Phoenix Suns: 3 takeaways from the 2018 offseason

2. Get ready for small-ball Suns

Phoenix may not have a quality starting point guard for the upcoming season, but it certainly has enough wings to give head coach Igor Kokoskov plenty of cracks at discovering an optimal small-ball lineup.

Devin Booker is the star of the show at shooting guard, while T.J. Warren was the designated starter at the 3 early on. Josh Jackson took his lumps in 2017, but really showed his tantalizing potential once the calendar flipped, combining superior defense with improved efficiency from everywhere but 3-point range to solidify his standing as Phoenix’s starting wing of the future.

That alone makes Warren expendable, because even if he were willing to embrace his inevitable future as a microwave bench scorer, the arrivals of Trevor Ariza and Mikal Bridges crowd the wing rotation even further. Throw in Troy Daniels and sophomore Davon Reed, and Kokoskov won’t be left wanting for wing options.

Ariza is going to spend plenty of minutes as a small-ball 4. Warren and Jackson might too, though their lack of 3-point touch and defensive deficiencies at that spot (strength for Jackson, all-around defensive ability for Warren) will limit them there. Booker could also see some time at the point if the Knight-Okobo-Harrison trio is ineffective or injured, meaning the Suns could have four or even five wings on the court at some points.

Ayton or Dragan Bender will likely anchor these lineups at the 5, giving the Suns a touch of shooting on the perimeter and allowing them to switch as needed on defense. Outside of Ariza and possibly Reed, none of Phoenix’s wings possess a true 3-and-D skill-set, but there’s enough offense and enough defense among them for Kokoskov to mix and match as needed.

It’ll be a trial and error process, but the Suns will be trotting out quite a few small-ball lineups in 2018-19, especially if Bender and Marquese Chriss fail to take significant steps forward.