Kevin Durant Solves One Of Phoenix’s Problems but does He Create Others?
The Kevin Durant Trade Syphoned Most Of Phoenix’s Wing Defenders Which In Turn Places an Unprecedented Burden On DeAndre Ayton’s Anility To Defend The Paint. Despite He’s The 7 Foot Frame With A 7’6 Wing Span He’s Never Received Acclaim For His Rim Defending Prowess Even Dating Back To His Days In Arizona. Don’t Fit Phoenix Into Your Championship Picture Just Yet.
In The Economics Of Win-loss Sports In Order For One Team To Increase Another Team Must Decrease. Contrarian to what traditional economics dictates Where Two Entities Can have Sucess Bilaterally. One Teams Ascent means The Descent Of Another Team. I'm Briefly Mentioning The King, Who HAve Largely Exceed Expectations. Their Insurgence On The Western Conference Number Two Seed Indirect Reflects The Phoenix Suns Fight For Their Playoff Lives In The Desert. Now The Suns HAve what They Need To Push back. A Week Western Conferences Looked Out Of Flux Like A Cofeence Hasn't Looked In A While.
The Suns Are Two Years Removed From An NBA Finals Appearance. After Seven Losing And A Winning Percentage Of Just.302 In The Five Seasons In Between The Won 51 Games. With Chris Paul on The Team, The Suns Rose Over The Desert Sky, And With Youth, They Could Sustain The Brightness. They Beat The Lakers, Nuggets, And Clippers On The way To The Finals. Their win Percentage Bounced up To .708 And .780 In The Past Two Seasons, respectively.
They Followed That Finished Finals Appearance Up By Securing The Best Record In The League On The Tails Of A Top 10 In Both Offensive And Defensive Rating Before The Dallas Outed The Suns "Prematurely." The Suns Secured Home Field Advantage Throughout The Playoffs, And Soon They Could Bet To Secure The Championship In The Finals Only To Fall Short. The Sun's Return The Bulk Of Their Starters, Handing Out Extensions To Center De'Andre Ayton, A Sure Fire sign Of A Return To At Least A Top Three Seed In The West. This Season The Suns Illuminating Presence Now Looks Nothing More Than A Star Flickering In The Night.
Might The Suns Missed The Playoffs This Season? An Of This Writing, They're seventh In The West, Far From The Security A Top Spot in The Conference Would Have Graced Them With At The Number One Or Two Positions. They're Only A Game Away From The Pelicans And Maybe Two Over The Lakers—a precarious Position, If Ever Their One, For Phoenix, Who Can't Get Out Of Several Dilemmas.
Starting With The Devin Booker Injury. The All-Star Guards Haven't Played On A Minute On This Side Of 2023, And The Sun Offense Has Suffered Noticeably. Their Three Point Attempts Are Down In That Span. The Suns Are Scoring The Fewest Points In The League Since Christmas Day, and They're Not Generating Much Offense From The Free Throw Line. One Look At The Offense And The First That Stands Out, The Teams' Lack Of Perimeter Playmaking. Mind You The Sun Weren't Perfect. Monty Williams's Team Finished 5-11 In December, Mostly With Booker In The Lineup, and 7-8 In January Without Him. (they've Only Had CP3 For A Dozen Of Those Games.) Booker's Getting Sideline Came On The curbs Of An Impressive Season. The Sun Right Now Miss all His 27.1 Points, 47.7 Field Goal Percentage, and 37% From The Field. Few, if any, Teams In Modern basketball Could Overcome Such A Dearth Of Perimeters Play Making And Scoring, The Suns, who Have Fallen To 26th In Offense, Are Prime Representation.
What About CP3? when He's Healthy, He's Still One Of The Best Point Guards, Ace Distributor, and Shot Creator. Yes, But The Suns are Generally Worse Without When CP3 Take Command Of The Offense By Himself. Bookers' Talent Augment Paul's Skills As Well. The Sun's Offense Runs Best Off Of The Gravity That Both All-Stars Emit, Sort Of Like Alternating Current, The Flows Back And Forth Between The Two. What happens When CP3 Roams With Book The Suns Become Heliocentric, Literally. As I said, The Sun Lacks "Next Level" Perimeter Playmakers. Mykal, Bridges, Torrey Craig, and The Always Surprising Cam Johnson Are Excellent Role Players, Defenders, Shoot Makers; Any Team Would Love To Have Any One Of Them or All of Them, Really But They're Role Players At Their Best. They Work Like Effect Monsters In Yu Gi Oh, Who Get Boosted Power By Having A Primary Monster On The Field Boosting Their Ability. Nobody Else Mentioned Can Break A Man Down A Create For Both Themselves And Others, Their All One Directional. They Can Create In Space But usually For Themselves, which Explains And Justifies Chris Paul's 39.1 Assists Percentage.
Devin Booker Has Coveted Talent, But Chris Paul Made This Suns Roster A Playoff Team.
The Suns Contructed Their Roster The way Every Team CP3 Has Played has Ever Structured A Poster. In The Chris Paul Offense, Big Men Function Mainly As Rollers And Dunkers, Perimeter Players As Floor Spacers and Defenders; only The Suns Are Too Specific. The Suns Remind Me Of That Scene From The Episode Of That Futurama Episode "A Pharaoh To Remember." When
Osiran: The great monument is finished, oh Pharaoh. And now, the unveiling.
Statue: Remember me… Remember me… Remember me.
Osiran: Does it please you, my lord?
Bender: Hmm ... it's a good start. Uh, yeah, it's big, all right. I wonder if it's too big, y'know?…
High Priest: But, sire, we made it to your specifications.
Bender: Too exact if you ask me. Tear it down and try again. But this time, don't embarrass yourselves. Some Of Those Clippers And Hornets/Pelicans Teams Had Moree Structure And Blended Styles Of Player Beneath The Over-Cloth Of CP3.
The Suns Signed Guys Like Damion Lee In The Off Season. Phoenix Also Kept Cameron Payne around longer than anyone thought to keep Payne Around To Ameliorate The Trouble Of depending On an all too often physically-compromised Point Guard. Paul's Technical Savvy Has Aged Like Wine, But His Body Breaks Down Likes He's Fermenting, and He won't Make The Journey Of A Process Through The Playoffs. Nevertheless, both options only exacerbate the need for CP3 To Run The Offense. Lee Nor Payne Have Ever Shown Generally Impressive Play Making Chops.
The Options For The Suns Are… the Suns Don't Have Options After Their Two Starting Guards. The sun's Former Number One Overall Pick, DeAndre Ayton, Represents the Verisimilitude Of A Third Option. When The Suns Drafted Ayton in 2018, In A Much Debated, The Idea Of Him Mending With Booker As Some New Age Kobe And Shaq Immediately Began To Come To Mind. Ayton Had All The Tool And Touch To Dominate From The Mid-Post Down. Meanwhile, Book Established Himself as A Kobe Bryant Protege Acolyte Type. Their Season Didn't Blossom Like Most Hoped, But once Paul Arrived Two Season And Stirred The Drink, Everything Click.
He, Above Everyone Else, Sorted Out Where The Talents On The Team Should be. Paul Create Easy Bucket For Ayton Down Low, And The Sun's Found Success.
(At Least For A While) As a Result Of Paul's Control Ayton's Efficiencies Skyrocketed Even As His Usage. Last Season Ayton, per/40 Stats We're The Most Attractive Of His Career, 23.3 Points, 13.8 Rebounds, 2.0 Assist, 65.6 True Shooting With A Usage Rate Around 20.2 And A Real Plus-Minus Of 2.94. This Season's Stats For Ayton Are Similar. Yet Ayton Continues To polarize Many Who Watch The Suns Play. He's inconsistent, constantly at The Center Of The Drama Within The Team's Play. He Offers Nothing As Far As Getting To The Free Throw Line And Putting Pressure On The Oppositions Interior Defense.
He's Feuded With Teammates And Coaches And Worse Of All; He's Failed To Develop Beyond The "Toolsy" Identity He Entered The Association as His Garland.
Ayton's 2018 Draft Class Featured, Strangely, A Trove Of Big Man Including, Mo Bamba, Marvin Bagley III, Jaren Jackson Jr., Moritz Wagner, Wendell Carter Jr.(Three Of Whom Play For The Magic), Robert Williams III. The Jury Remains Out On Most Of the Men Names, But Jackson Jr. has Mostly Surpassed Ayton In This Draft Class. Both Big Man Entered The League Malleable And In Need Of Development But Ayton Had The Touch On The Elbow Jumper And the Offensive Technical Skills Around The Rime To Break The League Open. Draft Analyst Really wanted Ayton To Push His Game Out Further. In 2023 Jackson Made The All-Star Team. Because Of His Defensive Ability, But Overall He's A Better Player At This Point In Both Their Respective Careers. No Matter How Great Ayton Numbers Look, They Don't Hide The Fact That He's Not Offensively Conductive. Most Of Ayton's Buckets Are A Product Of Assist. Whether Pick And Roll Or Pick and pop, Dating Back To Ayton Rookie, Over 70% Of Ayton's Came As The Product Of Assist Peaking Last Season Above 81% With Just A Shade Underneath At 78.1%. Those Stats Are In Line With Myles Turner, And Rudy Gobert, Not Bad Players But Not The Names That Come To Mind When You Think Offensively Impactful Big Man. He's Never Developed Into An Anthony Davis Type. Chris Paul Looks To Serve Ayton In The Sweet Spots Of Ayton's Game, The Dominant Reason His Game won't Develop.
For Now And Perhaps The Entirety Of His Sun's Tenure, Ayton's Name Will Pop Up In Trade Discussions. The Suns Are Generally better With Ayton Off Of The Court Because The Offense He Does Offer Gets Negated By the Ineffectiveness Of Defense. Opponents' Field Goal Percentage Of Two Point Attempts Drops Nearly Ten Percentage Points With Ayton Off Of The Court According To Stats From pbpstats.com.
Mychal Bridges Has to Step Up His Perimeter Scoring A Meter In Booker's Absence. His Scoring Has Jumped. Averaging 23.2 Points Perr Game Since Mid-January And 4.9 Assist, To Just 1.7 Turnover With The Added Opportunities. He's The Team's Leading Scorer In That Span. Bridges Provide A Bright Spot For Sure, But He's Not The Guy You Want Taking The Bulk Tour Teams Shots. Ayton, Maybe Only If He's Putting Up Tim Duncan Type Number. Up To Date, He's Something Of An Young Inconsistent Stoudmire. Some Ayton Can Go For 25, Another Night two Points. He's Still That Frustrating Kid From The Camps In The Bahamas I Heard About From Those Who Played With Him.
The Suns Have Had Their Hat Thrown Into The Ring for Several Wing Trade Opportunities. OG Anonuby Remains Available For The Highest Bidder. He's Young, an Excellent Perimeter Defender, And Adds Both The Skills Of Bridges And Cam Johnson Into One Colossus. Then The Big Name Durant.
After Last Season's Trade Spite, Durant Listed Phoenix As Open. He's Open To Suiting Up After The Nets Opened Up To Trading Him. The Nets Ultimately Didn't Acquiesce To Durants Demands. How Much Does Phoenix Want To Gut Their Roster, Their Future? A Future That Doesn't Exist But Ask Brooklyn, The Future Comes Knocking One Day.
When Kyrie Irving left The Nets, He Said He left Them In Fourth Place In The East. He'd Done His Job. Where does KD's Departure Leave The Nets Now? Can we call The Foreseeable Result A "Blockbuster?" Was Avatar 2 Blockbuster in The Sense Or Just The Long Awaited Sequel To An Acclaim Franchise?
Regardless very Little Needs Explaining About How Kevin Durant "Solves" The Sun's Greatest Dilemma; he's Kevin Durant; We Know Him Strictly By Reputation. Even At 34 Years old, Durant As Shown No Ill Effect Of Time Tugging On His Telomeres. His Traditional Stats Before The Injury Ate Gobsmacking And Right On-Line With the Best Numbers Of His Career.
Durant Brings With Him 29.7 Points, 6.7 Rebounds, And 5.3 Assist. He And Kyrie Together Were TWo of seven NBA players averaging at least 27.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game this Season. His Feild Goal Percentage of 55.9% Reflects The Work Of A Post Scorer, Not A Mid-range Assassin. He's Shooting a career-high 63.7% from 2-point range. His Three Point Shooting Lags Behind At Just 37.6%. His True Shooting Percentage Stands As The Best Of His Career At 67.3% Before The Injury; Durant Lifted His Three Point Shooting To 47.6% In January, Connecting On Almost Three(2.5) Per Game. Durant, Like Irving, Has Played With Stars, In All Ranges. Whether The Two Gravity Mold With Westbrook In OKC Or The Avengers Ensemble In Golden State. He'll Fit And Be His Most Effective. He's Never Played With A Traditional Point Guards Like Chris Paul. Monty Williams Will Make The Mold Work No Need For The Media To Over Speculate Things, But Paul Brings A Different Dimension Than Anything Durant As Played With Before. He's Not The Mover and Shooter Like Steph Curry; He's Not The One On One Defensive Eraser Like Kyrie Irving. If Anything, He's Closer To A Westbrook, Only With A Stronger Nose For Play Making But A Ball Control Savant No Less. Durant Can Effective Create Offense For Paul And Book. He's Improved As A Playmaker From His Time With The Warriors.
If Paul Can Maximize His Off Ball Opportunities, The Suns Have A Blistering Offense In The Works. Ayton Still Feels Like The Odd Man Out Here With The Suns. His Touches will evaporate With Every Passing Game, and So Will His Development. The Suns Will NomDoubt Revisit Trading Him In The OffSeason As The Cap Hit Rises. The Impact Of Ayton's Production Line Doesn't Intercept With His Price Line. Defensively The Suns Are Going To Struggle Noticeably. Losing Two Of Their Best Perimeter Defenders No Only Expunges The Impact The Two Players Made But Exposes How Well Those To Shielded The Other Defensive Liabilities On The Team. Ayton Will Have To Defend The Rim With Greater shrewdness On As Attackers Would By The Sun's Perimeter.
Durant Defends The Winf Okay-ish, He's Never Defending A Primary Scorer On An Opposing Team. Rim Protector, Not A Niche Ayton achieves Greatly In On 0.7 Blocks Per Game, Durant Averages 1.7 Blocks Per Game. Offenses Will Have A Mike McCarthy Length Script for Attack CP3 Or Book In Pick And Roll. Durant, Devin Booker, Chris Paul, and Deandre Ayton give the Suns a championship core, But A Core Doesn't Cover The Obvious Surface Dilemma. The Suns Have to Create A Scenario Closer To The Time Travel System Of Harry Porter, Where Covering One Creates More Holes To Cover.
