2. Jackson’s Development Could Attract More Talent
Having young players continue to develop wouldn’t be beneficial exclusively for the reason that they would be better players and would be able to contribute more. Receiving progression in the development of key young players could serve as a recruiting tool for talented free agents to come to Phoenix because they have seen enough to believe in them.
Most already know what they are going to get from Devin Booker and while Deandre Ayton was the top pick in the draft, there is only so much stock that can be placed into a rookie season. Jackson, on the other hand, will have a full year of experience in the NBA and having a strong season should show some of his high potential as a player and that could be attractive to a free agent.
Phoenix will need to sort out the long-term placement of their young wing players and evaluate their options post 2019 NBA Draft before pin-pointing which position they want to upgrade using their substantial cap space. The process begins with what position they want to use Devin Booker at for the long-term future. There is a lot of talk about comparing him to James Harden and he has led successful teams at both guard positions.
If they intend to use Devin Booker as the next James Harden and it works out, then Jackson and Mikal Bridges can cleanly fit at the shooting guard and small forward positions with the need for a long-term power forward. Keep in mind, Phoenix has targeted expensive power forwards in recent years like Blake Griffin, Paul Millsap, and LaMarcus Aldridge.
If Phoenix wants to keep Booker at shooting guard, they will need to determine if they want to experiment with Jackson and Bridges filling the forward spots or if they want to bring one of them off the bench, which leaves the point guard spot open and potentially the power forward spot if both of their wings don’t start.
Basically, the Suns have a lot of potential options to spend their salary cap space and it depends on the positional outlook of Devin Booker with the rest depending on Josh Jackson. If he can fill a different starting role next to Booker at a high level, then that makes them a more attractive team to free agents and they can capitalize on their salary cap space to bolster their team.
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