Ranking Five Best Options to Replace Phoenix Suns PG Chris Paul
Bleacher Report's Chris Haynes dropped a bombshell report last week by claiming the Phoenix Suns were cutting ties with Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul after three seasons. Various insiders, including ESPN's Adrian Wojanarowski and Arizona Sports' John Gambadoro refuted the report, but the optics that Paul's future in Phoenix is in doubt are still very much alive.
If this truly is the end of Paul's time in Phoenix, it's been an incredible ride and the Suns fandom owes tons of gratitude to the Point God for how he helped turn this franchise into a perpetual contender.
However, we must also look to the future, and there are several intriguing names that are set to become available via free agency or could become available via trade.
These five potential replacements will be ranked in terms of talent, scalability, and feasibility of actually acquiring their services.
Wild Card- Damian Lillard
Lillard is easily the best player who could become available this offseason, and if he were to become available, the Suns would almost certainly express interest in working out a trade.
Lillard has long gushed about how fond he is of Devin Booker as both a player and person, and the thought of creating a big three of players of this caliber is extremely terrifying for the other 29 teams. However, the Suns' major assets being Deandre Ayton and an expiring Chris Paul contract makes it unlikely that a trade could be worked out.
5- Alex Caruso
Caruso would have to be acquired via trade from the Chicago Bulls, but he makes a lot of sense as a fit on this Suns team. Frank Vogel spoke extremely highly of Caruso quite frequently when both were members of the Lakers. Caruso is one of the best perimeter defenders in the entire NBA, along with being a good shooter and solid connector of an offense.
He's also far from ball dominant and would compliment Kevin Durant and Devin Booker extremely well.
4- D'Angelo Russell
This one will be controversial, as Russell had a very poor playoff performance as a whole in his second stint with the Lakers. He more or less is what he is at this point- a streaky microwave scorer that also can serve as a secondary playmaker, and is very poor on the defensive side. He doesn't necessarily fit what Vogel wants to do, but his close friendship with Devin Booker will always link him to the Suns.
This certainly wouldn't be the ideal solution, but is it possible he tanked his value so much that he would take an MLE (mid-level exception) to play with the Suns for a year? Would it be worth taking a flier on him? Only time will tell.
3- Fred VanVleet
VanVleet is a sneakily interesting name this summer. The Suns have had at least some degree of interest in acquiring him going back as far as the 2020 offseason. Fred fits Vogel's system in terms of being a fearless and hard-nosed defender despite being undersized.
He's also a good shooter, underrated playmaker, and gives consistent effort on both ends. The main drawbacks are certainly the contract he will likely be seeking and the known efficiency struggles as a scorer.
2- Kyrie Irving
Irving might be the most attainable. Various reports hinted that the Suns nearly did make the Paul-for-Irving swap around the trade deadline in February. It certainly seems like the plan all along was to pair Durant and Irving back up. The two ways he can be acquired are straightforward- he can either sign the MLE or Dallas and Phoenix could work out a sign-and-trade.
This one will split the fanbase at the seam, and understandably so. No one denies the talent of Irving- it's the consistent drama and distractions he brings and has brought ever since he demanded out of Cleveland. At the end of the day it's hard not to wonder if that is a Kyrie problem or the organizational problems at the places he's played.
Phoenix has become a stable organization. James Jones and Mat Ishbia appear to be more outgoing than Sean Marks and Joe Tsai. Irving is close with Durant and has a lot of respect for Booker. Could the right organization of drive the best out of him?
1- James Harden
Harden is already a valley legend for his two years at Arizona State. He clearly still has a connection to the locale here, visiting the ASU basketball team every time he has a road game in Phoenix, and even has been seen going on hikes at Tempe's "A mountain" in the past. Once again another former teammate of Durant, Harden's still top-shelf playmaking ability, coupled with better shot making abilities than Paul at this point in time make him an extremely desirable target.
The path to acquiring him is likely more difficult than Irving, as a sign-and-trade is almost certainly the only way to get the former MVP to the desert.
Will any of these point guards be on the Phoenix Suns roster when media day rolls around in September? Is the Chris Paul news just smoke? What are James Jones and Mat Ishbia planning? All of these questions will be answered in the next month plus.
