Phoenix Suns: 3 takeaways from 2019 NBA offseason

3. Shooting and maturity are priorities; defense and athleticism are not

A quick glance at the collection of players James Jones added this summer reveals a few common themes. All of the incoming Suns — through the draft, trades and free agency alike — are either capable shooters, mature, established talents, or a combination of both.

Ricky Rubio is the worst shooter of the bunch, but even his career 32.2 percent mark from 3-point range is an upgrade over what the Suns have had to work with at the point guard spot the last few years. Kaminsky, even on a two-year $10 million contract that no one else was offering, canned 36 percent of his 3.0 long range attempts per game last year.

Oubre’s return won’t aid Phoenix’s spacing, but Aron Baynes (34.4 percent last year) and Dario Saric (36.5 percent) will help on that front as stretch-bigs, as will the internal growth of 3-and-D wing Mikal Bridges and a reversion to the mean for Devin Booker after a career-worst 3-point shooting year.

Even rookies Cam Johnson (45.7 percent on 5.8 attempts per game last year) and Ty Jerome (39.9 percent on 5.4 attempts per game) can contribute in this area as two of the best shooters in this year’s draft class, helping space the floor for the NBA’s worst 3-point shooting team last season.

Acquiring legitimate NBA talent was also a priority for Jones. The potential of Jackson and upside of Melton weren’t enough to hang onto, but established NBA commodities like Rubio, Baynes, Saric and even Kaminsky were targets. None of them is flashy, but each can contribute to winning basketball. Again, even the rookies fit this bill — Johnson was a four-year senior for a very good UNC team, while Jerome is coming off an NCAA championship with Virginia in his junior year.

However, the new-look Suns roster also has a few glaring flaws — namely, defense and athleticism. Say what you will about Jackson, but he checked both boxes. The same goes for Melton and Holmes, and Warren was at least moderately athletic.

Rubio will help on the defensive end, but he’s not the multi-positional stalwart Phoenix likely needs to cover up Booker’s deficiencies on that end, and he’s certainly not blowing anyone away with his speed or leaping ability. Baynes is also an extremely capable positional defender, but he’s only a backup and not a high-flying presence on either end.

Jerome was a committed, smart defender in college who was almost always in the right position, but he may struggle at the NBA level because of his athletic limitations. Ditto for Johnson, who had problems moving laterally before his hip procedure. Remember, this team could’ve taken Jarrett Culver at No. 6, or Brandon Clarke at No. 11, to aid the defense.

After all of Phoenix’s moves this summer, re-signing Oubre was almost essential given what this team would’ve lacked in defense and athleticism without him.

There’s no question the Suns have something close to a competent rotation for the first time in years, but as much as they improved their 3-point shooting and the all-around genetic makeup of such a young group, their lack of defense and athleticism could come back to haunt them.