Paul reportedly traded to the Suns

Bahamian post player with the Phoenix Suns DeAndre Ayton could have a new point guard throwing passes to him next season, and given the quality of player who is reportedly coming on board, Ayton’s career could certainly receive a major boost as he looks to transition into one of the top centers in the game.

All-Star point guard Chris Paul is being traded from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Phoenix Sun, according to the Associated Press (AP).

From his entry into into the league 15 years ago, Paul has been shaping the careers of talented big men, helping them reach the next level, with precise passes and leadership. His passes have allowed big men to be more dominant down low and for wing players to receive open shots. Ayton, who excels around the rim, but has also been developing an outside shot, could benefit handsomely from Paul’s arrival. Paul is regarded as one of the best leaders in basketball, and is known for making smart and timely decisions. Big men love playing with him and he is regarded as one of the better teammates in professional basketball.

Paul, a 10-time all-star in the National Basketball Association (NBA) including this past season, a former NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (MVP) and a four-time All-NBA First Team member, was acquired by the Suns along with project player Abdel Nader in exchange for Ricky Rubio, Kelly Oubre, Jalen Lecque, Ty Jerome and a first-round draft pick that will be conveyed sometime between 2022 and 2025, according to AP, on condition of anonymity because the trade has not yet been finalized by the league.

Paul, 35, has had a storied career spanning 15 seasons, and continues to be one of the top point guards in the league. This past season, he helped lead the upstart Thunder to the playoffs where they came within a whisker of upsetting the favored Houston Rockets. They won 44 games in the regular season, finished fifth in the west and pushed the Rockets to seven games in the first round of the 2020 playoffs.

Paul was their unquestionable leader, guiding a team with little experience to the brink of the Western Conference semifinals. This past season, he averaged 17.6 points, 6.7 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 48.9 percent from the floor and 36.5 percent from three-point range. Paul is seventh on the all-time assists list with 9,653 assists and also seventh on the all-time steals ladder with 2,233 steals.

At 35, Paul’s time may be winding down in the NBA, and one may wonder why the Suns would trade for an aging point guard to go along with such a young nucleus, but it shows that the Suns are serious about winning now. Why shouldn’t they be?

They were the best team in the play-in games in the bubble, going a perfect 8-0 at the NBA’s restart at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Florida, falling just short of advancing to the playoffs. All-Star guard Devin Booker, one of the NBA’s most dynamic players, and Ayton, led the charge for the young Suns this past season. Booker is a fifth-year guard, and 2018 NBA Draft first overall selection, Ayton, just competed his second season in the league. With Paul in the mix, a number of observers and analysts now consider the Suns a serious contender for the playoffs.

Booker averaged 26.6 points, 6.5 assists and 4.2 rebounds for the Suns a year ago while shooting 48.9 percent from the floor and 35.4 percent from distance. He raised that average to 30.5 points in the bubble. Ayton averaged 18.2 points, 11.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 54.6 percent from the floor in just 38 games, starting 32 at the center position. He averaged 15.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in the bubble. Ayton missed time this season due to a suspension at the start of the season for violating the NBA’s Anti-Drug Policy and also because of injury.

Rubio, who started 65 games at the point guard position for the Suns this past season, tweeted: “… what a business”.

Rubio averaged 13.0 points, 8.8 assists and 4.7 rebounds for the Suns last year. Oubre was the Suns’ second-leading scorer, dropping in a career-high 18.7 points per game. He added 6.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Lecque and Jerome were project players.

Veteran point guard Paul is owed about $41 million for this season and has a $44 million player option for next season. For the Suns, it would still be a tall order to make the playoffs in a loaded Western Conference of the NBA. They haven’t made the playoffs in 10 seasons – the second-longest drought in the NBA – and would still have to gel together in a short period of time in order to make it work.

Paul is also president of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), and the presumed trade reunites him with Suns’ Head Coach Monty Williams, who he was with in his last year with the New Orleans Hornets in 2011.

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