2026 Offseason

[JJ Slim]

If an offer came from LA for Booker we would have to say no. I would rather live in NBA purgatory for 5 or 6 years instead of pairing Luka and Booker together in LA especially considering we could have already had that.

[The Bobster]

That would be one bad defensive backcourt.

[Split T]

I kinda hate the term true pg…all it really means is they are likely a bad scorer. The game just moved away from someone whose primary responsibility was to set up their teammates. The best PGs can do both. If you can’t put pressure on the defense as a scorer, your passing is less impactful.

Booker is a great passer and is probably the only great passer on the team. Royce is a good passer but is a zero as a scorer on ball. Grayson is a good passer and a decent scorer on ball, but not great. Oso is a good passer, but also basically a zero as a scorer. Green and Brooks are scorers, but bad passers. Colin is ok at both…he and Grayson are the only guys that can do both on the team besides Booker, but they don’t do either at a high level. Booker needs someone else on the team that can do both at a high level. I don’t care what position they play.

[Furlanfufi]

My wet dream is resigning Colin, him being adopted by Nash this summer and learning the ropes. If he can develop an inside game (and get back his 3 point shot, like the 1st half of game 4), he can reallly be what Booker needs.

[Superbone]

I think we need to figure out how to maximize Book's talents. Him being the primary ball handler obviously isn't it. He needs to get back to being primarily a scorer. We need a strong PG as we know this works. See Chris Paul and NBA Finals. We also need some size and rebounding although Maluach and Fleming will help with this next season.

How many "true PGs" are even left in today's NBA? Cade maybe? (Hence why Detroit would want Book, and why he might be a really good fit there)

Long gone are the days where guys like Chris Paul, Jason Kidd, and Steve Nash ran teams. If you look at the best PGs in the NBA today, you'll see mostly scorers or combo guards. Here's a list of most team's starting PGs:

SGA
Luka Doncic
Steph Curry
Jalen Brunson
Cade Cunningham <-- "true" PG
Tyrese Maxey
LaMelo Ball
Jamal Murray
DeAaron Fox
James Harden
Trae Young
Ja Morant
Derrick White
Tyler Herro
Jalen Suggs
Josh Giddey?
Tyrese Haliburton <-- "true" PG
Jrue Holiday
Fred VanVleet
...

I could keep going. There is almost no true PG on that list. If you want guys who make great passes, you have Luka, Cade, LaMelo, Harden, Giddey, maybe a few others. But most of those guys would just as soon score as pass.

So I just don't see who you bring in and put next to Booker who can run the point and "unlock" his potential into his 30s. I think that ship has sailed. IMO the best would be to put him next to a great-passing combo guard like Luka, Cade, LaMelo, or Giddey. Doubt we can get any of those guys this summer. If anything, some of those guys' teams might want to try to poach Booker.

I agree that Book is most effective as a pure scorer/SG and not a PG. But I just don't see who you could bring in next to him who would be a true PG. The best hope of that would be to hope that Collin Gillespie takes a huge leap and can lead the offense while setting up Book. Play CG 40 minutes a night and just hope you found a diamond in the rough. And Gillespie, despite being a good 3-point shooter, does love to pass and would not be under any delusions that he's the #1 guy ahead of Book.

I never said that we need a "true" PG. Just a strong one. If he can score too, even better. Also doesn't have to be a guard. Oso often runs our offense.

[ShelC]

The idea of point guards is still relevant, it's the form they take which has changed. They used to be 6-0 to 6-3 guards. Now they come in all shapes and sizes which I think is why people think point guards don't exist or are no longer relevant. But it's more about being that extension of the coach on the floor - the one who organizes the offense, understands the flow of the game and when certain things need to be done, which teammate needs the ball, how to attack a defense or a certain player, manage the clock, etc.

So by that definition - Luka's a point guard, Harden's a point guard, Fox is a point guard but also has Wemby who can make plays, Hali's a point guard. I'd put Jamal Murray there but we also know Jokic handles the ball and makes plays like a PG. Sabonis is a similar "hub". Same with Oso who was working smoothly with CG earlier in the season but is probably our best overall passer with court vision.

Brunson is a scoring PG who manages the game as well as anyone - he's the son of a coach and plays like it. PG. Yea some of those guys are scoring more now, but it's the mentality they have and approach to the game that differentiates them. Look at the Knicks-Hawks series. McCollum is playing "point guard" same as Brunson, both are great scorers but Brunson is the actual "point guard" of the two.

I think offenses are so spread out and guys are so skilled now that there isn't much of a need for one guy to get 10-12 assists. And it may be best that way - how many times did we see teams focus on taking the ball out of Nash's hands in the playoffs? "Cut off the head of the snake and make QRich, Shawn, Raja beat us". Same with CP when the ball seemingly always ended up in Crowder's hands at the end of the shotclock. On flipside, 20 years ago the Spurs never had anyone averaging more than 7-8 assists. TP, Manu and Tim were each always in that 4-7 apg range.

Not all smaller scoring guards are combo guards. There are more scoring "point guards" now but still comes down to how they manage the game and the team. Some are better than others at thinking the game but it's always been that way. And if Nash played today, people would call him a combo guard because he'd probably be averaging 23-25ppg and shooting 6-7 threes a night. Wouldn't mean he's not a point guard.

[O_Gardino]

I kinda hate the term true pg…all it really means is they are likely a bad scorer. The game just moved away from someone whose primary responsibility was to set up their teammates. The best PGs can do both. If you can’t put pressure on the defense as a scorer, your passing is less impactful.

Booker is a great passer and is probably the only great passer on the team. Royce is a good passer but is a zero as a scorer on ball. Grayson is a good passer and a decent scorer on ball, but not great. Oso is a good passer, but also basically a zero as a scorer. Green and Brooks are scorers, but bad passers. Colin is ok at both…he and Grayson are the only guys that can do both on the team besides Booker, but they don’t do either at a high level. Booker needs someone else on the team that can do both at a high level. I don’t care what position they play.

You do need someone who can score and create at a high level. But unless you want to go back to taking turns ISOing, you also need someone who is better than Book at managing the game like Shel described.

[JJ Slim]

Or we could just trade Booker and not have to worry about finding someone that covers for his shortcomings.

[Kryptonic]

Or we could just trade Booker and not have to worry about finding someone that covers for his shortcomings.

Again... putting a player above team will never win you shit... The ONLY player that may have worked for in suns organization was Nash and that was because he brought EVERYONES game up, which Book doesn't do.

[ShelC]

Every player has shortcomings. Trading him because he's not a PG is asinine. Should the Knicks trade Brunson because he's not a great defender?

[Kryptonic]

Damn... He's even jumping on the Detroit train lol.

[Split T]

Booker and the Suns fighting over me?

[Split T]

I kinda hate the term true pg…all it really means is they are likely a bad scorer. The game just moved away from someone whose primary responsibility was to set up their teammates. The best PGs can do both. If you can’t put pressure on the defense as a scorer, your passing is less impactful.

Booker is a great passer and is probably the only great passer on the team. Royce is a good passer but is a zero as a scorer on ball. Grayson is a good passer and a decent scorer on ball, but not great. Oso is a good passer, but also basically a zero as a scorer. Green and Brooks are scorers, but bad passers. Colin is ok at both…he and Grayson are the only guys that can do both on the team besides Booker, but they don’t do either at a high level. Booker needs someone else on the team that can do both at a high level. I don’t care what position they play.

You do need someone who can score and create at a high level. But unless you want to go back to taking turns ISOing, you also need someone who is better than Book at managing the game like Shel described.

It would be great if they were better, but just someone who has passing skills is fine. Booker is not an iso player…Durant was the iso guy…Green and Brooks are the iso guys.

[ShelC]

I kinda hate the term true pg…all it really means is they are likely a bad scorer. The game just moved away from someone whose primary responsibility was to set up their teammates. The best PGs can do both. If you can’t put pressure on the defense as a scorer, your passing is less impactful.

Booker is a great passer and is probably the only great passer on the team. Royce is a good passer but is a zero as a scorer on ball. Grayson is a good passer and a decent scorer on ball, but not great. Oso is a good passer, but also basically a zero as a scorer. Green and Brooks are scorers, but bad passers. Colin is ok at both…he and Grayson are the only guys that can do both on the team besides Booker, but they don’t do either at a high level. Booker needs someone else on the team that can do both at a high level. I don’t care what position they play.

You do need someone who can score and create at a high level. But unless you want to go back to taking turns ISOing, you also need someone who is better than Book at managing the game like Shel described.

It would be great if they were better, but just someone who has passing skills is fine. Booker is not an iso player…Durant was the iso guy…Green and Brooks are the iso guys.

Book can ISO in the halfcourt from midrange. He can't ISO from the 3pt line. He also can't bring the ball upcourt because we know teams will blitz him.

And the PG doesn't necessarily have to be the other guy creating and scoring. We could probably get away with CG handling and running the offense if we had a true scoring threat in the frontcourt to take the focus of the defenses off of just Book. If it were CG, Book, Brooks and then Franz/Paolo/Markkanen and Williams we'd have a lot better balance.

[JJ Slim]

Damn... He's even jumping on the Detroit train lol.

Whether Booker stays or goes that is going to be one of the biggest off season discussions in the league along with Giannis

[Split T]

I kinda hate the term true pg…all it really means is they are likely a bad scorer. The game just moved away from someone whose primary responsibility was to set up their teammates. The best PGs can do both. If you can’t put pressure on the defense as a scorer, your passing is less impactful.

Booker is a great passer and is probably the only great passer on the team. Royce is a good passer but is a zero as a scorer on ball. Grayson is a good passer and a decent scorer on ball, but not great. Oso is a good passer, but also basically a zero as a scorer. Green and Brooks are scorers, but bad passers. Colin is ok at both…he and Grayson are the only guys that can do both on the team besides Booker, but they don’t do either at a high level. Booker needs someone else on the team that can do both at a high level. I don’t care what position they play.

You do need someone who can score and create at a high level. But unless you want to go back to taking turns ISOing, you also need someone who is better than Book at managing the game like Shel described.

It would be great if they were better, but just someone who has passing skills is fine. Booker is not an iso player…Durant was the iso guy…Green and Brooks are the iso guys.

Book can ISO in the halfcourt from midrange. He can't ISO from the 3pt line. He also can't bring the ball upcourt because we know teams will blitz him.

And the PG doesn't necessarily have to be the other guy creating and scoring. We could probably get away with CG handling and running the offense if we had a true scoring threat in the frontcourt to take the focus of the defenses off of just Book. If it were CG, Book, Brooks and then Franz/Paolo/Markkanen and Williams we'd have a lot better balance.

I don’t think Colin can run the offense…he can run a 2 man game with oso, but he doesn’t put any pressure on the defense going towards the rim and he’s not a guy that’s making advanced reads.

I agree a true scoring threat in the frontcourt would help…as long as it’s someone who moves the ball. Siakam would be another type that would make sense.

[virtual9mm]

I think about the top teams in the West that the Suns didn't beat or struggled against this year. Lack of size was a major issue.

...

My point is it's time for this team to get some size. Yes, the Suns played hard. But, you can only have 6'4 or 6'5 guys play power forward for so long before it catches up. The Suns struggled against those teams on the boards and gave up too many offensive rebounds which of course led to second chance points.

How about a team up and coming for the future (IMO) like Utah.
Markkanen 7'1, Kessler 7'2, Jackson Jr. 6'10, Bailey 6'9. Filipowski 6'11.

That's four starters and a key reserve that are all 6'9 and up.

Opposing teams know that though the Suns are scrappy, they're undersized. They know you can get to the basket against this team.
More size and shot blocking is needed. Oso plays hard, but he's a PF in my opinion. If Mark Williams were healthy I don't believe the Suns get swept. Still, I'm tired of seeing SG's and SF's getting dominated at the power forward position. Fleming and Maluach will improve, but a "legit" starting PF is needed.

I completely agree -- but disagree that we need any new players. We just need to commit to Fleming and Maluach. Oso would be a very valuable 7th man in that rotation as both Fleming and Maluach could potentially shoot. Let them make mistakes.

Heck -- we can even run Fleming at the 3 if we end up trading Brooks. But I would like the size and physicality of a Brooks-Fleming-Maluach front line backed up by Oso and if healthy -- Williams. Physical, athletic, mobile. With just enough shooting.

[3TheHardaway]

I've always been curious about a Dejounte Murray or Jalen Suggs pairing with Booker, but with Booker's 3 point shooting struggles it would be tougher to see it work to add more streaking shooters. Either way, the idea of another guard with plus-playmaking and size defensively would be the ideal prototype.

Both of those guys are somewhat distressed assets (Suggs and Black are somewhat redundant, and Murray doesn't fit NOP's timeline) that could be had for Jalen Green.

I hate that I'm typing this but Mikal's struggles mean he could be had on the cheap at this point when the NYKs flame out of the playoffs. He's not a playmaker by any stretch but has shown glimpses of ball handling when needed and comes with the defensive skills that I think are critical to being Booker's backcourt partner.

[virtual9mm]

I don't think Oso is a PF but I wouldn't have minded seeing Ott mix it up and try him as a PF opposite Maluach. Let Maluach stretch the floor, keep Oso in the dunker's spot. Run some big on big screens to take advantage of Oso's passing and throw some lobs over the top. Thought we missed some opportunities to experiment.

Oso's shot is so incredibly bad that he can't possibly hurt his game by trying to break it down and rebuild it. I can't help but think that a player that intelligent would be able to improve his FT shooting to 77% or so at the very least. But I like your idea in practice -- run Oso as a point forward. He handles the ball extremely well for a big man.

I'd still sell high on Green but I think he'll be here another season. He's a volume scorer without reliable go-to offense. Good enough guy, plays hard, just don't think he's a real winning player. Same goes for Williams as a big but he's more valuable because bigs always are. Loved what Brooks brought and I'd keep him around but I'd rather see him off the bench as an energy hustle guy which means we need an upgrade in the the starting lineup. If he's one of your only offensive weapons, you're in trouble and if he won't be a more willing passer/ball mover, it'll get sour with him quickly.

Regarding Green -- I think we're on the same page -- but a Jamal Crawford-Bo Outlaw hybrid is very, very useful as long as you're not relying on him to be an offensive engine. As a energy guy and all-around scorer sixth man, he'd be deadly on a championship-caliber team. But as you and others mention, he has to embrace the role.

I hope we can keep CG and Goodwin but feel like at least one will leave. Both are different but equally good at what they do, just don't think they're good enough to be starters and relied too much on them over the course of the year. In a perfect world, we'd find a starter who combines the best of what they do.

Oh, I think Gillespie should be a centerpiece of the next phase of the Suns' evolution. The question is whether he could gel with Green. We know he can gel with Booker even if he's not a classic CP3 archetype. But...I can totally see Gillespie being a Hornacek.

It's nice that we exceeded expectations but I'm still disappointed in the choices made regarding who played down the stretch. We were locked into the 7th spot, we were too small against most teams, we knew we didn't have a chance against OKC but we still didn't make an effort to give the young guys some needed experience in these games. Let them feel playoff basketball, let them get their reps, get some gametape to look back on and use that to improve this summer. We were small, slow and unathletic and we had solutions to those issues sitting on the bench that we chose not to play. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I hope this wasn't a season like the 48 win team back in 2013-14 where we similarly exceeded expectations and couldn't find a path to take the next step. This is a key offseason for us, maybe more significant than last summer.

It's almost as if Ott did great when there were no expectations and he could play it loose and experiment...but got tight and choked when the Suns looked like a legit playoff team. Hopefully he learned something. Young coaches, just like young players, need to grow into themselves.

[virtual9mm]

I don’t envy this front offices job…. It’s a lose/lose situation. Moving book isn’t an option, it’s a necessity. Even if we get back some picks and front court help, we’re still looking at a 2-3 year timeline till our players are “developed”. Keeping book means we’re optioning for “malaise” and that’s not “aligned” with our team goals. Also if it was possible to get book to Detroit (his home) I think it’d be cool for him to get to play in his home state.

I was going to mention that Detroit might be a possible team that could actually use him especially considering the position they are in right now as the #1 in the east being down 3-1. They are definitely in a win now position and it is possible that they need that extra guy to put them over the top. He could be a great Robin to Cunningham's Batman. I don't know what draft resources they have but I do think they have young guys that we could take on to develop. I don't really follow them even though they are local as I only follow the Suns. Heck I didn't even know they had fired Monty until last year when I went to a game there when the Suns played (which btw was Nick Richards first game). But as a place the Booker might find acceptable that might be his first choice.

There are massive threads on this in both the Suns and Pistons subreddits. I think that the Suns would have to see if the Pistons are willing to overpay, kind of like how they overpaid for KD. And this might be one of the few moves that does Book right.