Despite adding some veterans last summer, the Phoenix Suns still finished the 2018-19 NBA season as one of the worst teams in the league. After missing the Western Conference playoffs for the ninth straight year, the Suns are expected to be more aggressive in improving their roster in the summer of 2019 in which, according to Duane Rankin of Arizona Republic , will be one of the most important offseasons in the franchise history.
Though they failed to reach their goal, Suns superstar Devin Booker is happy to see the improvements they have made this year. When the 2018-19 NBA season is officially over, Booker revealed that he intends to be more involved in the Suns’ offseason plans.
“I’m looking forward to [the offseason],” Booker said. “I think this is the growth stage that we needed this year with the additions that we made with Kelly [Oubre], Deandre [Ayton] and Tyler [Johnson]. Mikal [Bridges]. We have the good young core that’s ready to go. We just all have to stick together. Sprinkle in a couple of vets and some guys that are ready to win.”
The Suns have plenty of ways to improve their roster this summer. According to Rankin, the Suns are hoping to find players that could boost them at the point guard and power forward positions. The point guard position is one of the major problems the Suns are aiming to address since they traded Brandon Knight to the Houston Rockets. In the upcoming offseason, the Suns could search for their a starting-caliber point guard, either in the 2019 NBA Draft or free agency.
NBA Star Power Index: Give Devin Booker, Trae Young your full attention; Give Giannis Antetokounmpo his MVP.
By: @bradbotkincbs https://t.co/pjnJYAhlfF pic.twitter.com/WP7cU8fZUo
— CBS Sports NBA (@CBSSportsNBA) March 27, 2019
Having one of the worst records in the league, the Suns have a higher chance of acquiring a lottery pick, which they could use to select Ja Morant, who averaged 24.6 points and 10 assists per game and has been compared to Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Russell Westbrook. If the Suns decide to use the lottery pick to draft another player like Zion Williamson or use it as the main trade chip in a blockbuster deal, they could chase their new floor general in the 2019 NBA free agency period.
As Rankin noted, some of the realistic free-agent targets that could address the Suns’ backcourt issue include Ricky Rubio of the Utah Jazz, Terry Rozier of the Boston Celtics, Darren Collison of the Indiana Pacers, and Rajon Rondo of the Los Angeles Lakers. To improve the power forward position, Rankin also suggested that the Suns could pursue Tobias Harris of the Philadelphia 76ers. The Suns are reportedly “willing to go over the cap” just to build a roster that could help them end their playoff drought in the 2019-20 NBA season.
