2016 Draft

[blacksun]

Agent Rich Paul: Ben Simmons won't play 4 Australia n 2016 Olympics n Rio. Will focus on NBA activities & look 2 play 4 Australia n future.

https://mobile.twitter.com/Chris_Broussard

Rich Paul is such a douche.

[Jstock12]

I think I like Sabonis, he seems to be fundamentally sound and crafty enough to play below the rim. The biggest question in my mind....is he a McD guy and where do you draft him? If we don't have a shot at Ingram I'd like us to trade down and grab him if he isn't projected to go around our first pick.

Also, can channel his inner Manu Ginobili:

http://gph.is/1RWAxQn

[jcsunsfan]

Sabonis reminds me of a 6-10 Danny Ainge. Plays hard, plays smart, completely annoys the opposition.

[saintEscaton]

Sabonis is like a Scola/Splitter hybrid best case, but could also end up being a more skilled/ nimble footed Hansbrough who over relies on bullyball with more more finesse, his T-Rex arms are really concerning but he can definitely body up NBA 4s as a man defender. As an 18 year old he got absolutely rekt by a 16 year old Bender in the U18 Euro Championship, not sky high on either but I know who I would take first. Wouldn't consider Sabonis any earlier than the Wiz pick.

[jcsunsfan]

Sabonis is like a Scola/Splitter hybrid best case, but could also end up being a more skilled/ nimble footed Hansbrough who over relies on bullyball with less bullyball and more finesse, his T-Rex arms are really concerning but he can definitely body up NBA 4s as a man defender. As an 18 year old he got absolutely rekt by a 16 year old Bender in the U18 Euro Championship, not sky high on either but I know who I would take first. Wouldn't consider Sabonis any earlier than the Wiz pick.

Way too much emphasis placed on one game several years ago. Need to focus on the personal body of work. Wingspan is the same as Kieff.

[MathiasPW]

Question: why is Bender considered to be so raw, even though he plays professionally since he's 15 ? That's three years of training and playing with pros.

[Damkac]

Because he is from Europe and is white
The same was talked about Porzingis. That he is few years away from contribution in NBA team.

[saintEscaton]

Because he is from Europe and is white
The same was talked about Porzingis. That he is few years away from contribution in NBA team.

KP made the most of limited opportunity given to Sevilla , playing in the weaker Liga ACB which may not be as stiff competition but still more impressive than Bender who is a third string bench player on team that couldn't even qualify for Euroleague. Looks like a scrub out there but he is just a kid after all and two years junior

[bwgood77]

Question: why is Bender considered to be so raw, even though he plays professionally since he's 15 ? That's three years of training and playing with pros.

Because he still will be the youngest guy in the draft and is basically the age of a high school player. He also hasn't gotten much playing time this year because he joined a big name team that wasn't great, and due to his age, and the team's down year, they basically went all out with their experienced guys to try and qualify for euroleague and didn't want to try and rely too much on such a raw young kid.

It's hard to judge much over there. Same thing happened with Brandon Jennings. He didn't get a lot of playing time. Look at Brandon Jenning's stats for example. He was a pretty high ranked prospect and was AZ's top recruit who decided to play overseas instead and he averaged 6 ppg and 2 apg, shooting 37% and 20% from 3. http://www.basketball-reference.com/euro/players/brandon-jennings-1.html

[bwgood77]

My guess is one of two things happen. Either we jump top 3 and likely keep the pick, or we drop to 5th (most likely scenario), and take Murray or Hield, and all the analysts are talking about how we already have Booker and Knight blah blah blah, and then later in the draft they announce a trade "Phx trades the rights to Hield/Murray to ___________" for current player on their team and their pick (this swap would be announced after that selection).

I think this is a scenario where we could possibly pry a good player and a later first round pick instead. Now I just need to figure out which team would REALLY value those guys and who they might give up for him in addition to their pick.

Hopefully we jump up though.

What would be pretty funny though is if when they were doing the lottery, flipping over those team pictures, they kept counting down saying "well, the positions have held so far" and they get to the 4th pick, and they flip it, and it is Boston, and talk about how this means Phoenix has jumped into the top 3, and we all get butterflies, and they turn around the 3rd pick, and it's us, and we just jumped back to 3rd. I will LMAO because we will have all gone through all this angst for naught.

[Mulhollanddrive]

In 2013:
- We beat Dallas (4th last game) and Houston (2nd last game) to overtake 3rd place Cleveland by a game and drop to 4th.
- Cleveland wins the lottery with the balls we had with 4 games left in the season.

In 2016:
- We beat Houston (4th last game) and NO (3rd last game) to overtake 3rd place Brooklyn by a game and drop to 4th.

[Weemsickew14]

If we don't land a top 2 pick, my ideal scenario is to trade back and draft Sabonis, Luwawu and Brice Johnson.

[Damkac]

Would Nuggets be interested in Murray/Hield? They should pair well with Mudiay whose biggest weakness is his shooting. #5 for #10 and #15?

[LacosteM]

Because he is from Europe and is white
The same was talked about Porzingis. That he is few years away from contribution in NBA team.

KP made the most of limited opportunity given to Sevilla , playing in the weaker Liga ACB which may not be as stiff competition but still more impressive than Bender who is a third string bench player on team that couldn't even qualify for Euroleague. Looks like a scrub out there but he is just a kid after all and two years junior

Dude, when KP was the same age as Bender he posted almost the exact same stats as him.

KP : 6.9 pts, 2.8 reb, 0.3 ast, 0.6 stl, 0.9 blk ,0.8 TO, 47.4 FG%, 30.2 3P% on 1.5 3PA, 11.4 REB%, 15.2 mins per game

Bender: 6.3 pts, 2.9 reb, 0.8 ast, 0.7 stl, 0.8 blk, 0,7 TO, 51.2 FG% , 45.1 3P% on 2.4 3PA, 12.8 REB%, 14 mins per game

People keep forgetting that KP is 2 yrs and 3 months older than Bender.

[Jarlaxle0204]

In 2013:
- We beat Dallas (4th last game) and Houston (2nd last game) to overtake 3rd place Cleveland by a game and drop to 4th.
- Cleveland wins the lottery with the balls we had with 4 games left in the season.

In 2016:
- We beat Houston (4th last game) and NO (3rd last game) to overtake 3rd place Brooklyn by a game and drop to 4th.

-We win the lottery with the balls we now have (4th) and Suns fans start to realize it's all luck.

[MathiasPW]

Question Nr 2:
Bender has good ballhandlng skills. Can this be considered a strenght for a PF? I mean....where would he use this?

[LacosteM]

Question Nr 2:
Bender has good ballhandlng skills. Can this be considered a strenght for a PF? I mean....where would he use this?

Of course it can. Bender showed on numerous occasions that he can handle the ball and lead the fastbreak directly after the rebound. Just look what Draymond is doing and how he manages to colapse defenses on the fastbreak and find players for an easy baskets. Also he is able to put the ball on the floor and blow by less faster big men because of his laterall quickness. Definitely a strength especially when combined with his passing vision.

[MathiasPW]

Question Nr 2:
Bender has good ballhandlng skills. Can this be considered a strenght for a PF? I mean....where would he use this?

Of course it can. Bender showed on numerous occasions that he can handle the ball and lead the fastbreak directly after the rebound. Just look what Draymond is doing and how he manages to colapse defenses on the fastbreak and find players for an easy baskets. Also he is able to put the ball on the floor and blow by less faster big men because of his laterall quickness. Definitely a strength especially when combined with his passing vision.

Interesting. That frees the better shooters on the fast break, for sure. Any use for that on half court sets? Guess in that situation he is more useful by spreading the floor.

[Bogyo]

Question Nr 2:
Bender has good ballhandlng skills. Can this be considered a strenght for a PF? I mean....where would he use this?

Of course it can. Bender showed on numerous occasions that he can handle the ball and lead the fastbreak directly after the rebound. Just look what Draymond is doing and how he manages to colapse defenses on the fastbreak and find players for an easy baskets. Also he is able to put the ball on the floor and blow by less faster big men because of his laterall quickness. Definitely a strength especially when combined with his passing vision.

Interesting. That frees the better shooters on the fast break, for sure. Any use for that on half court sets? Guess in that situation he is more useful by spreading the floor.

Sure, some fancy pick and roll plays around the 3 point line, where/when he could use more than 1-2 dribbles, or when he is handling the ball above the FT line, and not straight-line drives to the hoop. It can open up a lot of unconventional stuff, which always come in handy.

[Twuan89]

Phoenix Suns Need Ben Simmons.