Grade the Suns draft

Revived · Post #1 » by **Revived** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 4:28 am

I know its too early and none of us really know how good these guys will turn out to be but based on what we know about these prospects, grade the Suns draft.

I'm gonna give it a C minus. The Suns passed on McLemore and then took someone who likely they could have still got by trading down and adding assets. Phoenix also didn't trade Gortat or acquire another pick in the draft. And please don't tell me that nobody wanted him, prior to the draft everyone hated this draft and rumors were that teams were selling their picks or making their picks available for proven vets. The Suns wanted Gortat to stay and mentor Len which I think is one of the dumbest things I have heard and Hornacek lost a lot of credibility from me for making such a statement.

I like Len so I won't completely crucify the selection but it just irritates me that we passed on McLemore for him. Len is a high risk/high away type guy so maybe he pays off for us in the long run. Better than the Marshall selection last year, that's for sure. Len can actually play basketball and is very athletic.

We still didn't address the SG position just like last year when we passed on Fournier and refused to trade Gortat to move up and draft a SG. We could have had Ricky Ledo or Jamaal Franklin in the 2nd round for probably just cash but we stood PAT. Hell, we could have had the best SG in the draft in McLemore and we passed on that too!

I don't really like or hate the Oriakhi pick. If he turns out well, great, if not who cares it was a 2nd rd pick anyway.

I like the Goodwin pick a lot and that (along with me liking Len as a prospect) saves this from being a complete F.

Obviously, like I said, this is just based on what we know right now. These guys could all turn out to very good but we won't know for some time.

GetYourPHX · Post #2 » by **GetYourPHX** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 4:35 am

If you give it a C, why did you vote for F?

There's two votes on this thread right now, the B I cast and an F.

Revived · Post #3 » by **Revived** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 4:36 am

GetYourPHX wrote:If you give it a C, why did you vote for F?

There's two votes on this thread right now, the B I cast and an F.

I didn't vote the F?

Actually, I have yet to vote on the poll.

YouTube · Post #4 » by **Kerrsed** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 4:36 am

LOL, i gave them a C, and its the only one. :lol:

Revived · Post #5 » by **Revived** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 4:37 am

There, now I voted C and there's 2 Cs.

GetYourPHX · Post #6 » by **GetYourPHX** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 4:40 am

Cutter · Post #7 » by **Cutter** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 4:41 am

C for me too

bigfoot · Post #8 » by **bigfoot** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 4:55 am

I think the Suns got incredibly lucky to get Len at 5. He is amazingly athletic for his size and could grow another inch. He's is going to be a great pick-n-roll target with the ability to hit a long jumper on the pick-n-pop too. Some of the sh*t he does in these videos is downright jaw dropping. No more of the soft-below the rim center play that we saw from Diaw in the past and Gortat last year. This guy is a dunking machine and should bring the fans off their feet more than a few times per game. I'm fricking excited that he fell to us. His lateral quickness and shot blocking are really going to help the defense. A 7'2" and 260 pound athletic center is something the Suns just haven't had before. Move Gortat now so this kid gets maximum playing time.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbn5U7aI2Ng[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajwa8j79vd0[/youtube]

Post #9 » by **lilfishi22** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 4:59 am

I like the pick. I think he's going to be good but I would've preferred Mclemore. If we had swung for a trade with Portland for CJ, I would've changed it to an A.

BurningHeart · Post #10 » by **BurningHeart** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 5:06 am

B is about right. We got potential, which is what the people wanted. We went young, which is what the people wanted. We didn't do anything terribly stupid trade-wise, which is a good thing.

I think we wanted Oladipo really badly and went with Len once it was Noel and McLemore. I wanted McLemore just to help the offense, but I'm warming up to Len very quickly.

Revived · Post #11 » by **Revived** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 5:14 am

Phoenix Suns: Alex Len, C, Maryland - B- Grade

I actually got this one right in my mock draft. It makes sense because Marcin Gortat is entering the final year in his contract so the Suns need a big man of the future. Len over Noel though? And McLemore since Phoenix needs scoring on the wing? I'm okay with this pick but don't love it.

Phoenix Suns: Archie Goodwin, G, Kentucky - B+ Grade

I think Archie Goodwin is one of the guys in this draft who came out too early but in a few years will be a solid player (think Lance Stephenson.) Once he develops a jumper and gets stronger the potential is certainly there so for a re-building Suns team, why not roll the dice at this point.

http://walterfootball.com/nbadraft2013grades.php

Sums up how I feel about Len and Goodwin too.

DirtyDez · Post #12 » by **DirtyDez** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 5:31 am

I don't mind keeping Gortat for a year because it eases Len where he can backup right away. I still think Scola will be moved...

The Len pick is all about the future. He's a massive human and coordinated for 20 year old that big. I'm sure there will be a lot of dramatic fans that will be calling him a bust his rookie season but if it's true Noel's knee was a problem then I don't mind them passing. I agree with some saying Maryland was a poor fit for him and really didn't have help around him. If he does turn out to be a franchise player like McD/Horny project then we'll have a 7ft'er to build around.

Loved the Goodwin pick. We can stick him in the D-League for a year until he builds up strength. No rush with either guy.

Oriakhi can give solid minutes right away just rebounding and playing D. He'll never be more than "that" type of player.

Going into the 2014-15 season I'm hoping the roster looks something like:

Dragic
Goodwin
Wiggins/Parker
??? (Randle if no Wiggins/Parker)
Len

I think Boston, Philly and Charlotte should be worse than us...

DRK · Post #13 » by **DRK** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 5:51 am

It gets a C+/B- from me.

Len over Noel and McLemore was a questionable decision, especially as both would've fitted our proposed "up tempo" style of play under Horny like a Glove. However I'm willing to trust the judgement of our scouts.

Loving the Archie Goodwin pick at #29 though.

I dont know much about Oriakhi, so I will have to do some research

Gorilla Warfare · Post #14 » by **Gorilla Warfare** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 5:54 am

We got a player who is ready to Len-d his hand on turning this team into a championship caliber team...

RunSunRun · Post #15 » by **RunSunRun** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 6:06 am

DRK wrote:It gets a C+/B- from me.

Len over Noel and McLemore was a questionable decision, especially as both would've fitted our proposed "up tempo" style of play under Horny like a Glove. However I'm willing to trust the judgement of our scouts.

Loving the Archie Goodwin pick at #29 though.

I dont know much about Oriakhi, so I will have to do some research

Pretty much how I feel as well, just have to trust that Noel red-flag is real and that McLemore really was lazy in Phoenix during his tryouts. Although it will really really suck if either of them turn out to be great professionals. Alex Len just doesn't seem like a piece to build around, but if he develops in 3-4 years into a Roy Hibbert, it could be great for us...in the mean time however, not much to be excited about.

Goodwin was a great pick and Oriakhi seems pretty decent as well.

DirtyDez · Post #16 » by **DirtyDez** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 6:11 am

DRK wrote:It gets a C+/B- from me.

Len over Noel and McLemore was a questionable decision, especially as both would've fitted our proposed "up tempo" style of play under Horny like a Glove. However I'm willing to trust the judgement of our scouts.

Loving the Archie Goodwin pick at #29 though.

I dont know much about Oriakhi, so I will have to do some research

I don't think there's any question that the Suns were concerned about Noel's knee. The tweet that was going around was the Suns re-flagging him, and then we passed on him so it probably wasn't a smoke-screen. Four other teams passed on him as well...

As for McLemore i'm not sure. LaCava was right about the Suns "not touching him".

Moochiefried · Post #17 » by **Moochiefried** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 7:19 am

If you had told me that we would come out of this draft with Len and Goodwin, I would have been thrilled...however it frustrates me to see us pass on McLemore because I felt he was the best talent in the draft, and I'm really not a fan of the Oriakhi pick...I mean I know it's only a second rounder, but I would have preferred CJ Leslie or Jackie Carmichael much more.

grumpysaddle · Post #18 » by **grumpysaddle** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 7:23 am

Moochiefried wrote:If you had told me that we would come out of this draft with Len and Goodwin, I would have been thrilled...however it frustrates me to see us pass on McLemore because I felt he was the best talent in the draft, and I'm really not a fan of the Oriakhi pick...I mean I know it's only a second rounder, but I would have preferred CJ Leslie or Jackie Carmichael much more.

They can still possibly be options for the Summer League team, as they went undrafted.

Revived · Post #19 » by **Revived** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 8:04 am

grumpysaddle wrote:
Moochiefried wrote:If you had told me that we would come out of this draft with Len and Goodwin, I would have been thrilled...however it frustrates me to see us pass on McLemore because I felt he was the best talent in the draft, and I'm really not a fan of the Oriakhi pick...I mean I know it's only a second rounder, but I would have preferred CJ Leslie or Jackie Carmichael much more.

They can still possibly be options for the Summer League team, as they went undrafted.

Doesn't make sense for them to come to a team full of players at their positions though. Especially for Carmichael.

Dragic13 · Post #20 » by **Dragic13** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 8:10 am

If we look at our young talent headed into the future minus free agents how does it look?

Dragic/Marshall
Goodwin/Tucker
Dudley/Marcus
Markieff/Beasley
Len/Oriakhi

I assume the roster would look something like this...What free agent would be a good fit?

Not to mention the thought of trading Gortat can bring in some good talent too.

Grade the Suns 2013 draft