Storyline 2: Wings, small-ball and secondary playmaking
To compensate for the lack of an established point guard, and because the Suns have a plethora of wings, Kokoskov’s offense will be designed to enhance those players’ skill-sets and empower them on that end of the floor.
"“One of the things we’ve talked about is being creative with our playmaking wings,” McDonough said. “[Kokoskov’s] system is predicated on side-to-side ball movement, a lot of player movement, multiple pick-and-roll actions. So even if we might not have a traditional, established point guard, he and the staff have been thinking all summer about creative ways to get the ball moving side to side and then get it in the hands of our playmakers — Devin Booker, Josh Jackson, T.J. Warren.”"
Last year, Devin Booker ran the point in spurts because the Suns were also lacking quality options. Expect him to do more of the same in 2018-19 as he looks to embrace his inner James Harden.
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Josh Jackson, who was pegged as a playmaking wing entering the draft, will be relied upon in that category as well, with both McDonough and Kokoskov specifically mentioning his name at Media Day. T.J. Warren has never been much of a passer, but the Suns will get him moving off secondary actions and put him in positions to succeed as a scoring threat.
It remains to be seen if Tony Buckets’ revamped 3-point shot translates, but the early buzz has been palpable. Jackson reaching his goal of increasing his 3-point percentage by “4-5 points” would only put him around 32 percent, but luckily the arrivals of Trevor Ariza and Mikal Bridges — reliable 3-and-D wings — should help cover for that and allow him to feast as an off-ball cutter or playmaker with the ball in his hands.
Because of the instability at point guard and the question marks surrounding Ayton as a defensive anchor, the Suns will probably roll out quite a few small-ball lineups in 2018-19. Until a trade for a floor general is made, it’s the only way to find paying time for Booker, Jackson, Warren, Ariza, Bridges, Troy Daniels and Davon Reed.
"“If you look at three of the four conference finalists last year in Houston, Golden State and Boston, they had a lot of lineups with three and sometimes even four wings on the court,” McDonough said. “I think we have the capability and the desire to put teams on the court like that as well.”"