Phoenix Suns: Complete 2018 offseason grades

Overall

From their perspective alone, the Phoenix Suns had a terrific summer that went under the radar, adding talent that will benefit the organization both for the long haul and in the short-term. That’s important for a franchise that’s still eyeing its first championship but is realistic about the current pecking order in the league (i.e. wait out the current Golden State Warriors apocalypse).

Drafting Deandre Ayton provides the Suns with a legitimate franchise pillar alongside Devin Booker, who was given a hefty extension to make sure the original franchise cornerstone stayed firmly in place. Bridges adds another switchable, 3-point shooting wing to the young core.

Along with Josh Jackson and hopefully Elie Okobo and hopefully Dragan Bender, the makings of the next Suns contender are there Trevor Ariza is on board to help mentor that group of youngsters, provide them with on-court examples of what it takes to win in this league — something Dudley and Tyson Chandler could no longer supply.

It will be interesting to see how the Suns proceed in 2018-19 with a roster tailor-made for a dizzying amount of small-ball lineups, especially if Bender fails to step up at the 4. Unfortunately, only Bridges and Ariza project to be two-way players among that glut of wings, and as much as Phoenix got better this summer, there’s a lot of inexperience at work here.

Booker, Ayton, Bridges, Jackson, Bender and Okobo all enter the season at 21 years or younger. Even a “veteran” like T.J. Warren is only 24. The Suns failed to address their glaring need for an upgrade at the point guard position too, and that would’ve been the case before trading away Knight who was neither the pass-first point guard who would’ve made Booker’s life easier on offense, nor the defensive-minded guard who could’ve covered for his deficiencies on that end.

Melton could become that player, and Okobo has plenty of promise too, but if the goal for 2018-19 is improving and showing Booker this team is ready to competitive, the 1-spot remains a glaring hole. Anderson makes the defense considerably worse as a starter, and though he’ll space the floor, he and Melton came at the cost of giving up on Chriss’ potential.

The Suns got better this summer, adding to their young collection of talent without losing anyone intrinsic to the roster moving forward. However, in the loaded West, it’s hard to say with certainty they’ll be better than anyone in the conference except the Sacramento Kings, so compared to the rest of the league, it’s hard to give this Western bottom-feeder a grade in the A-range.

The Phoenix Suns improved this summer, but the question is whether it shows in the win-loss column a few months down the line, and if/when it doesn’t, whether McDonough will feel pressured to make a more desperate move to address the team’s remaining needs that’s weren’t handled over the summer.

Final Grade: B+