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During the Phoenix Suns&rsquo; final game before the All-Star break, Chris Paul suffered a fractured thumb avulsion. Paul will now be re-evaluated in six to eight weeks, bringing Paul&rsquo;s probable return right before the postseason begins.
Luckily for Phoenix, it is six-and-a-half games ahead of the Golden State Warriors for the Western Conference&rsquo;s No. 1 seed, and it would take a noticeable slip for the Suns to be caught by anyone in the West. This will be a serious test for the Suns though, because Paul has actually avoided serious injuries on the court throughout his tenure thus far in Phoenix. Paul has only missed four games with the Suns, but this will now be a real evaluation period that could potentially help them in the long run.
Both Cameron Payne and Landry Shamet are expected to be back from ankle injuries after the All-Star break. Also, the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/aaron-holiday-is-fitting-right-into-the-suns-vision" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new acquisition of Aaron Holiday</a> now brings a sigh of relief for Phoenix's overall depth. Holiday&rsquo;s tenacious defense and adequate floor-spacing ability have already made him an upgrade over Elfrid Payton as the Suns&rsquo; emergency third-string point guard.
Paul&rsquo;s extended absence will cause major ripple effects on their offense though. With Paul on the floor, Phoenix is scoring 115.9 points per 100 possessions &mdash; 11 points better than when Paul sits for the Suns. (By the way, that&rsquo;s tied for the best mark in the Association with the Utah Jazz for Offensive Rating.) In the small sample of minutes Paul has been off the court, this season more so occurring in blowout victories, the Suns&rsquo; ORTG dips to 105.4.
Since the Suns&rsquo; explosion, we&rsquo;ve yet to really see Devin Booker run the show as much for obvious reasons. Booker playing extensively off the ball alongside Paul has helped conserve his energy for career-best defensive moments and being an assassin in the scoring department. Before Paul arrived, though, Booker had very important moments of growth as a facilitator in the Suns&rsquo; down years.
From 2018-2019, Booker operated with no starting-caliber point guard after Eric Bledsoe seemingly quit on the team via Twitter and was subsequently traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. Operating in the backcourt next to names like Payton, Isaiah Canaan, Mike James and Elie Okobo for an extensive period of time forced Booker into being the entire offensive operation.
Everything flowed through Booker every single possession, a baptism by fire so to say, but the Suns&rsquo; young shooting guard continued to blossom into a multi-faceted weapon. Booker&rsquo;s playmaking allowed for Paul to have a steady running mate, and now with the latter sidelined for potentially the rest of the regular season, this could open back up that box even further.
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Will Suns head coach Monty Williams stick to the plan and allow more minutes for Payne and Holiday alongside Booker? This seems like the best bet, but what about experimenting with Booker and seeing how it goes? Lineup combinations featuring Booker flanked by wings is a fun small-ball idea (Booker, Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, Jae Crowder, Torrey Craig). And Booker&rsquo;s capabilities running the pick-and-roll will lead to pick-your-poison scenarios with either Deandre Ayton or JaVale McGee. Compared to Paul, the drop-off to Booker isn&rsquo;t as steep as many think in pick-and-roll efficiency (Paul: 0.99 PPP, Booker: 0.94 PPP).
Where Paul&rsquo;s absence will be felt the most is in the moments where it matters most. Phoenix is on pace to be the best team in NBA history for clutch-time dominance. Paul&rsquo;s stabilizing presence and precision running the show allow for Phoenix to stay afloat when most teams sink. Booker has been potent in the clutch as well, but how will it fare with one head of the two-headed monster gone for a little bit? Again, this is a potential growth moment for Booker and Phoenix. If the Suns experience little to no drop-off without Paul, Booker&rsquo;s dark-horse MVP case will continue to rise.
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All baskets by Devin Booker in Clutch Time this season. (Under 5 minutes left in the game, score within 5). <a href="https://t.co/060DOBftHy">pic.twitter.com/060DOBftHy</a>
&mdash; RB (@RyB_311) <a href="https://twitter.com/RyB_311/status/1495432852523175936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2022</a></blockquote>

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After the All-Star break presumably through the end of the regular season, here&rsquo;s how the Suns&rsquo; rotation will look.
Starting Lineup: Cameron Payne, Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder, Deandre Ayton
Second Unit: Aaron Holiday, Landry Shamet, Cameron Johnson, Torrey Craig, JaVale McGee
Losing Paul is a huge blow in the short-term, but that 10-man unit alone is still a formidable one. The Suns&rsquo; trio around Booker &mdash; Ayton, Bridges, Johnson &mdash; should take pressure off the team's 25-year-old star, but show potential moments of growth as well. Ayton will immediately show whether or not he&rsquo;s worthy of the rookie-scale max this offseason without Paul setting him up. Bridges and Johnson are ascending into potent scoring threats, but how will Paul sitting on the sidelines impact their overall efficiency?
Luckily for the Suns, their distance from everyone else atop the West could keep them locked into the No. 1 seed. If anything, this time without their leader allows for those relied upon most long-term &mdash; even past the Paul era &mdash; to deliver when the situations calls for it.
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With Chris Paul out for the next two months, the NBA's best team could actually benefit long-term from his absence before the playoffs.

Chris Paul's absence could actually benefit Suns long-term

Eric Garner took his last breath on this earth seven years ago today, after being killed by NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo. Garner was guilty of selling loose cigarettes outside of a convenience store and the officer administered an illegal choke hold despite him repeating the phrase &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t breathe&rdquo; 11 times. An unmoved group of fellow police officers stood around and did nothing as he was murdered in broad daylight.&nbsp;
This led to worldwide protests and demonstrations, which spilled into NBA arenas. Derrick Rose was the first NBA player to wear an &ldquo;I Can&rsquo;t Breathe&rdquo; shirt during warmups, followed by LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Garnett and many players from the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns.&nbsp;
I have worked closely with Garner&rsquo;s daughter, Emerald, since inviting her to speak at a Black Lives Matter panel that I put together at Canaan Baptist Church in Harlem during the 2015 NBA All-Star Weekend. The panel also included Isiah Thomas, Alonzo Mourning, Chris Broussard, and John Wallace among others.
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Fast forward to 2019: the Suns&rsquo; players were <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2019/02/22/nba-players-political-statements/2838011002/">interested in activism</a> and wanted to make an impact, so they brought Emerald and I to Phoenix to speak to the team. It was an emotional experience for the players, but one that was greatly appreciated by Emerald.&nbsp;
When I told Emerald about the invitation, the first thing she said was, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know much about the Phoenix Suns, but they were one of the teams who wore the &lsquo;I Can&rsquo;t Breathe&rsquo; shirts, so I would love to speak to them.&rdquo;
And with that, we were off to Phoenix.&nbsp;
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We sat down and watched the Suns go through a light practice. I hugged James Jones, who I have known for years from working with him on the NBPA&rsquo;s executive board (and I&rsquo;m so happy for him and his success as a GM). After practice, they all assembled in their media room and sat and listened for nearly an hour and a half as I asked Emerald questions. It was originally slated for only 45 minutes, but when I asked if they wanted us to wrap it up or continue, Jamal Crawford (who was an elder statesman on the team) replied, &ldquo;No, please continue. This is important and we don&rsquo;t have anywhere pressing to go right now.&rdquo; He looked around at everyone and the entire team nodded in agreement, so we continued.&nbsp;
I remember a young Deandre Ayton watching and listening intently to every word. Devin Booker forgot all about the fact that he had ice on his knees and the trainer had to peek in and tell him to take it off. I saw him shake his head, snap out of his trance, take his ice off and apologize for making any noise.&nbsp;
At one point, Emerald leaned over to me and asked, &ldquo;Do you think this is too heavy for them?&rdquo; And I told her, &ldquo;No, keep talking, you&rsquo;re doing great.&rdquo;
We discussed how her family was devastated after her father was killed by NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo, how they were still holding out hope for some type of justice, how afraid and traumatized she felt, and how much she appreciated athletes like them supporting her.
At the time, some people questioned whether an athlete wearing a shirt is activism and if it meant anything at all, so I asked her about that. The players heard directly from someone who was immediately impacted by their gesture, and she shared exactly what it meant to her and her family. She said she was so thankful for them because it made her feel like somebody cared.&nbsp;
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At one point, she said something that caused a player who I won&rsquo;t name to have tears in his eyes.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Imagine your father being murdered, and every time you turn on the TV, you see people justifying why he deserved to die,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t thank you enough for doing the opposite.&rdquo;
To wrap up, Emerald personally thanked each and every one of them for their support. After our talk, another player came up to her, with tears in his eyes, and asked if he could give her a hug.
I recently asked Emerald what she remembered about the talk and how she felt about the Suns bringing us in.
&ldquo;I was benefiting from it just as much as they were,&rdquo; Emerald said. &ldquo;I enjoyed answering all of their questions and I was amazed that they were that focused and locked in for the entire time. They just had practice -- one guy kept messing up the play and got in trouble -- but they were really interested in how they can get involved and be a part of the change, and I really appreciate that. Sometimes, talking about everything is really therapeutic for me. Sometimes, I feel like I&rsquo;m rambling and you always do a great job of keeping me focused.&rdquo;
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Whenever a similar tragedy occurs, Emerald said it&rsquo;s very hard for her and her family.
&ldquo;People don&rsquo;t understand the after effects of how it impacts the entire family structure every time [something like] this happens. It&rsquo;s not just another case or just another hashtag; we are people and it impacts our entire family,&rdquo; she said.
I also asked her if she remembered the player who teared up and gave her a hug afterward.
&ldquo;Yes, I remember that very well,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I had to look up who he was after, so I have been rooting for him ever since that day. He was so moved by my story. They all asked such good questions. Sometimes, the media will ask the stupidest, meanest, most insensitive questions, but their questions were really good. But that&rsquo;s usually how it is with younger people. When we go speak at schools, whether it&rsquo;s Horace Mann or The Eagle Academy, I&rsquo;m always blown away by the questions of the students, and this was no different. They cared. They didn&rsquo;t want us to stop. We went way past the time, and they wanted to keep talking to us.&nbsp;
&ldquo;From that day, I&rsquo;ve been a fan of the Phoenix Suns, and all of the athletes who supported my family after my father was taken away from us. It means a lot. More than people know.&rdquo;

In 2019, the Phoenix Suns hosted Eric Garner's daughter, Emerald, and Etan Thomas. Emerald and Etan look back on the powerful chat.

How an emotional conversation made Emerald Garner a lifelong Suns fan

Here is the latest news on the Top 25 Free Agents in the NBA for the 2014-15 season, as ranked by Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.