized burst of energy who posted six double-doubles in his 15 starts as a rookie. Whether it’s due to his offseason surgery, an extended slump or an Icarus-like coming back down to earth following that unsustainable finish to his rookie year, Ulis looks nowhere near the part of “starting NBA point guard” anymore.

His shooting has plummeted to .339/.192/.818 splits in January, and his demotion in light of those struggles could be the lineup change Triano hinted at for Friday’s game against the New York Knicks:

Canaan would inject more floor-spacing and possibly more playmaking into the starting lineup, as he leads the team in assist percentage (28.9 percent) and is shooting 37.5 percent from 3-point range. However, he’s also seen his fair share of struggles in January, posting .368/.355/.692 shooting splits for the month.

The problem is, Booker still might be Phoenix’s best option at the 1. Not only does his scoring make putting the ball in his hands a worthwhile cause, but his vision and improved ability to find open teammates allows the Suns to capitalize on opportunities created by double-teams focused on getting the ball out of his hands.

"“He’s such a gifted player, we’re just trying to create different ways to have the ball,” Triano said. “We know he’s good enough to make plays for other people, he’s good enough to score.”"

It comes up on a nightly basis for a team sorely lacking offensive threats. Just look at how the Sacramento Kings are so concerned with containing Booker’s curl. The 21-year-old is already a step ahead of the defense, quickly feeding Marquese Chriss for the easy alley-oop as he slips to the rim:

Double-teaming Booker out of the pick-and-roll is the best hope to contain him, but if he breaks loose, he’ll make the defense pay.

His 0.84 points per possession as the ball-handler in pick-and-roll situations ranks 25th in the association, per NBA.com, and nearly every player ahead of him runs those plays at a much higher frequency than his 26.3 percent.

The Los Angeles Lakers make a lame attempt to trap Booker off of this screen, but his hesitation dribble freezes the defenders just long enough to reach the baseline and find T.J. Warren smartly cutting to the basket:

Even against a more stout defense like the Utah Jazz, Booker showed masterful anticipation well beyond his years:

And this kind of stuff? For a 21-year-old, this is just cruel manipulation of the defense off the dribble — even if it is just the Lakers.

When Triano first put Booker at the 1 with Troy Daniels beside him at the 2, it was because defenders were beating him up off the ball or preventing him from catching it at all.

But with Book showing such an affinity for creating offense and Ulis struggling to capitalize on open looks off the ball or make a noticeable difference as a playmaker, the best move for Phoenix’s offense might be shifting Book to the 1 full-time and bringing Daniels or Jackson into the starting lineup.