Suns Just Signed 2 UNDERRATED Combo Guards!

Feels like we’ve been waiting a long time for the Suns to actually make a point guard signing, but it is finally here. After losing out on the Marcus Smart sweep stakes to the Lakers, two guards were signed today by the Suns. And one is a familiar face in Jordan Goodwin, who most recently played with the Lakers last season. Real quick, hit the like for us, please, and tell me in the comments if you’re excited about Jordan Goodwin’s return to the Valley or not. But let’s get into his development since leaving the Suns because it’s interesting. And let’s talk about the other guard signing Jared Butler, which I think is a very intriguing player for Phoenix. First, we all remember Jordan Goodman, right? 6’4, he’s only 26 years old. He played with Bean Washington and spent half a season with the Suns. I feel like in his time in Phoenix, he showed flashes of being the type of player that you want rostered in your city, but h there were a lot of missed shots and missed opportunities with him on the floor. A lot of floaters gone arai if I remember correctly. Suns were in a desperate win now situation and they moved him along with a slew of other players essentially coming away with only Royce O’Neal, which shockingly worked out better. Royce was arguably more productive than all of the players sent out combined at that deadline just a couple years ago. I heard rumblings this season on X from Lakers fans that Gooden was a dog for them and well, you know how that goes, right? Anybody that puts a Lakers jersey on automatically gets a plus 10 publicity boost. So, I didn’t know if I could actually believe them or if they were just hyping up one of their own. Luckily, I think the truth lies somewhere in between. The biggest improvement I see from Goodwin since he’s left is a crazy 10% jump in three-point shooting. From the disgusting 28.7 that he shot with the Suns to a legitimately impressive 38.2% with the Lakers. Now, does that come from playing with special playmakers like Luca and LeBron all season? I don’t know. 10% is a pretty huge jump. We already knew he was a good defender at the point guard position. We just wanted him to be more three and D. Well, as of last season, technically, he made that improvement that was needed. So, we should be happy about that. I think the second part of his tenure with the Phoenix Suns is going to come down to this. Is he going to shoot like LA Lakers Jordan Goodwin or is he going to revert back to Phoenix Suns Jordan Goodwin next season? On to Jared Butler, though. Now, because I’ve already seen Jordan Goodwin underperform in a Suns jersey, I think I’m a lot more excited about Butler. He’s officially listed as a shooting guard, but I see a point guard when I watch him play. Clear as day. So, let’s just split the difference and call him a combo guard. He’s only 24 years old, which is very aligned. He’s 6’3, 193 lbs, and he’s going into his fifth year in the NBA out of Baylor. He’s never shot under 30% from three, topping out this last season at 35.5% after playing half the season in Washington with the Wizards and the other half of the season in Philly with the Sixers. Also, his three-point shooting percentage has steadily been trending upward throughout his career, which is very encouraging to me. His jumper is beautiful. No ugly hitch or anything like that. So, I see a little bit of why he’s been listed as a shooting guard, but his assists have been going up as well, not just his three-point percentage. He’s more than doubled his assists per game since his rookie season with the Jazz. What’s crazier is in his first three seasons, he had a total of 197 assists. Last season, he beat that total alone with 220 total assists. I reached out to friend of the channel, Romp from Sixers Talk with Romp, and he offered this assessment, which might explain perhaps why his assists are going up. Romp said, “Should be better than he’s been. Seems to struggle with confidence cuz he’s extremely passive. Good feisty defender. His handle is insane. Great pick and roll passer. Very inconsistent scoring though. And shooting wise, he doesn’t have NBA range is my guess cuz his shot looks good. So, it’s weird that he’s not at least 38% from three. He sometimes passes up open threes as well. His problem is he’s just a passer offensively most nights, so defenses don’t really care about him, and rather than make them pay, he kind of just lets him off the hook. I wouldn’t be shocked if he finds a place because if you watch him, you see a good basketball player. I could see you falling for his highlights. What a disrespectful little unnecessary jab at the end there. Right, little meatly mouthed so he’s right. I really like this kid from his highlights and I’m tired of acting like I don’t. According to Gambo, these two guys were brought in to compete for the third point guard position behind Booker and Gillespie. Tell me what you think about these signings.

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18 comments

  10. The reason guys always shoot worse when they are on the Suns, is because we never have any facilitators to set up open looks. Point-Book hitting them for a contested 3 with 2 seconds left on the shot-clock is NOT the same as having a true facilitator.

    As for the players themselves, both are intriguing. But neither likely mitigate our desperate need for someone to set up good looks..

  16. I have no idea how much is left in the Marcus Smart tank what with his recent injury history and style of play. Lots of wear and tear there, maybe a blessing that the Suns did not get him. Goodwin and Butler are good moves right now. If the situation changes, they can be released without much trouble. Though both are fringe NBA types, they both did have the best seasons of their NBA careers last year, albeit in limited games (Goodwin) or injury replacement (Butler). Always take a flyer that either of them does improve this season.

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