When the Suns unloaded on key players such as Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas in 2015, the Suns vision was for the future. At first I was pessimistic that the formula was going to be successful. At the start, the Suns had something to build around but no franchise players. Eric Bledsoe was decent but never elite and Devon Booker and TJ Waren weren't mature enough yet.
Fast forward two short years and the Suns are still stuck in the mud not able to get out of the bottom of the Western Conference.
Now, five games into the season Eric Bledsoe is on the trading block destined for one of the other 29 cities in the NBA currently. This is a franchise altering move that should have likely happened earlier.
At 27 years old, Bledsoe has a huge upside if traded to the right team. The bigger and also unknown question is, what is his trade value? General consensus seems to lead to 2-3 assets coming back to Phoenix. Right now, the Suns have a log jam at the Power Forward position with both Bender and Chriss not getting much playing time with Waren and Jackson sharing time at the Small Forward position.
The Suns missed an opportunity to get things under control when they drafted two Power Forwards on the same night in 2016 and drafting a Small Forward in Josh Jackson last June. That would up up to four forwards drafted since 2014. This has led to a depth chart of
PG
|
SG
|
SF
|
PF
|
C
|
Eric Bledsoe
|
Devon Booker
|
Josh Jackson
|
||
Troy Daniels
|
TJ Waren
|
Alex Len
|
||
Not going to make excuses but this lineup is decent but it lacks a defensive leader. Chriss is helpless defensively as he hasn't learned to play defense without fouling. Bender isn't mature enough yet for major minutes and its not a big enough sample size to judge Josh Jackson yet.
If I was the GM this is what I would have done differently. I would have drafted Buddy Hield at #4 in 2016 and drafted De'Aaron Fox in 2017. Drafting a Point Guard last June would have allowed the Suns to trade Bledsoe over the offseason where there might have been more takers as teams were filling holes in their lineups.
My Suns teams lineup would have looked like this:
PG
|
SG
|
SF
|
PF
|
C
|
Devon Booker
|
Player traded for Eric Bledsoe
|
|
||
Buddy Hield
|
TJ Waren
|
Sign Devensive specialist in FA
|
Alex Len
|
Not saying that my team would be set to make a run for the NBA Finals this year but I like this depth chart better because there is clarity of who your future PG is which for me is the most important position on the court. With Bledsoe on his way out, where is the clarity?? Having a consistent starting PG is so important in the NBA.
Secondly, drafting Hield at #4 in 2016 would have been my pick. He stayed all four years in college and therefore would have been able to bring in leadership. Furthermore, you can never have enough points on a team generally speaking and having a solid backcourt is important.
Lastly, I get it that Josh Jackson might be better than Fox but I now question how much longer TJ Waren has left in the Purple and Yellow. With Jackson's skill set he seems to be the Small Forward of the future
which then makes Waren's draft pick a questionable one in 2014.
On top of the player saga the Suns also have a new coach at the helm in Jay Triano. This is his second NBA Head Coaching gig after having three losing seasons as the coach of the Raptors almost a decade ago. When you fire a head coach three games into the season, the only other option is to go with an assistant coach. He will be a good fit short term but I have my doubts about his success in the long term.
This is what the Suns are facing and the whole conundrum started when they thought it was a smart idea to start from scratch. Anyone's guess when this team will see the playoffs next but just remember. This isn't the worst pro team in Arizona right now. Not by a long 3 point shot.
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