Phoenix Suns step No. 3: Acquire another shotcreator
In the series against Dallas, Devin Booker averaged 23.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.6 assists on more than 38 minutes per game. He shot 43.2% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc as well. His overall efficiency was worse than his stellar regular season, and in the playoffs, where you expect raw points to increase with extended playing time, his production fell short.
Obviously, Booker is still extremely young, at the age of 25, and has time to grow into a better offensive player. However, when he doesn’t have it going, who can Phoenix turn to in the halfcourt offense. It seems as though CP3 is always beat up when it comes to playoff time, and his durability won’t get any better as he continues to age.
Phoenix does not have enough players that create and make shots for themselves consistently, as in just these playoffs, Booker, Paul, and Ayton proved themselves to be inconsistent. Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder, and Cameron Johnson are nice complementary shooters and slashers to the rim, but they shouldn’t be taking the most shots in any given playoff game.
Therefore, if it’s a given that Deandre Ayton is spending next season on another team, Phoenix has to prioritize acquiring some sort of offensive production in return. Their individual and team defense has been proven in each of the past two playoff runs – they have above-average defenders at every position. In the halfcourt offense, however, they lack true scorers and shotcreators, a skill that the league is overflowing with nowadays.
If Ayton ends up staying, the Phoenix Suns have limited options in how they would add this player archetype, with a deal for the big man likely placing the team far over the luxury tax. In that case, the Suns would have the taxpayer MLE, which rounds out to about $5 million.