How Chimezie Metu or Keita Bates-Diop might have made a difference for Phoenix Suns

It’s easy now to say ''what if?''

The season is over for the Phoenix Suns.

They ran up against a bigger team in the first round of the playoffs in the Minnesota Timberwolves, with two 7-footers in Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns, who finally fully exploited his advantage in Sunday’s Game 4 closeout win with 28 points and 10 rebounds.

The third-seeded Timberwolves swept the sixth-seeded Suns by winning Game 4 to advance in the postseason for the first time since 2004. They will play the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets, a two-seed, in the Western Conference semifinals.

Minnesota proved to be the better team after Phoenix swept them in the regular season, 3-0.

However, when looking at Phoenix’s opening night roster, what if Keita Bates-Diop or Chimezie Metu had worked out? One of the two could’ve played the four to allow Kevin Durant to play the three.

That then brings Grayson Allen off the bench to provide instant offense.

The Suns traded forward Yuta Watanabe, guard Jordan Goodwin, Bates-Diop and Metu right before the trade deadline in acquiring Royce O’Neale from Brooklyn and David Roddy from Memphis. Bates-Diop was viewed as someone who at 6-8, 230 pounds could defend and shoot the 3.

Bates-Diop was coming off a career year averaging 9.7 points and shooting 39.4% from 3 last season with the Spurs. He had strong defensive moments early in the season, started eight of the 39 games he played in Phoenix, but shot just 31.3% from deep.

If he shoots that 39% in Phoenix, coupled with his defensive versatility, that gives Phoenix a different look instead of a three-guard lineup that puts Durant at the four. Rebounding has never been his strong suit as he’s averaging only three boards for his career.

Bates-Diop would’ve had to be better there to protect that backside when Jusuf Nurkic came over to help on defense. The same can be said for Metu as he too isn’t a good rebounder at 3.5 career boards.

Metu played 37 games for the Suns, starting five. He isn’t the defense player Bates-Diop is, but Metu is a better offensive player. He averaged just five points for the Suns, but Metu did so on 50.8% shooting.

At 6-9, 225 pounds, Metu is athletic and has explosiveness. He went for a season-high 23 points and 19 rebounds in a 128-114 Christmas home loss against the Mavericks in 34 minutes, but only played 16 in the next game at Houston the Suns won by 16 points. Jusuf Nurkic was back after missing two games following the passing of his uncle.

Metu only played 20-plus minutes once after that Dallas game. Like Bates-Diop, he too struggled from 3 in shooting 29.4%. Now Metu is a career 29.8% on 3s, but he had the size to allow Durant to play the three.

The Suns needed either Metu or Bates-Diop to emerge as a starter to not only help create a bigger starting five, but have Eric Gordon and Grayson Allen play together off the bench, which is what the two did during the preseason and looked good in those roles.

They could've also used the Watanabe that shot 44.4% from 3 last season in Brooklyn. He wasn't physical enough to play heavy minutes at the four on defense, but as a backup, he may have been able to hold his own.

He struggled defensively, too, but the Suns could've lived with that if he was making 40% percent of his 3s. He only connected on 32% from 3 in 29 games. Can't struggle on both ends and remain valuable. Took him a minute to get over a quad injury that sidelined him for four games, but Watanabe, like Metu, Bates-Diop and Goodwin, didn't pan out in Phoenix.

Bol Bol is a 7-footer, shot a career-high 61.6% from the field and made 42.3% of his 3s. He averaged 3.2 boards, but just wasn’t a good defender in terms of lateral movement and playing more physical guys.

Again, it’s a 'what if' but it also shows why the Suns ended up going with a three-guard look that proved to be too small against the Timberwolves.

Have opinions about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

Support local journalism. Start your online subscription.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What if Metu or Bates-Diop had worked out for the Phoenix Suns?