Suns Are Just Fine Without Traditional Point Guard
The Phoenix Suns are looking to close out the opening week of the NBA season on a high note with a winnable game tonight at home against the Utah Jazz.
While there have been various highs and lows mixed into the first two games for the Suns, some of their perceived weaknesses haven't been as much of a cause for concern as anticipated.
Among those is the lack of a "traditional" point guard, a luxury the franchise ceded when they moved Chris Paul for Bradley Beal back in July.
The Suns were expected to give both Beal and Devin Booker run as the primary initiator, while Jordan Goodwin, Eric Gordon and even Kevin Durant were seen as players that could take the role as main ball handler at times.
The idea of "Point Book" has been toyed with by different Suns coaches at different times throughout his career, but this is truthfully the absolute best possible time to give the now bonafide superstar that burden.
The results were largely positive, as Booker dropped 32 points and dished out 8 assists, including generating several key buckets in the team's win over the Golden State to begin the season.
Yes, Booker did struggle with turnover issues, but many of those plays were split-second lapses in processing, losing footing, etc. - essentially things that won't be a cause for concern long-term. The offense Booker generated for the team far outweighed the mistakes that were made, anyways.
“It’s a good start to the new phase of his career, where he’s going to be the primary ball handler, where he’s really embraced taking the leadership role on this team," Frank Vogel said of Booker's role.
"Playing more traditional point guard where he can, where he’s a threat to go into kill mode at any point, and he has the savvy at reading defenses where he can pick them apart with a pass, which was the beauty of this game, where there were a lot of positives from this game but that was probably the biggest one."
Suns fans have already got a taste of what Beal can do on-ball as well, with an absolutely highlight reel-worthy dime in preseason play against Portland.
Beal has been one of the most underrated playmakers in the NBA for years now, and much should be expected of him when he makes his regular season debut in a Suns uniform.
The most unexpected development early on in the season, at least speaking in the scope of the broader NBA, is the emergence of Goodwin as a legitimate backup point.
Goodwin has been a tenacious defender, causing all sorts of disruption on the perimeter along with Josh Okogie.
The thing that's truly made the former Wizard stand out, however, is the fearlessness he's shown on offense. He has somewhat struggled with the jump shot and overall efficiency from the floor, but the relentless attacking as both a slasher and connector has been an encouraging sign in the grand scheme of things.
There are several question marks the Suns must face going forward - the point guard position isn't one of them.
