Suns Trade Rumors: Phoenix Targeted Damian Lillard, Kemba Walker, Terry Rozier
The Phoenix Suns have reportedly explored the trade market for several seasoned point guards as they continue to search for backcourt upgrades prior to the 2018-19 NBA season.
John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 reported Friday that Phoenix has "definitely been trying to trade for a front-tier point guard." However, he noted the Suns came up empty in their pursuit of Portland's Damian Lillard, Charlotte's Kemba Walker and Boston's Terry Rozier.
After shipping Brandon Knight and Marquese Chriss to the Houston Rockets on Thursday in exchange for Ryan Anderson and De'Anthony Melton, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Suns are left with Shaquille Harrison and rookie Elie Okobo as their top floor generals.
On the bright side, Devin Booker has emerged as the kind of combo guard who can shoulder a significant playmaking burden if the Suns aren't able to make an upgrade at point.
In 54 appearances last season, Booker averaged a career-high 4.7 assists per game while logging a 31.7 percent usage rate.
The NBA's player-tracking data also showed Booker generated 9.6 potential assists a night thanks to his evolving facilitating prowess. For reference, that figure put Booker within one potential dime of both Kyrie Irving (10.2) and Goran Dragic (10.1).
Should new head coach Igor Kokoskov tap into that vision even more, Booker could find himself playing a role similar to the one James Harden has embraced under Mike D'Antoni in Houston.
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.
