The Suns will give up a lot of points in their open scheme, but can Longabardi get the Suns up to the middle of the pack in defensive efficiency (points per 100 possessions) in his first season? Anything better than 23rd is a good sign.
3. Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic together. Both players are combo guards. Neither is pass-first. Neither is a great shooter. At 6-1 and 6-3, respectively, neither is ideally sized to defend the bigger wing players. However, they might just be a great fit with this coaching staff.
The 6-3 Hornacek was a combo guard himself who played the 2-guard very well for 12 seasons next to the smaller KJ and John Stockton. Longabardi managed to squeak out a strong defense while playing the 6-2 Avery Bradley at the 2 next to 6-1 Rajon Rondo. Both coaches know how to succeed with a smaller backcourt willing to defend, wreak havoc and drive to the hole, which Bledsoe and Dragic offer in spades.
The biggest concern on offense is shooting. Hornacek, KJ and Dan Majerle could make shots at a high clip, while every single current Sun is below average in that area. On defense, the big problem is a lack of paint protection behind the smallish backcourt. The guards will be vulnerable to dribble penetration, which may force them to over-rotate and leave lots of open weakside threes.
4. Player development. With 10 players 25 or younger on the squad, the key word for the season is development. Somehow, some way, the Suns need to make these young players efficient on both ends of the court.
In Irving Roland, the Suns hired a player development assistant with actual PD background to assist the natural-born teacher in Hornacek. If these kids get better over the course of the season, all the inevitable losing that comes with a young team will be worth it.
5. Preseason trades. Clearly, this roster is not a finished product. McDonough has already made three trades this summer, netting a handful of cheap assets in exchange for veterans not in his long-term plans. With the possible exception of Bledsoe, not one player on the current squad is destined for multiple All-Star games – and neither were the ones traded away.
There is duplication at every position with similar middling talent. After McDonough said prior to the draft that it is hard to develop two rookies who play the same position, he nonetheless has several positions on the floor with at least two very young guys trying to beat each other out.
At shooting guard, how can teenage rookie Goodwin develop with Bledsoe and Dragic each taking 35 minutes a 
night? What of Shannon Brown and Malcolm Lee? At small forward, third-player Marcus Morris has to battle veterans P.J. Tucker and Gerald Green for time.
At power forward, third-year player Markieff Morris is battling brother Marcus and returning vet Frye. At center, rookie Alex Len and second-year players Miles Plumlee and Slava Kravtsov are fighting for backup minutes behind Gortat. And that doesn’t even include Bledsoe and Dragic running second-year point man Kendall Marshall to the bench.
Something has to be done to reduce the logjam at some of these positions, or everyone’s development will get stunted. Ideally, the Suns would execute a many-to-one trade before the season begins, sending out two or three young guys for one with a higher ceiling. Each season, one or two teams trade their extension-eligible fourth-year players before committing big money to them. The Suns have already acquired Bledsoe from the 2010 draft in such fashion. Could they acquire another good 2010 player by Halloween to pair with Bledsoe?
Dave King is the managing editor of Bright Side of the Sun, SB Nation’s Phoenix Suns blog. He has direct access to the front office, players and coaches, helping make Bright Side the biggest and best-informed Suns blog in the nation. Follow him on twitter @DaveKing_BSOTS and @BrightSideSun.
Maybe Wiggins can change that small forward weakness for the suns