The Phoenix Suns have gone all in on winning a championship soon, adding Bradley Beal to a team that already boasts Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. To make it happen, though, the Suns had to ship out their star point guard, Chris Paul.
In an unexpected move, the team has also moved off Cam Payne to gather more assets, meaning that the lack of a proper floor general is obvious on the roster. But according to reports, the man to fill Paul’s shoes will reportedly be Bradley Beal.
“Bradley Beal is expected to enter 2023-24 Suns training camp as the team’s starting point guard, with Jordan Goodwin as a reserve PG, sources say.”
Bradley Beal is a shooting guard, and he has been for his entire career with the Washington Wizards. Beal has often played with other point guards, like John Wall, and is someone better at scoring than playmaking. In 11 seasons in the league, Beal has averaged more than five assists just four times, which isn’t a great look for someone who will seemingly play as the primary point guard.
Jordan Goodwin, who has been named as the backup for Beal at PG, has only ever played 64 NBA games, and has only averaged 2.6 assists per game in 17.4 minutes of playing time. The Suns have a lot of elite scorers, but they lack a serious distributor right now. Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, and Kevin Durant can all play make to an extent, but the lack of a true PG might come back to haunt them.
Bradley Beal And Devin Booker Are Set To Start Together In The Backcourt
Devin Booker and Bradley Beal are both shooting guards and All-Stars, so it raised some eyebrows when the move was made. But it seems that the plan was always to share the playmaking duties between the two. New Head Coach Frank Vogel has already announced his intent to start them together in the backcourt.
“I’m very comfortable with Beal and Booker as the starting backcourt, but we’re going to explore that fifth spot potentially being a Cam Payne or a point guard, and we’re going to explore it being maybe a three or a four type defender position. Those things will play out in camp.”
Even in this statement, he had accepted that the team might still need a point guard to run the show. However, it seems that those plans will have to be shelved after Cam Payne was traded away. The Suns have built an excellent roster around their stars, but the lack of a true point guard may prove to be their downfall eventually.
