Suns Middle of Pack in Grading of Offseason Moves
The Phoenix Suns didn't change the recipe a whole lot this offseason.
Of course, there's still time to change with Kevin Durant wanting out of Brooklyn now more than ever. And there was some serious doubt on the outside when it came to Deandre Ayton's future.
Yet the Suns matched his offer sheet within minutes, making it clear the plan was always to bring Ayton back. Bismack Biyombo also returned to the lineup, although Phoenix did lose JaVale McGee, Frank Kaminsky and Aaron Holiday.
Fresh faces in Josh Okogie, Jock Landale and Damion Lee offer support in some roles, but no season-defining moves were made for the Suns. The goal, in James Jones' words, was to keep his team together. They accomplished that.
It's awfully hard to improve a team that reached 64 wins last season, so the Suns were never really set to win any prestigious offseason awards from media members that would see them hoist an imaginary championship trophy.
With that being said, Phoenix's offseason neither impressed or disappointed The Athletic's David Aldridge, who is in the midst of compiling NBA rankings based on who had the most impactful offseason.
While he's still working through the final third, we saw Phoenix land at No. 17:
Suns Middle of Pack in The Athletic's Grading of Offseason Moves
Here's what Aldridge said of the Suns:
"Forget what we all saw in Game 7 of the conference semis against Dallas, with Monty Williams benching Ayton for most of the second half. Forget that the Suns declined to give Ayton a max offer — and told him to find one elsewhere.
"Forget that Ayton did just that, getting the bag from Indiana. The Suns matched in five minutes, so nothing to see here, I guess; both Williams and Ayton told ESPN’s Marc Spears it was water under the bridge.
"Forget that governor Robert Sarver remains under NBA investigation. Of course, you can’t forget any of the above, and you shouldn’t. For now, anyway, Phoenix has avoided needing to fill a cavernous hole in the middle by retaining Ayton for at least a year; under CBA rules, they can’t trade him anywhere for 12 months without his consent.
"So, the Suns will run it back with the group that went 64-18 in the regular season, with small changes to the back of the rotation – including Lee, who could definitely help."
So, no incredibly impressive words on what Phoenix did, more so suggesting the Suns wanted to "forget" what transpired on and off the court the last few months in favor of moving on.
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