Good luck beating my Phoenix Suns all-time starting five.

-Gerald Bourguet

Building our Phoenix Suns all-time starting 5

It started with a simple enough prompt, but it's been weighing on my mind ever since.

Part of it is the fact that I've always had a fascination with the imperfect, impossible art of trying to rank NBA players on all-time lists. Another part is a deep respect for the greats who have played for each and every NBA franchise, regardless of their era. And part of it is just an undeniable desire to mix and match players from different decades to build the best imaginary squad possible.

So when the Phoenix Suns Twitter account posted this tweet asking for people's all-time Suns starting fives, I took it way more seriously than I probably should have.

To clarify what we're doing here, this is not a list of my five greatest Suns players of all time. This is also not a list where we include the five best players who ever played in Phoenix at some point, incorporating their whole careers into the equation.

What we're doing here is trying to find the best possible starting lineup among former Suns, taking into account only their time spent in Phoenix. So not only does our criteria focus solely on what they accomplished with the Suns and how they played during their time in Phoenix, but it also takes into account how they'd be able to mesh with the other four starters if we scooped them all up in a time machine, dumped them onto the court together and tried to win games.

Bearing all that in mind, let's get to our all-time Suns starting five, starting with the most loaded position.

Point Guard: Steve Nash

No disrespect to the many talented point guards who have worn purple and orange, but this really came down to two all-time greats -- and it was not as easy as you'd think to choose between them.

As it stands, Steve Nash is still the greatest Phoenix Sun of all time, taking into account his longevity with the franchise, as well as his awards, accolades and team success. But looking at their individual numbers, Nash and Chris Paul weren't too far apart during their time in the Valley:

Steve Nash: 14.4 PPG, 9.4 APG, 3.1 RPG, 0.7 SPG, 50.4 FG%, 43.5 3P% (3.2 3PAs), .174 win shares per 48 minutes
Chris Paul: 15.1 PPG, 9.5 APG, 4.4 RPG, 1.6 SPG, 48.0 FG%, 36.6 3P% (3.7 3PAs), .190 win shares per 48 minutes

CP3 has the edge in scoring, assists, rebounds, steals and win shares per 48, while Nash was clearly the more efficient shooter. The difference, for our intents and purposes? M-V-Steve was in Phoenix for 10 seasons, compared to just three for Paul. That gave him more time to rack up six All-Star appearances (compared to just two for Paul), as well as five All-NBA selections (another two for Paul). Nash also led the league in assists five times in Phoenix, while Paul managed that feat once.

Since our list is only including players' time with the Suns, Nash gets the slightest edge -- though it's worth noting that, from a playing perspective, Paul's massive advantage on the defensive end made this closer than you'd think. If this exercise included their entire careers, Paul would've gotten the edge pretty easily, but his defense during his Suns stint wasn't anywhere near his peak during his Charlotte Hornets and LA Clippers days.

On a stacked team like this, you need an elite floor general to set everyone up and make life easier on your top scorers. Nash and Paul are both the best-suited options for that task, but Nash's longevity in Phoenix and his emphasis on pace (as well as his pick-and-roll chemistry with another guy further down the list) give him the edge over the Point God.

Honorable mentions: Chris Paul, Kevin Johnson, Jason Kidd, Paul Westphal, Goran Dragic, Dennis Johnson

Shooting Guard: Devin Booker

This one's a no-brainer. Not to take anything away from "Sweet D," but Devin Booker will eventually pass Walter Davis for the Suns' all-time leading scorer this season, and it'll be an incredible moment. The fact that it's going to take Book about 350 fewer games to get there is even more special.

Entering his 10th year with the franchise, Booker is a four-time All-Star and two-time NBA selection. He's had a top-five finish in MVP voting, led the Suns to a franchise-record 64 wins in 2022, and did what Nash, Amar'e Stoudemire, Shawn Marion and so many other greats on this list failed to do in leading them back to the NBA Finals.

Throw in the intangible things like his loyalty to this city through its darkest decade, his willingness to lead the Suns out of obscurity and back into the spotlight, and his ability to continue building his game on losing teams while attracting star talent like Chris Paul, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, and you've got an absolute winner, as well as one of the most adaptable stars currently in the league.

Give Booker a few more years to claim even more top spots on the Suns' all-time leaderboards, and he may become the greatest Sun of all time regardless of whether he eventually wins a title.

Honorable mentions: Walter Davis, Dick Van Arsdale, Jeff Hornacek, Joe Johnson, Bradley Beal

Small Forward: Kevin Durant

True enough, we're focusing only on players' time in Phoenix. But Kevin Durant has still been an absolute monster during his one-and-a-half seasons in the Valley, and that's more than enough to slot the Slim Reaper in as our starting forward.

Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson had the longevity and the fan favorite vote, and Dan Majerle was a great 3-and-D wing on a Suns team that went to the Finals. But come on. This is Kevin Durant we're talking about. It just isn't close.

In 83 games for the Suns, KD has put up 27.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.2 blocks and 0.9 steals per game on .527/.424/.854 shooting splits. He's already earned two All-NBA nods during his time here, and he's coming off one of the best defensive seasons of his career. Having that kind of skill, shooting ability, midrange prowess and defense on the wing, at that size, makes him a no-brainer pick for our starting five.

Honorable mentions: Mikal Bridges, Dan Majerle, Cam Johnson

Power Forward: Shawn Marion

Point guard and power forward were easily the most contentious choices on this list. Excluding Charles Barkley -- who was the best player to ever suit up for the Suns until KD came to town -- feels blasphemous. How can you leave off the only other MVP winner in franchise history, a guy who also got the Suns to their second NBA Finals appearance?

Well, for our particular list, it comes down to fit, not to mention the tiebreaker of longevity. Both lean in Shawn Marion's favor, especially with the more modern style that I want my imaginary all-time Suns starting five to adopt. But before we dive into that, let's take a look at what the numbers have to say:

Shawn Marion: 18.4 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.9 SPG, 1.4 BPG, 48.1 FG%, 34.2 3P% (2.9 3PAs), .179 win shares per 48 minutes
Charles Barkley: 23.4 PPG, 11.5 RPG, 4.4 APG, 1.6 SPG, 0.8 BPG, 50.1 FG%, 30.1 3P% (2.8 3PAs), .210 win shares per 48 minutes

Barkley was clearly the better player, putting up superior numbers as a scorer, rebounder, passer and shooter from the field. There's a reason his win shares per 48 minutes lead all players in franchise history.

But Chuck was only in the Valley for four seasons, and his work ethic after that 1993 NBA Finals run famously fell short of where it needed to be for Phoenix to get past Houston. That cost the Suns additional shots at a title, and for all his incredible strengths on the boards and in the paint, an undersized 4 who couldn't shoot 3s or serve as a lockdown defender might more of an issue in the modern game.

Granted, Marion only shot 34.2 percent from deep, compared to 30.1 percent for Barkley, so you're not making a huge leap in that category. We should also point out that holding 3-point attempts or percentages against players from back then is a flawed premise, since the league simply didn't put that same kind of emphasis on the 3-ball back then. But Marion was at least within striking distance of being a league-average shooter during his era, and the massive gap in their defensive abilities gives Matrix the slightest of edges.

On this all-time starting five, we want to play fast, but we also want switchable wing defenders who can hold their own, cover for perimeter breakdowns, protect the rim from the weak-side and close out possessions on the glass. Marion was elite in all of those categories, and between him, KD and a motivated Booker, that's a lot of length and switchability to work with. Durant and Marion's secondary rim protection would be huge in covering for some of the deficiencies of Nash (and our next guy).

Charles Barkley is clearly the better player, and he probably had a bigger impact on the Suns despite only being in Phoenix for four seasons to Marion's nine. But this is my all-time Suns starting lineup, and dammit, I want more size, length, defense, athleticism and slightly better shooting than what Chuck brings to the table.

Honorable mentions: Connie Hawkins, Tom Chambers, Larry Nance, Boris Diaw

Center: Amar'e Stoudemire

If you're still upset with that last pick, consider this: We needed a rangy defender to cover multiple positions if STAT is our starting center! No disrespect to the great Amar'e Stoudemire, of course, but that end of the court was my biggest qualm about picking him for the 5-spot.

Then again...this position isn't exactly swimming with competition. Alvan Adams is undoubtedly an all-time Suns great, but he peaked during his rookie year statistically, and at 6-foot-9, he'd be a bit undersized for a 5, especially against the more athletic and skilled bigs in the league now. Shaquille O'Neal's short stint in Phoenix was a disaster, and Deandre Ayton is also the name of a big man who once played for the Suns.

That leaves us with Stoudemire, who may have spent most of his time on the Suns as a power forward, but would undoubtedly play as a 5 in today's NBA. At 6-foot-10, the burly STAT was an absolute terror for opposing rims and rim protectors alike. He wouldn't spread the floor to 3-point range, but he could hit the occasional middy, and if he could just be passable and active on the defensive end, there'd be way too much offensive firepower to contend with.

Seriously, think about how Nash and Amar'e were the NBA's most dominant pick-and-roll duo since John Stockton and Karl Malone. Now imagine trying to defend that 1-5 pick-and-roll, while Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Shawn Marion all take turns spacing the floor and cutting. You like Book and KD playing off the ball and getting the rock in their spots? Nash would probably be able to set them up pretty well, especially with the floor-spacing, shooting and gravity those other guys command.

It's not the strongest defensive group the Suns could trot out among their all-time ranks, but it'd be arguably their most well-rounded, while still being an absolutely blistering force on the offensive end.

Honorable mentions: Alvan Adams, Deandre Ayton, Shaquille O'Neal

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