This season, the Suns are second in the West with 27 wins and 8 losses. And the first Warriors only 0.5 win difference, offseason 4 years 120 million re-signing Paul is still very worthwhile, although his average score per game to a career low of 14.4 points, but the average of 9.8 assists per game ranked first in the league, is also a new high in the past 6 seasons, the average steals per game also reached 2 times ranked second in the league, after the team has enough offensive firepower, Paul began to concentrate on organization and defense, the most important thing is that this season Paul is very healthy, currently 35 games to maintain full attendance.
For the Suns, originally thought that reaching the Finals last season has been the best chance, in fact, this season they continue to play steadily, there is no sign of decline, the team left most of the rotating players last season, but also got Shamet to increase the outside offensive firepower, McGee also played a very efficient performance, but the Suns are not completely without weakness, they lost Craig, Kaminsky was sidelined indefinitely due to a knee injury, Saric's anterior cruciate ligament tear basically announced the regular season reimbursement, The team's number four is in an almost vacuum, Ayton and McGee are both traditional centers, and their movement is still very problematic against the small lineup.
In fact, the Suns have long been aware of this problem, in the offseason they want to add a veteran who can swing in the fourth and fifth positions, when the Thaddeus Young, who was traded to the Spurs, became the most concerned object of the Suns, Young is 2 meters 03 tall, the arm span reached 2 meters 12 meters, he is strong, last season in the Bulls field averaged 12.1 points 6.2 boards 4.3 assist 1.1 break 0.6 caps, shooting 55.9%, attack can hold the ball back, the basket can finish well, the defense can top the inside line can change defense, Both the reinforcement and the co-defense are good, and he is a very versatile striker who can fully meet the requirements of the rotating players.
According to the news, the Suns provided Saric + Jaylen Smith + second-round pick chips for an offer, but the Spurs did not agree, the Spurs are not unwilling to let Yang go to the championship, but they want to trade in exchange for young players who can accompany the team to rebuild, Smith is the first round of 2020 10 pick rookies, this year is only 21 years old, it is reasonable to meet the needs of the Spurs, but he averaged only 2 points and 1.4 boards per game last season, as an interior lineman, shooting only 44% of the shooting, and indeed did not show his potential.
As the season progresses, now the attitude of the two teams may change, the Spurs side, Young did not get a stable playing time in the rebuilt Spurs, averaging only 14 minutes per game, which is very painful for the veteran, Young also publicly said that he wants to compete for the championship team, I believe that as long as the chips are appropriate, the Spurs will certainly be willing to let him realize his own value as he did when he first released Mills and Ade, and the Suns side, recently due to Ayton triggered a health and safety agreement, The team reactivated Smith, who has been DNP, and he himself is also a fighter, in the last 3 games, he averaged 26.8 minutes per game, contributed 15 points, 10 boards and 1 cap, shooting 57.7% from the field and hitting 2 three-pointers.
Smith is 2 meters 08 tall, physical fitness, excellent rebounding awareness, and a certain shooting ability, last year the Sun focused on the championship, or rookie Smith basically did not get too many performance opportunities, but this does not mean that he has no potential, the Spurs just lack of inside players, Smith under the guidance of Popovich can definitely grow rapidly, this is definitely a win-win deal, whether it can be achieved, let's wait and see!