World News today

 

We are now on the other side of the trade deadline. Whew. Always a crazy day, especially when you’re in the mix of teams looking to be a buyer. It’s time to take a deep breath and look at what happened and how it affects the Phoenix Suns moving forward.

Despite a limited number of available assets, Suns’ general manager James Jones was able to pull some strings and improve the roster. Yes, improve.

I know, I know. Some of you have emotional connections to the fringe guys. You put your line in the sand this past summer and said, “Yuta Watanabe is MY guy! He’s what will push this team over the top!”. I get it. Let it go, man. He was here for six months and played in 29 games.

There was plenty of hype this past July as free agency began. The Suns, who had recently acquired Bradley Beal to pair with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, didn’t have many bullets in the chamber. The majority of the acquisitions that they made were out of necessity. But the players that they brought in were young, athletic, “prove it” type of players.

The problem is, given their opportunity this season, they didn’t prove it.

The Suns bench has been bad this season. There’s been no consistency from their second-team unit, which puts more strain on the superstars. The superstars get paid a lot of money to perform, but you need to give them a rest. Or they will break down. It would be best if you had some organization and confidence coming in as a part of your substitution patterns.

Phoenix bench this season?

• 27.4 points (last)
• 46.2 FG% (15th)
• 29.7 3PT% (last)
• 15.1 rebounds (15th)
• 5.4 assists (last)
• -42 plus/minus (22nd)

That is why, contrary to all of the belief that we had in Yuta Watanabe, Jordan Goodwin, Keita Bates-Diop, and Chimezie Metu this past off-season when acquired, the Suns utilized them in a trade to gain Royce O’Neale from the Brooklyn Nets and David Roddy from the Memphis Grizzlies.