Suns to start Bledsoe, Booker, bring Knight off bench this season

The Phoenix Suns have made a habit of overstuffing their backcourt the past few seasons, saddling their coach with the task of sorting out the depth chart.

Earl Watson isn't wasting any time. The Suns bench boss - who took over for Jeff Hornacek on an interim basis last season before getting a three-year deal this summer - has already decided what his guard rotation will look like when the regular season rolls around.

For Monday's preseason opener, Watson will split up last year's opening-night starting tandem of Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight, opting to bring the latter off the bench and replace him in the starting lineup with super sophomore Devin Booker. Watson says that setup isn't liable to change.

"That's the starting lineup for the season," he told reporters Monday. "We're not wasting time. We're not lingering with inner competition.

"Brandon Knight is not a bench player. He's a starter in this league. He's sacrificed the most for our group. He took it like the pro he is because he understands the opportunity that we have to be special. Do players like coming off the bench? No, and we embrace that. That's the inner-competitive nature that we need."

In his first full season with the Suns, Knight averaged a career-high 19.6 points to go along with 3.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.2 steals. He missed a big chunk of time with a recurrent groin injury, but started 50 of his 52 games.

Bledsoe too had his season cut short, playing just 31 games before requiring surgery for a torn meniscus. The two guards' long injury absences allowed Booker to step in and take on a bigger role in the second half of the season. In 28 games (all starts) after the All-Star break, he averaged 19.2 points and 4.1 assists in 35.3 minutes, and was named to the All-Rookie first team.

"I knew at one point in my career I'd be a starter," said Booker, who's still just 19 years old. "I didn't know it'd be this soon but I have put in that work to be one."

The Suns were, at one point, reportedly intent on moving one of Bledsoe or Knight this offseason. For the sake of roster balance - or at least, not paying a backup $15 million a year - they may continue to seek trades this season, especially if Booker can build on his promising rookie campaign and lock down the starting shooting guard spot.