Exaggerated would work also. His defense may be his strength but the reason I'm addressing it is because it is the most spoken about aspect of his game. No one questions why others talk it up, I just don't share the same outlook on it being good enough to warrant making him a starter or using him a lot as a closer either. I think the idea of him being the PG used the most at the end of close games is what I have the bigger problem seeing. His defense may be the only NBA level skill he has right now and as a PG, that makes it harder to use him late in close games because the Suns shouldn't willingly play 4 on 5 offensively. He's not a good shooter, he's not that good at penetrating, and he's not that good at finding his teammates and creating offense. His defense is all he's got and as a PG that's not enough. If he were a wing, that might be ok but not at PG.
We could move Booker over to be the PG offensively with Shaq out there still but at that point, why not use Bridges, Reed, or Jackson if they're not already on the floor? They bring more offensively than Shaq does and are good defenders also. If Shaq isn't playing PG, there's no reason to keep him on the court instead of using one of those other guys that can give us more offensively and keep us from having someone the defenses can sag off and double off of also.
I see him as a backup, at best, and when people start trying to make him more than that is when I think there's a problem because he has 1 NBA level skill and that might work for a wing but not a PG. A PG needs to be able to create offense for others and at the least be capable of creating offense for himself but Shaq hasn't shown that yet. I know he's young and can develop but until he develops some more, it's too early to think he can slide into a more important role with the team.
