2016 Draft

[bwgood77]

If we're going guard I'd rather take Dunn and groom him under Bledsoe who will eventually need to be replaced

I can see that, as drafting for need. But to me, Hield is clearly the better player of the two. You have to take the BPA.

I agree Hield is the better player and I'd probably take him as well in that case, but how do you see that playing out? Would he back up Booker at the 2? Are either of them big enough to play 3 for extended periods of time? Booker has shown pretty good play-making ability so maybe long term he and Hield play in the back-court together? Also have to consider the possibility of Bogdan coming over, though we don't know how much he'll play just yet.

Taking Dunn is a little cleaner I think...

Bledsoe/Dunn
Booker/Knight (Bogdan)

I take Dunn too (over Hield, even if Hield might be slightly better), because of all the guys we have that can play the 2 (Booker, Bogdan, Knight), so PG being a much bigger position of need, and also because Bledsoe could get injured again, but in any case, needs a good backup.

[MathiasPW]

I agree. BPA is not only relative to skill level on Draft day. MCD has said they draft whoever they think may have the best NBA career, and that's not only skill, but also opportunity.
You don't have much opportunity when you have a loaded position with other skilled guys ahead of you.

[bwgood77]

Right now, my draft board for the Suns would probably be:

Simmons
Ingram
Hield
Dunn
Bender

After that, I just don't know. But I am not sure if it matters much after that. To me, Hield has made it a three player draft. I would be thrilled with any one Simmons, Ingram, or Hield.

How long has Hield been this high on your board? Or even in top 5-7? Is it just a few games from Hield that suddenly makes this a three player draft?

I know at least Mulholland Drive was putting him 3rd maybe a month ago and maybe a couple other pretty high on him, but it seems like after a huge game he is suddenly top 3 a lot of places.

I'm just a little wary for a guy jumping that much just from a game or two. I'll be interested to see how he plays against Villanova.

I guess part of the reason I have raised him on mine is because Brown has looked terrible, Dunn not really all that great until maybe that one game where he was hot from the field, I am kind of cooling on Bender a bit...just a little more nervous about him, and then I just don't know about Murray...keeps me thinking about Knight.

[Walt_Uoob]

I've been so excited about having a top-3 pick but there are so many doubts about this draft class that I'm increasingly hoping we end up trading it. For example, if we get #3 and there's a team out there that's just madly in love with Bender or Hield, maybe we move the pick for a future 1st and a young talent, then take our chances at striking gold with the WAS and CLE picks and call it a draft. Or maybe we have our eye on one of the mid-lottery guys so we just move down to get a player we preferred anyway and add something else in the process.

[rsavaj]

I'm still holding out hope that we can swing the 3rd or 4th pick to Philly for Okafor. Gives you some breathing room to move Len/Knight as part of a bigger package

[jcsunsfan]

Right now, my draft board for the Suns would probably be:

Simmons
Ingram
Hield
Dunn
Bender

After that, I just don't know. But I am not sure if it matters much after that. To me, Hield has made it a three player draft. I would be thrilled with any one Simmons, Ingram, or Hield.

How long has Hield been this high on your board? Or even in top 5-7? Is it just a few games from Hield that suddenly makes this a three player draft?

I know at least Mulholland Drive was putting him 3rd maybe a month ago and maybe a couple other pretty high on him, but it seems like after a huge game he is suddenly top 3 a lot of places.

I'm just a little wary for a guy jumping that much just from a game or two. I'll be interested to see how he plays against Villanova.

I guess part of the reason I have raised him on mine is because Brown has looked terrible, Dunn not really all that great until maybe that one game where he was hot from the field, I am kind of cooling on Bender a bit...just a little more nervous about him, and then I just don't know about Murray...keeps me thinking about Knight.

I haven't made a board prior to this. It's legit to be wary of a flash in the pan type of player but Hield has been producing at this level all year. He is scoring efficiently in huge volume and against top opposition. The tournament is great for confirming talent. It is dangerous for revealing talent.


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[jcsunsfan]

I'm still holding out hope that we can swing the 3rd or 4th pick to Philly for Okafor. Gives you some breathing room to move Len/Knight as part of a bigger package

I think Okafor is significantly flawed in his personality and defense. Reminds me of Armon Gilliam.


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[ImNotMcDiSwear]

I'm still holding out hope that we can swing the 3rd or 4th pick to Philly for Okafor. Gives you some breathing room to move Len/Knight as part of a bigger package

I think Okafor is significantly flawed in his personality and defense. Reminds me of Armon Gilliam.


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I'd rather have a center who can board and protect the paint than one who can play O. That is to say, I prefer Len to Okafor.

Besides, there's only one ball. When we get Bled and Warren back, we'll have plenty of offense. The question is defense. Adding Okafor would cause a chronic imbalance that, IMO, would require us to move one of our core pieces.

[saintEscaton]

I'm still holding out hope that we can swing the 3rd or 4th pick to Philly for Okafor. Gives you some breathing room to move Len/Knight as part of a bigger package

I think Okafor is significantly flawed in his personality and defense. Reminds me of Armon Gilliam.


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I'd rather have a center who can board and protect the paint than one who can play O. That is to say, I prefer Len to Okafor.

Besides, there's only one ball. When we get Bled and Warren back, we'll have plenty of offense. The question is defense. Adding Okafor would cause a chronic imbalance that, IMO, would require us to move one of our core pieces.

You need a floor spacing 4 who can also protect the rim to accomodate Okafor, those are hard to find (Ibaka?), a twin towers front court only works situationally and isn't suited for the modern NBA, so he prolly can't be paired with Len who doesn't hold a candle to him. Jah is the most offensively advanced big since Timmy D. He is an atrocious team defender against the PnR due to his lack of lateral agility, looks lost on rotations and can't hedge the screener in the perimeter. But he has promise as a one on one post defender, where he holding opponents below their average eFG% in the restricted area, he may not get the blocks but he alters shots and has a respectable contest rate I would pull the trigger at the right price, we aren't in a position to pass up acquiring a premiere talent when we lack a coherent system with a bunch of marginal pieces that don't really fit well together

[Damkac]

.........

I have been a supporter of McDonough but I really have my doubts at this point. He has tried to sell us on his moves but to be honest he has been horrible. Based on results, we have 3 over priced untradeable players in, Chandler, Knight and Bledsoe. Those have been his big free agent signings. We have the worst starting SF in the league. Only one of his draft picks appear to be worth a crap, Booker. Yeah, schools out on Len and Warren as well as Goodwin.

There I said it.

I am tired of hearing about all the options we have and how good McDonough has done in the draft, I want results.

He dumped the coach. If things do not get better soon, he is next.

the Puff puffs....and it is duly noted

WUT?
OK I agree I don't see teams being attracted with Chandler and his contract. Knight is tradeable imo. I'm not saying we could get much for him but with rising cap he could be dumped. But Bledsoe? The same Bledsoe who looked like All-Star and top 5 pg in the league at the start of the year? Untradeable, my a$$.
And yeah no pick other than Book woth a crap. Someone posted few days ago a comparison of Warren and more hyped sf from the same draft (Wiggins, Parker and McDermott) showing that he isn't worse than any of them. Len worst case will be rebounding specialist and decent starting center best case he will be Tyson Chanlder (prime, not today Chandler) with better offense. It looks Suns gave up on Archie but for 29th pick in bad draft it was good risk to take.
Oh, but there is Alec Brown! What a bust! He should get McD fired! How can you have 50th pick and not get a superstar with it!?

Frank have you brought anything other than negativity on this board? One trade idea you posted here was Simmons and Bledsoe for Kevin Love. Maybe you should became a Nets fan? Their team building strategy should please you.

[saintEscaton]

Kinda plays like a guard who had a late growth spurt which I suspect. He was actually recruited as a tight end, has those go go gadget hops
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GbgudjwZ4s[YouTube][/youtube][/YouTube]

[Damkac]

No to Okafor. He is like a center version of Kieff.
People are always saying that "defense wins championship" and yet we wants to trade for bad defender on the most crucial position?

But back to draft. I'm not a scout but summarizing what I know I would be pleased with (alphabetical order):
- Bender - fits the needs perfectly, good iq, versatile
- Hield - great character and work ethic I think Spurs would love him, improved constantly in school, he is old but still can get better imo, low risk
- Ingram - tall, long, great defensive potential, can shoot from behind the line, worst case 3 and D guy, best case all-star
- Simmons - most hyped prospect, has alarming flaws and I don't see him becoming franchise player, but have talent and should be good fit for Suns team

If we pick 5th and all of those players are gone I would try something like trading down with Nuggets and getting additional pick.

[bwgood77]

Right now, my draft board for the Suns would probably be:

Simmons
Ingram
Hield
Dunn
Bender

After that, I just don't know. But I am not sure if it matters much after that. To me, Hield has made it a three player draft. I would be thrilled with any one Simmons, Ingram, or Hield.

How long has Hield been this high on your board? Or even in top 5-7? Is it just a few games from Hield that suddenly makes this a three player draft?

I know at least Mulholland Drive was putting him 3rd maybe a month ago and maybe a couple other pretty high on him, but it seems like after a huge game he is suddenly top 3 a lot of places.

I'm just a little wary for a guy jumping that much just from a game or two. I'll be interested to see how he plays against Villanova.

I guess part of the reason I have raised him on mine is because Brown has looked terrible, Dunn not really all that great until maybe that one game where he was hot from the field, I am kind of cooling on Bender a bit...just a little more nervous about him, and then I just don't know about Murray...keeps me thinking about Knight.

I haven't made a board prior to this. It's legit to be wary of a flash in the pan type of player but Hield has been producing at this level all year. He is scoring efficiently in huge volume and against top opposition. The tournament is great for confirming talent. It is dangerous for revealing talent.


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Yes, that is kind of why he raised on mine, when I looked at his stats for the year, and the vast increases across the board in fg%, ft% and 3p%...I mean HUGE jumps and they are in a tough conference. So just the whole thing with the extra research and some of the other guys not really impressive..a combination of factors.

But what is odd is that some of the national pundits and/or websites that rank players moved him up or at least talked about him jumping from 8 or so to 3-5 or so within about a week.

[saintEscaton]

Some said it would never happen, but I was calling it all along.The Golden Boy has been dethroned, we may have to settle for him now.
[tweet]https://twitter.com/BSnowScout/status/714847766455783425[/tweet]

[Qwigglez]

Ben Simmons has huge bust potential like the rest of the tweener crew who's been picked top 3. Beasley, Williams, Bennett come to mind. However, maybe his game will transfer over, Parker is kind of a tweener and he's been playing pretty well lately. Either way, Ingram/Simmons is at the top of my Christmas list.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Don't get sucked in by TV Tournament Hype and Idolising Players For Need.

My thoughts on the most talked about player last year and this year around the tournament:

Post Tournament - May 2015

I honestly think we're desperately making 2+2 = 5 with Kaminsky.

He's got a lot of media time in the past couple of months, but he's turning 23, skills are already developed, athleticism is where it is, and is not rated a top 10 pick. He had 3 years not at draftable standard previously.

I don't think McDonough will pick him anyway. I think we'll go with Hollis-Jefferson, he's the only elite character/athlete available in our range.

My preference is either trade up for Porzingis or down for Wood.

Pre-Tournament - Feb 2016

I wouldn't be surprised if Buddy Hield ended up going no.3

There's not much around there, so putting up Curry numbers isn't going to look any worse as time gets closer.

I do realise quoting myself makes me look like a tool.

[bwgood77]

Some said it would never happen, but I was calling it all along.The Golden Boy has been dethroned, we may have to settle for him now.
[tweet]https://twitter.com/BSnowScout/status/714847766455783425[/tweet]

Never heard of Brian Snow the Scout but Chad Ford just said it an article yesterday that among a poll of GMs, Simmons still leads on majority of boards. I'm sure it will be somewhat split at the end. But with so many good point guards and shooting being of such value, you would think a guy like Ingram SHOULD be #1 in today's nba.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Simmons is going no.1 unless he flunks a workout and gets terrible PR - You can get $6 for the field to go no.1 pick.

Remember the media narrative around Simmons really exploded when DraftExpress tore his last game apart and demoted him in their mock draft. Keep in mind they are a commercial entertainment business, they got more publicity that day for free than any other day in their history.

And the guy who's supposedly ahead of him, shot 39% in the past 2 months, with shooting his main advantage!

[JMac1]

Dunn is still my pick over Hield.

[saintEscaton]

Simmons is going no.1 unless he flunks a workout and gets terrible PR - You can get $6 for the field to go no.1 pick.

Remember the media narrative around Simmons really exploded when DraftExpress tore his last game apart and demoted him in their mock draft. Keep in mind they are a commercial entertainment business, they got more publicity that day for free than any other day in their history.

And the guy who's supposedly ahead of him, shot 39% in the past 2 months, with shooting his main advantage!

And Simmons couldn't even lead LSU to a March Madness birth with a decent supporting cast and tailormade system that gave him the free reigns, his fault for choosing to play fora subpar program under his godfather. LSU turned down the NIT bid because he knew it wouldn't help his case. a true competitor wouldn't back down from the occasion. All while committing 40 turnovers to 42 assists his past 10 games, barely breaking even. I would hesitate before giving him the keys to the car running a half court offense, he thrives in transition and is not the functional equivalent of a PG.