PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns are just a month away from the first training camp under new head coach Mike Budenholzer.
While many things have been ironed out, there is still work to be done to refine the compositions – perhaps even to the level of the original composition.
Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz believes Bradley Beal’s move to the bench This might be a prudent move for the Suns.
“Bradley Beal’s $50.2 million contract for next season ranks only behind those of Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokić, three players who have won six MVP awards together.
“Still, moving the veteran guard to the bench would be the best thing for the Phoenix Suns, especially with the signing of a true leader in Tyus Jones.”
– Swartz on Beal’s rotation status
Swartz attempted to justify this position by citing two factors in large part: defensive missions and depth.
“A starting five of Jones, Beal, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkić certainly won’t have any trouble scoring, but it forces Booker or Beal to guard the small forwards and leaves the bench a little weak.
“Beal would have had far more offensive opportunities in the second unit, with minutes split evenly between him, Booker and Durant. The Suns weren’t greatly impacted by his presence with their two stars last season, with Phoenix posting a net percentage of plus-7.5 (86th percentile) when Beal, Booker and Durant all shared the court versus when Beal was out (plus-5.4, 79th percentile).
“The Suns need Jones in their starting five to help solve their ball-handling issues (24th in assists-to-turnovers last season) and could use an elite spacer like Grayson Allen (46.1 percent from three-point range, No. 1 overall in the NBA) or a low-usage, three-point wing like Royce O’Neale between Booker and Durant.”
– Swartz explains why Beal should come off the bench
Jones appears to be a favorite to make the starting five on opening night, and while the aforementioned starting unit looks great on paper, especially offensively, there would be plenty of questions as to how that group would hold up on a possession-by-possession basis defensively.
Pushing Beal to the bench would likely lead to a bigger role, too — and it wouldn’t disqualify him from spending the most crucial moments of games on the court.
Allen or even O’Neale could very well fit more symmetrically into the starting lineup compared to Beal – it would make defensive assignments simpler and also give Beal a more linear path to get reasonable usage and shot volume.
Beal is likely to start. It doesn’t seem like a sustainable situation, even if it were for the good of the team. Beal sacrificed more than anyone last season – and should be rewarded for it, not demoted (if only by the title).
The Suns are scheduled to open the preseason on Oct. 6 against the Los Angeles Lakers, with the regular-season opener scheduled for Oct. 23 against the Los Angeles Clippers.
