The Phoenix Suns have thrived over the past two seasons in part because of their unmatched continuity. Their starting lineup racked up the most minutes of any five-man unit in the NBA last season and currently leads the league this season as well. It's a simple formula. Chris Paul runs the offense. Devin Booker scores the points. Everyone knows their roles. But with Paul set to miss most of the rest of the regular season recovering from a hand injury, that alchemy has been disturbed.
Phoenix holds such an enormous lead for the Western Conference's top seed that winning regular-season games is no longer essential, but maintaining some semblance of momentum heading into the playoffs would probably be preferable. With backup point guard Cameron Payne nursing an injury of his own, the Suns took an unconventional approach to replacing Paul in their first game back from the All-Star break. They moved backup forward Cam Johnson into Paul's slot in the starting five and made Booker their point guard.
The experiment is only a game old, but thus far, the Suns have to be fairly happy with the results. Booker hadn't reached double-digit assists once prior to the All-Star break, but in a 124-104 win over the Thunder, he dished out 12 of them. His scoring didn't take a hit either as Booker racked up 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting. His coach was impressed by the performance.
"I thought Devin managed the game well," Suns coach Monty Williams said after the victory. "If you look at his assist numbers, he got off the ball and was finding guys at the right time."
Booker likely won't average 12 assists in Paul's absence, but he won't need to. Payne should be back relatively quickly. Deadline acquisition Aaron Holiday can fill in some of the playmaking deficit as well. The Suns will take a step back without Paul, but it doesn't need to be a drastic one.
But the knowledge that Booker can take on more playmaking responsibility is going to prove critical to the Suns moving forward. Paul is 36. Even if he returns to the Suns at full strength in the playoffs, he's not going to be able to lead the Suns forever. Eventually, he's going to have to hand some of his offensive workload off to someone. If Booker is capable of taking it on, it will only help Paul age even more gracefully, and ensure that the Suns remain in contention not just this season, but in the next few beyond it.
