Suns’ free agent PG targets include Beverley, Collison, Joseph, Rubio

The Phoenix Suns’ preliminary list of free agent point guards to target includes Patrick Beverley, Darren Collison, Cory Joseph and Ricky Rubio, per 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station’s John Gambadoro.

Beverley, 30, is known for his toughness as one of the best defensive point guards in the NBA. A key piece for the 48-win Los Angeles Clippers, Beverley averaged 7.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game in 78 appearances.

Collison is a steady two-way player who has been playing some of the best basketball of his career for the Indiana Pacers the past two seasons. Shooting 46.7% from the field and 40.7% at 3-point range, the 31-year-old can be efficient in his limited opportunities to score while playmaking for others at 6.0 assists per game.

Joseph, Collison’s teammate, has been an effective bench guard in eight NBA seasons. While Joseph is not a reliable 3-point shooter at 32.2% from deep last season, he can score and provide for others. He posted averages of 6.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game for Indiana last year.

The unrestricted free agent of the four that is expected to garner the most interest is Rubio. The 28-year-old is a strong defensive presence and one of the league’s best passers, averaging 7.7 assists a night over eight seasons. Rubio, however, is not known as a shooter and is not a reliable source of offensive creation despite 12.7 points per game last year for the Utah Jazz.

Phoenix has been in need of a point guard since trading Eric Bledsoe in the early stages of the 2017-18 season. After players such as Mike James and Tyler Ulis earned nods that season, the team traded for Elfrid Payton at the trade deadline. Heading into the next season, the team had a healthy Brandon Knight coming back and projecting as the next starter. But they traded Knight, did not re-sign Payton and instead started Isaiah Canaan to open the season. Canaan and rookies De’Anthony Melton and Elie Okobo earned starting nods at point, along with Devin Booker, before the team traded for Tyler Johnson and also gave him some run as Booker’s backcourt mate.

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