New head coach, first overall pick, maximum contract – the Phoenix Suns were really busy in summer. Now the team is to make the next development leap. Is the plan working? The off-season analysis.
After it had been clear for some time that Jay Triano would only be on the Suns’ sidelines last season, the first task for the front office was to find a new head coach. At the beginning of May, the team announced the appointment of Igor Kokoskov. The Serbian was assistant coach at the Utah Jazz last season and will now be the first European head coach in NBA history.
For the third time in a row, the draft was selected among the top 4 – this year even First Overall. As expected, DeAndre Ayton was the potential franchise-Big-Man who could form an excellent one-two punch with Devin Booker. In addition, the 16th pick was handed over to the Sixers with another first rounder from 2021 to secure the services of tenth-placed Mikal Bridge.
In the recent past, the Free Agency was not necessarily one of the great strengths of the Suns, but this summer at least one (halfway) large fish was landed. With Trevor Ariza a veteran strengthens the team, who will play something like the papa role in the young team. In addition, Booker has been given a long-term maximum contract, which will earn him 158 million dollars in five years once his rookie contract expires.
The two free agents Elfrid Payton and Alex Len were not held, Tyler Ulis and Alan Williams were armed. At least for Payton and Ulis there will be a replacement, even though Elie Okobo was drafted as point guard in the second round.
To save some money, the Suns sent Jared Dudley ($9.5 million) by trade to the Brooklyn Nets, for which they received Darrell Arthur ($7.4 million). There will be a buyout here. In this deal, Phoenix had to put a 2021 secondrounder on top. In another move, the Suns acquired Richaun Holmes from Philly for Cash Considerations Center.
“I’m tired of not reaching the playoffs, it will be the last time,” Booker announced in April after the last game of the 2017/18 season. The Suns will almost inevitably be judged by this quote in the coming season – even if one knows internally that this step in the unfair Western Conference will probably still be too big.
Nevertheless, in the offseason we already worked hard to get a powerful team up and running. Ariza is a newcomer who should help immediately at both ends of the pitch and also serves as a mentor for the young players.
The draft night also points to an immediate attack. Compared to Doncic, Ayton is the somewhat safe variant from which immediate impact can be expected. It’s the same with Bridges: The decision to hand in a future first rounder six places earlier was risky, but still shows that the Suns have a clear plan.
Part of this plan is now Kokoskov, who has been Assistant Coach in the NBA since 2000. In the past three years he learned from last year’s Coach of the Year candidate Quin Snyder and became European Head Coach with Slovenia in 2017.
Financially, the Suns have maintained a certain flexibility despite switching to attack mode. With Ariza or Tyson Chandler there will be three high-earning free agents in 2019, with Dragan Bender or Marquese Chriss the franchise can decide whether to plan for the long term with the Bigs or not to extend the contract due to stagnating development.
Now they are entering the 2019 off-season with eleven players and just under $90 million in salaries – that’s work to tackle the weaknesses that will certainly open up in the course of the next 82 games.
Last season, the defensive was the Suns’ biggest construction site (the league’s worst defensive rating). Ariza’s commitment is now to counteract this, the 33-year-old is one of the Association’s best wing defenders. Ayton also has at least the physical prerequisites to become a solid ring protector. In college, however, he did not always appear fully focused and often missed his assignments as a help defender.
There is some hope here for Richaun Holmes, who is cheap and has the potential to become a rim runner and ring protector.
But: Despite Ariza, the Suns still have the fourth youngest team in the league with an average age of 24.5. And Kokoskov is and remains – despite his 18 years in the NBA – a rookie coach. Of course, youth also brings with it a certain carefree attitude, but experience would not hurt in tight games or a (not entirely unlikely) defeat series.
There are further question marks in the Backcourt. Here the Suns hope for a kind of rebirth of Brandon Knight, currently he would even be a starter. However, Knight has not yet proven that he is a playmaker throughout his entire career. Because of his injury history, that’s a big risk, especially since only the said second-round pick Elie Okobo is waiting behind him. Relief for Booker as a ballhandler definitely looks different.
Clearly, if a player is selected first in the draft, this makes him the bearer of hope for the franchise. Ayton brings everything to brighten the future in Arizona. With his offensive skill set, his athleticism and his rebound skills, he could give the opposing Big Man some headaches in the future.
Of course, the long-term booker deal also shows that the Suns’ hopes are not based solely on Ayton, but are seen in bookers of franchise players who have been missing at least since Steve Nash’s departure. Despite his three NBA seasons and the 70-point performance in 2016/17, one must not forget that he is only 21 years old. Now it will depend on how much the two harmonize – and how their development as leaders progresses.
The long years of rebuilding should finally be over and the first playoff entry since 2010 should be aimed for in the medium term. If this were to happen in the coming season, it would be a sensation – but the focus would undoubtedly be on the years after 2020.
This means that the fans can certainly expect an improved season than the last, but the West is still too powerful for more. This could lead to a situation where you end up at the back of the tableau without refueling and secure another usable pick. The Ariza deal is not necessarily a sign that the front office wants to go all-in right now – it’s much more about conveying the massive talent of Booker, Ayton, Josh Jackson or Bridge’s winning mentality.
There is much to suggest that this plan will work and that the Arizona team will be able to abandon its status as a “young team with talent” and attack it by 2020 at the latest.
The grade: 3+