The Phoenix Suns have had a fairly busy offseason. Trading Josh Jackson and T.J. Warren, re-signing Kelly Oubre, and making a strange draft-night decision are the forefront of those moves.
Here are three takeaways and questions for Phoenix after the bulk of the offseason has concluded.
Are we sure the organization has a lucid plan of action?
There's been a lot of turmoil over the offseason for Phoenix. The organization has gone through multiple permutations over recent years, and this summer has demonstrated that management is still unsettled and uncertain.
Former NBA player James Jones, a three-time champion, is now the full-time general manager of the franchise. The Suns fired head coach Igor Kokoskov after only one (19-63) season with the team. Kokoskov has since been hired by Luke Walton in Sacramento. Even if Kokoskov and management didn't see eye-to-eye, what was the plan there?
The team then hired respected coach Monty Williams to man the sidelines. Williams signed a five-year contract with the team, almost ensuring job security in the near future, but we know how soon those agreements can be ripped up as soon as the front office believes it's time to make a change.
Jones and the Suns also went into the 2019 NBA Draft with the sixth pick but decided to move down, completing a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves for the 11th pick and 25-year-old forward Dario Saric.
The move in a vacuum makes sense, but then Phoenix selected 23-year-old forward Cam Johnson, a good 3-point shooter but a questionable choice. Johnson may turn into a solid pro, but going from the sixth pick to Johnson is a puzzling choice by Jones and staff.
After the talk of stealing one-time All-Star guard D'Angelo Russell from the Brooklyn Nets, the Suns came out of free agency with point guard Ricky Rubio, a good addition but not a high-ceiling player.
The team also ditched former lottery selection Josh Jackson, cutting baiting on the fourth pick of the 2017 draft and having to attach De'Anthony Melton and another pick only to get Jevon Carter and veteran Kyle Korver, the latter of which they immediately waived.
This roster construction is faulty, and the Suns have been hurt by questionable asset management (the T.J. Warren trade remains a recent memory, too).
Will the offense compensate enough for its expected lackluster defense?
It's going to be a challenge to defend for Phoenix. With a starting lineup of Ricky Rubio, Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges, Dario Saric, and Deandre Ayton — and rookie Cam Johnson, Kelly Oubre, Tyler Johnson, and Aron Baynes behind them — Phoenix will desperately looking for stops.
Bridges, a 22-year-old small forward, is the only player the Suns can confide in as a strong defender. Saric and Booker on the perimeter will have difficulty containing their matchups, and Ayton is still developing on that end.
Rubio should perk up the offense next season; sharing the backcourt with an emerging all-time great scorer, Booker, could prove to be a good find. Rubio is the always-vigilant distributor. With Saric and Bridges knocking down 3-point shots, and Ayton an efficient post scorer, the points will come in spades.
However, the Suns will be grasping at straws on defense.
Will DeAndre Ayton emerge as the first overall pick kind of talent?
It's fair to say the Suns' first overall pick from 2018, DeAndre Ayton, had a more than good rookie season in the league, but Ayton will be forever compared to Luka Doncic, the third overall pick in the same draft and the reigning Rookie of the Year.
Ayton finished on the All-Rookie first team—noticeably along with the other top-five draft picks from his class—and he put up 16.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game in his freshman year. He shot efficiently, too: 58.5% from the field. But Ayton isn't the dynamic talent Doncic is proving to be at the next level. There's concern that the Bahamian out of the University of Arizona will never reach the same heights as Doncic.
This offseason has only maintained the indifference towards Ayton's level of contribution to the franchise.
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