The sky isn’t falling, but the Phoenix Suns still need a point guard

Only two games into the preseason, what everyone already knew remains true: The Phoenix Suns desperately need a starting point guard.

The Phoenix Suns still need a point guard.

It’s ironic that this has been the Suns’ top roster priority, most glaringly obvious fact and unofficial mantra for almost a year, because it wasn’t long ago they were trying to play Goran Dragic, Isaiah Thomas and Eric Bledsoe together. Unfortunately, ever since the last vestige of Point Hydra didn’t want to be here just over a year ago, this team has craved a competent floor general.

Unfortunately, not much has changed in a year’s time, and that was completely apparent in the Suns’ near loss to an NBL team Wednesday night.

Following a preseason opening loss to the Sacramento Kings on Monday, Phoenix saw a 19-point third quarter lead shrivel up to four with just over a minute to play. The Suns eked out a 91-86 win while deploying a fourth quarter unit that was cold after not playing much to that point, but the lack of a lead playmaker stuck out like the sore thumb that sidelined Isaiah Canaan again.

The Suns committed the same number of assists as turnovers on the night (22). Their leading facilitator was a wing, Trevor Ariza, who had six dimes. They had problems feeding Deandre Ayton down low and the new offense of Igor Kokoskov operated in fits and spasms trying to create quality looks for 3-point shooters (7-for-31).

This was eerily similar to Phoenix’s preseason opener, when the team had 19 assists and 16 turnovers, was led by Josh Jackson‘s six assists and shot 3-for-22 from deep. All in all, the Suns have 41 assists to 38 turnovers in preseason, shooting 10-for-53 from downtown (18.9 percent).

To be fair, the sky isn’t falling just yet. The Suns are playing two second round rookies and a G League call-up at point guard. They’re still learning a new offense under a new coach, with most of the roster being new arrivals or simply new to the NBA in general.

"“Coach is trying to get us in the right position, we just need to get our guards to probe, figure out the right passing opportunities,” Ryan Anderson said after the game. “And we need more experience playing together. A lot of these guys have never played with me or Trevor [Ariza] or a lot of different guys. So new pieces, it takes some time to adjust.”"

It’s also worth noting that Devin Booker hasn’t played or practiced with this new supporting cast yet, and every preseason game should generally be taken with a grain of salt.

However, just because salt is never a main course doesn’t mean it’s not important flavoring for the meal. Whether it’s preseason or not, this isn’t some one- or two-game overreaction; it’s a confirmation of what anyone already could’ve told you:

The Phoenix Suns still need a point guard.

Last season after the Bledsoe trade, point guard duties fell to Mike James, Tyler Ulis, Isaiah Canaan, Elfrid Payton and Shaquille Harrison at various points. This year, the candidates aren’t much better:

• Isaiah Canaan (who’s coming off a gruesome ankle injury in February and has always been a backup at best)
• Shaquille Harrison (a defensive pit bull who brings nothing but speed to the table on offense and is best used in shorter spurts to hound opponents up and down the court)
• Elie Okobo (a promising second round rookie who can’t defend very well and is still learning the point guard position)
• De’Anthony Melton (another second round rookie with upside who defends well but can’t be relied upon to score or facilitate yet)

Yeesh.

Melton and Okobo have bright futures, but at this point, there’s only so much Kokoskov’s empowerment of playmaking wings can do to compensate for the lack of a true point guard — someone who can get past the first line of the defense, collapse the help around him and fire pinpoint passes to shooters on the perimeter or lobs to Ayton rolling to the rim.

"“We didn’t improve from that point of view,” Kokoskov said Wednesday night. “Everybody’s got to touch the ball and we want to go play from side to side, but when the game is on the line we have to make aggressive, sharp decisions and the right decisions. Obviously that wasn’t the case starting with the point guards, but in that department, nobody was better than the other.”"

Josh Jackson and Trevor Ariza are both fine as secondary playmakers, but the Suns’ offense failed to put up 100 points against the New Zealand Breakers. Even with Phoenix in preseason mode and the Breakers playing like their lives depended upon the outcome, that kind of execution isn’t going to fly against real NBA teams.

Devin Booker’s return will drastically change the team’s current dynamic. He provides Phoenix with a go-to scorer to not only put points on the board, but also keep defenses honest and their focus elsewhere.

"“Obviously Devin coming back, the court is gonna look 100 percent different when he’s out there,” Anderson said. “This is a process and we just have to realize that. It’s not just gonna happen overnight, we’re not gonna just start shooting 50 percent from 3 taking 40 of them a night.”"

Book is a flawed but developing playmaker who averaged 4.7 assists per game last year in just his third season, operating as a de facto point guard for significant spurts. He’s going to be terrific running pick-and-rolls with Ayton, or capitalizing when defenses collapse on the big man.

However, Booker’s return won’t be a cure-all either, especially for those calling for him to play point. He’s turnover-prone, as would be expected of any shooting guard fine-tuning that area of his game.

His 3.6 turnovers per game last year represented the sixth-highest average in the NBA. His 19.3 percent turnover percentage on possessions as a pick-and-roll ball-handler was the 17th-highest number in the league among 82 players who ran at least 200 such plays, per NBA.com. He was fairly average in every category among that group, ranking in the 60.8 percentile overall.

His NBA identity will be far closer to James Harden than the poor man’s Klay Thompson he was pegged to be during the draft process, but that doesn’t mean he’s got the same vision, passing skills or ability to bend defenses to his will like the league’s reigning MVP.

Book can certainly be deployed at the 1 in spurts again, but the Suns won’t like the results with him as a full-time starting point guard much more than they will with Harrison, Okobo or Melton at that spot.

They need someone to probe the defense and hit all these new shooters in their preferred spots. Otherwise, offensive blades like Mikal Bridges, Ryan Anderson and even Trevor Ariza will be dulled and even Kokoskov’s side-to-side ball movement won’t be able to sharpen them.

Ayton as the gravity-sucking big man down low, shooters on the perimeter, Jackson and T.J. Warren cutting, Devin Booker as the main scoring threat — none of it falls into place as planned without a lead playmaker capable of setting off those triggers.

So what can the Suns do? Unfortunately, their options are limited. Long-term solutions featuring a franchise point guard like Damian Lillard or Kemba Walker were already a no-go, per Arizona Sports‘ John Gambadoro, and their situations aren’t likely to change until the trade deadline — if at all. Even if Walker does become available, there’s a major risk in giving up the farm for someone set to enter unrestricted free agency.

Patrick Beverley is a good option and reported target, but the Los Angeles Clippers want to win this season with him onboard, and again, there’s risk in overpaying for a one-year rental here.

Second round picks won’t cut it, and neither Dragan Bender nor T.J. Warren seem enticing, given Bender’s record-low value and the presence of Tobias Harris on the Clippers’ roster. The first round pick the Milwaukee Bucks owe the Suns might have to get involved, but it’s not valuable enough for a legitimate game-changer and it might be too valuable for the lower-end trade options like Beverley.

Milos Teodosic could be available, but it’s a similar situation to Bev as he approaches restricted free agency, only without the defense or culture-changing veteran presence.

Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge could rethink his off-limits stance on Terry Rozier near the deadline, since his team won’t be able to afford to keep both him and Kyrie Irving in free agency. However, that turning point won’t arrive until February, if at all, and it’d cost an arm to pry him away and a leg to then overpay to keep him in restricted free agency. That’s not a good exchange for what might be a starting NBA point guard.

Tyus Jones fits the same category, though he’d admittedly be much cheaper to pry from the Minnesota Timberwolves’ hands than Rozier from Boston. Jones is probably the best and most cost-effective option at this point, but Tom Thibodeau already has his hands full with the Jimmy Butler trade situation and told Jones he’d still have minutes for him this season despite the return of Derrick Rose, per The Athletic‘s Jon Krawczynski.

There’s been talk of Jeff Teague and Goran Dragic, but their sizable player options for 2019-20 mean Phoenix would probably have to surrender too much without leverage and commit to point guards who will be below-average a year from now and suck up their cap space.

Spencer Dinwiddie and Cory Joseph have been mentioned too. CoJo would be a cheap, serviceable and thoroughly underwhelming replacement. Dinwiddie would be effective since the Brooklyn Nets likely won’t prioritize his free agency next summer. However, the Suns might fit in the same boat since he can’t really shoot, once again making this an “overpay for a one-year rental” threat.

If there’s a common theme here, it’s that these other teams know the Suns are desperate, and therefore have the advantage. They have the luxury of being able to just keep those players if the offer isn’t good enough, which means Phoenix is in a tough spot where overpaying in a trade for a short-term rental is the most likely outcome.

That’s not a good way to operate as an NBA franchise, but the need at point guard already feels dire two games into the preseason. The rookies will improve, but they’re nowhere near ready. Booker’s return won’t salvage this situation either, especially after general manager Ryan McDonough told him they would make his job easier.

The new head coach is in place. The shooters are in place. The fellow franchise pillars are in place. The new offensive system, the experienced veterans, the franchise star ready to make another leap — all of it’s in place for this team to achieve its goal of being more competitive in 2018-19 … save for one thing.

The Phoenix Suns still need a point guard.