Sun's Key to Success without Ayton

Image Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

On Thursday night a statement came out regarding Deandre Ayton and that he would be facing a 25 game suspension for a failed drug test. Ayton was set to have a breakout season with new point guard Ricky Rubio running the floor, however he is now set to miss a near third of the season and the suns are at a loss of what to do.

On Friday the Phoenix Suns took on the Denver Nuggets in an overtime thriller. The Suns showed fight, and with the poor officiating and loss of a key player on the roster it’s safe to say we probably would have won the game if we were at full strength. The Suns played amazing on the defensive end in the first half holding the Nuggets to only 38 points. This continued however the Suns lacked shooting from their star players as Devin Booker shot 6/21 from the field not hitting hit first three pointer until late in the fourth quarter. The Suns had a great defensive game but struggled to find an alternative for Ayton’s presence down low.

What can the Suns do to be successful while Ayton is gone? The Phoenix Suns need to improve their scoring. Ayton was without a doubt the second best scorer on the roster and that will be a tough spot to fill but I believe the Suns big men can do pretty well in his absence. The Suns will have to heavily rely on defensive play but more importantly they will have to work on floor spacing because there is nobody dominating down low in the paint, consistently scoring in the low post, or grabbing rebounds consistently. The Suns are pretty deep at both big men spots as clearly shown in their game against the Nuggets. Aron Baynes stepped up huge in the starting lineup and managed to score 15 points, along with 7 rebounds while shooting 60% from the field while doing a pretty good job on Nikola Jokic for most of the game. Frank Kaminsky also stepped up huge with 19 points, 11 rebounds, and a whopping 11/11 from the stripe.

For the Phoenix Suns to succeed they need to step up huge on the defensive end and desperately need to improve efficiency. The Suns have the depth and star power to do good in the west without Ayton, it’s just a matter of their play on the defensive end, and how well they can shoot the ball until Ayton gets back.

- Connor Phillipo