Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
The Ph0enix Suns are at least a year away from competing in the Western Conference playoff picture. However, they are in the process of rebuilding and with new head coach Jeff Hornacek the team is very optimistic in the direction they are heading.
The first step in the process must be to establish the shooting guard position. Last year, Wesley Johnson and Shannon Brown just didn’t get it done.
I don’t know what the Suns were expecting from Johnson coming over from the Minnesota Timberwolves, but being from Minnesota myself I can tell you it should not have been a starting-caliber guard.
Johnson has been nothing but a waste of a lottery pick since coming out of college, and last year furthered that assumption. Averaging 8.0 points per game and less than one assist, Johnson should not even be considered an NBA starter. But, with Brown right behind him in the rotation there wasn’t an option for Phoenix.
Oddly enough, Brown averaged better numbers than Johnson last year but not by much. 10.5 points and just short of two assists were the highlights of Brown’s year – again, nothing too impressive.
With the fifth overall pick in the Draft, the Suns could potentially take one of two excellent prospects at the position assuming one of them is still available. Ben McLemore out of Kansas and Victor Oladipo out of Indiana are both projected top-5 picks and with the way things are shaking out one of them could be heading to Phoenix.
At this point if I’m a Suns fan, I would be ecstatic with either one of them. Heck, I would even be happy with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope out of Georgia. Of course that is a major stretch, but you get my point.
If Hornacek is to have any immediate success with his new team, they have got to get him a shooting guard. Johnson and Brown are terrible options for the starting spot and he should know it.
Ryan Heckman is a Senior NBA writer for www.RantSports.com also contributing to the NFL. Follow him on Twitter, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.
