Moving on from one of the greatest forwards in NBA history in Kevin Durant will take some time for the Phoenix Suns after they traded him away to the Houston Rockets.
Durant is simply a player you cannot replace, and the Suns will have to get creative in how they plan to fill the void he will leave at the forward position.
Phoenix was severely lacking in depth behind Durant during his 2.5 seasons in the Valley, but now has several players who can fill either the 3 or 4 position, just not at Durant’s level, especially offensively.
HoopsHype Leaves Suns Off Top Forwards Lists
HoopsHype did not include any Suns small forwards or power forwards on their two lists of the top-26 players at the respective positions.
Phoenix’s top forward figures to be Dillon Brooks, but at 6-foot-6, Brooks is technically a bit of a tweener between the shooting guard and small forward position, with some top players lists having him as a shooting guard.
HoopsHype, however, did not include Brooks on their top-26 shooting guard list either, which did feature Devin Booker (5) and Jalen Green (14).
These forward ratings show that the Suns might be lagging a bit behind at these positions, however, Brooks and Ryan Dunn are more defensive aces that can fit around the scoring of Booker and Green, which would make sense why they are not on these lists that mostly include players known for scoring.
On the other hand, Durant’s Rockets are loaded with forwards. According to the HoopsHype lists, Durant is still the No. 2 small forward in the league and is complimented by three top power forwards in Tari Eason (26), Dorian Finney-Smith (24) and Jabari Smith Jr. (17).
Phoenix will hope that it’s reloaded depth at the forward spots, which includes Royce O’Neale, Nigel Hayes-Davis, Rasheer Fleming and Oso Ighodaro behind Brooks and Dunn can help them still be competitive in this area in a Western Conference filled with talented forwards.
