2016 Draft Thread Part 4

[JMac1]

Cleveland just upped Bender's value! Being able to switch means everything!!!

[MaxwellSmart]

C's fan here (but I also have liked the Suns since the triple OT game in '76)...

How was Bender's workout with you guys-?..I haven't heard a thing---Our fans seem to be for drafting Brown or Dunn...I'd prefer Bender.

Wouldn't mind if he ends up with you instead.

[JMac1]

C's fan here (but I also have liked the Suns since the triple OT game in '76)...

How was Bender's workout with you guys-?..I haven't heard a thing---Our fans seem to be for drafting Brown or Dunn...I'd prefer Bender.

Wouldn't mind if he ends up with you instead.

Silent.......Totally tight lipped over here. Hoping everyone buys the Chriss smoke....

[darealjuice]

C's fan here (but I also have liked the Suns since the triple OT game in '76)...

How was Bender's workout with you guys-?..I haven't heard a thing---Our fans seem to be for drafting Brown or Dunn...I'd prefer Bender.

Wouldn't mind if he ends up with you instead.

No one knows really anything unfortunately, it was a 100% private workout. My buddy thought he was going to workout 1-on-1 with Bender because they called him in to bang with Zhou Qi as well, but it ended up being Onuaku. Our front office hasn't let a peep out in like the last week outside of McD getting photographed at lunch with Marquese Chriss and dinner with Dragan Bender. We only found out this morning that we worked out Timothe Luwawu, Denzel Valentine, Deyonta Davis in a group workout Saturday, Chinanu Onuaku in a one-on-one with ASU's center on Saturday, and Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender to individual workouts in the past few days.

[sunsbum]

Im pretty convinced Chriss is a smoke screen. Not sure why the Celtics are participating in operation shawn stodemire. Maybe Mcd is trying to help Ainge out in getting the lakers to let ingram drop.

[MrMiyagi]

I'm ok with going for the biggest boom / bust player in Marquese Chriss.

Every championship team needs a guy capable of getting MVP votes.

Why is Chriss the biggest boom player?

Yeah, it's definitely Dragan right? Who do you think is the biggest boom player in a boom/bust type of scenario? Do you not see any upside even in the bigs you don't like?

No, I see upside, but I also see the downside. Plus there just seems like a glut of boom or bust bigs. Most of my arguments against drafting one at 4 has been that it's too high to take the gamble there. I'd take most of them at 13 - some even in the 7-9 range. I swung the vote on Ellenson in the mock draft, but I've warmed a little more on him.

From what little I've been able to see of Bender, I find it hard to believe the massive hype on him - but if reports are going to be believed, he definitely has the highest upside.

I think I might put Skal second because I feel like his defense is ahead of Chriss, and he'll find a way to contribute offensively. Not sure the reverse is true for Chriss.

But I don't really want to go through all this again and sour on everyone. I've finally become content to wait and see, so I'll just stick to that.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Summer League is in 3 weeks.

That's some immediate feedback.

[bwgood77]

Im pretty convinced Chriss is a smoke screen. Not sure why the Celtics are participating in operation shawn stodemire. Maybe Mcd is trying to help Ainge out in getting the lakers to let ingram drop.

I've kind of felt that way since the beginning. But there is still fear that he is the pick over Bender. Personally if Bender is gone I won't mind it too much if McD really thinks he has it. If he doesn't, he will lose his job most likely.

[letsgosuns]

Watching the Cavaliers win tonight further solidifies my opinion that the Suns absolutely should not trade their picks. The Cavaliers two best players, James and Irving, are Cavaliers draft picks. In addition, the three best players on the Warriors, Curry, Thompson, and Green, are all Warriors draft picks. The two best players on the Thunder, Durant and Westbrook, are Thunder draft picks. You should never trade your picks unless you already have a couple of stars on your team and there is a player you can get via trade that could put you over the top. The Suns do not have that. Not even close. They have to build through the draft. It is the best way to build a core.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Draft the next superstar and it saves you 10 years, everyone has players 4-15 on a championship team.

Which is why I wonder when trades for All-Stars come up it's always some random who is the deal breaker.

[8on]

bunch of thoughts:

if you're the Lakers, would you trade Kris Dunn and D'Angelo Russell for Jimmy Butler? yes.
if you're the Bulls, do you do that? i have no idea what they're thinking. i might ask them to throw in Tarik Black or somebody else, but i think so.

what's more? Minnesota and the Lakers both want Butler. if we're smart, we also want him. the team that gets Butler is probably going to get ahead of the other two in the Western Conference.

the Bulls may even want Ingram for Butler......nah. i take it back. i wouldn't do that. Dunn may be a lesser prospect, but Dunn and Russell together are worth more than Ingram to me. i really don't know what Ingram's NBA future is.

we could offer more than the Lakers for Butler. the only team that can't is the Timberwolves. however, they may be the team most likely to draft Kris Dunn, thus enticing the Bulls to trade. could be Dunn, Dieng and Rubio for Butler and Rose, or something. maybe it's a 3 team trade

there are two ways to make this work
1. draft Dunn with the 2nd pick
or
2. draft Ingram, the Lakers tell us to draft Dunn, and then we trade up for Ingram. yippee ca yay, or however you spell it

if we draft Dunn, i would imagine it is probably for scenario #2, or some other trade. so don't freak out

i don't see Dunn making it past the Timberwolves. if i were McD, i would talk to the Lakers about Dunn. can you imagine ten years of Jimmy Butler, Andrew Wiggins, and Karl-Anthony Towns? that scares me. we may have to trade for Butler just so that doesn't happen. that's terrifying. (or, if the Bulls really won't trade Butler, we're safe.)

[Qwigglez]

Watching the Cavaliers win tonight further solidifies my opinion that the Suns absolutely should not trade their picks. The Cavaliers two best players, James and Irving, are Cavaliers draft picks. In addition, the three best players on the Warriors, Curry, Thompson, and Green, are all Warriors draft picks. The two best players on the Thunder, Durant and Westbrook, are Thunder draft picks. You should never trade your picks unless you already have a couple of stars on your team and there is a player you can get via trade that could put you over the top. The Suns do not have that. Not even close. They have to build through the draft. It is the best way to build a core.

Well it helps when you get four #1 draft picks since 2003, Suns haven't even had one in their entire existence.

[WeekapaugGroove]

You need elite players to be a true contender. I'm all for swinging for the fences with all this year's pick. I'm still a bender guy but I get the chriss love he's got elite athleticism and if the small chance he puts it all together becomes a reality he'd be a load for other teams to handle.

Heck double down at 13 and take another loto ticket big like ellison, sabonis, davis or Skal. (That's order I like the bigs who might be still around at 13)

[letsgosuns]

Watching the Cavaliers win tonight further solidifies my opinion that the Suns absolutely should not trade their picks. The Cavaliers two best players, James and Irving, are Cavaliers draft picks. In addition, the three best players on the Warriors, Curry, Thompson, and Green, are all Warriors draft picks. The two best players on the Thunder, Durant and Westbrook, are Thunder draft picks. You should never trade your picks unless you already have a couple of stars on your team and there is a player you can get via trade that could put you over the top. The Suns do not have that. Not even close. They have to build through the draft. It is the best way to build a core.

Well it helps when you get four #1 draft picks since 2003, Suns haven't even had one in their entire existence.

Of course, but Curry was the 7th pick, Thompson was the 11th pick, and Green was the 35th pick. Having the number one pick helps dramatically but you can still build without it if you make great picks. The draft provides hope and anytime you trade a pick you are losing an opportunity to draft a special player at any slot.

[thamadkant]

Thunder, Cavs and Bucks have shown how to BEAT the Warriors..

have 4 players on the court who can cover a PG, SG, SF, PF, C....

It means having a tall PG, long limbed SG, long limbed SF who has good strength, mobile PF with quick feet and defensive IQ.... a mobile C who can protect the paint and get to players within 15 feet from the rim.

[NavLDO]

I have my final answer. At #4, I want Sabonis. Preferably, I'd trade down to get him, but not so low that he slips past us. Perfect trade partner is Denver.

I don't trust Chriss's lack of motor, defense, BBIQ and rebounding. He's an athlete and he shoots threes. When I think about the player who would fit perfectly with Booker and Warren, I don't think Chriss - and I think Sabonis will be the better NBA PF.

I don't trust Bender's awkwardness. Yes, he's fluid, but he's also stuck to the floor. Hands don't look great, he may never be abe to mix it up inside. And if that's the case, what position does he play? People talk about his ability to switch, but what about his lack of ability to stick his own man as a PF? The awkwardness could lead to injury - I simply don't think his ceiling is so high that it's worth taking the risk.

Sabonis has the motor, the smarts, the rebounding, he's quite big (though he is a bit of a T Rex), but I think his skills and his passing and energy are the things we need going forward. No worries about him making it on the next level, no worries about injury - I think he's the guy. If necessary, yes, I'd take him at 4. But I hope all the Chriss/Bender stuff is our playing the game, trying to get the most out of a trade with Denver. Even if it's just 4 + 28 for 7 and 19.

Sabonis. Final answer.

I +1'd you for the trade. IF we 'reach' for Sabonis, who I like, I could live with the lack of value at 7. But not at 4. I also think Chriss and Bender will both be fine. Posters seem to keep forgetting that he hasn't played basketball very long, so yeah, his instincts are crap. But I don't believe it's a lack of motor; to me, he looks more like guy who doesn't quite know what he should be doing when/where he's on the court, not someone who is 'lazy'. He's aggressive, and outstanding, when he's comfortable; he looks like a 'poor motor' guy when he's unsure of himself. He just looks like a guy with a lot of talent, who needs a lot of coaching. And from his interviews I've seen, he appears to be open to that.

But if he's 'too raw', and we take Sabonis, I just hope it's later than 4. Ultimately, I think his lack of 'upside' will result in him being available at 13.

But similar to what JMac said about Hield (though different timeframe), I'll say about Chriss/Bender--I think in two years, we'll be crying like saint does about Gobert for not taking one of those two, if available, at 4.

[JMac1]

Watching the Cavaliers win tonight further solidifies my opinion that the Suns absolutely should not trade their picks. The Cavaliers two best players, James and Irving, are Cavaliers draft picks. In addition, the three best players on the Warriors, Curry, Thompson, and Green, are all Warriors draft picks. The two best players on the Thunder, Durant and Westbrook, are Thunder draft picks. You should never trade your picks unless you already have a couple of stars on your team and there is a player you can get via trade that could put you over the top. The Suns do not have that. Not even close. They have to build through the draft. It is the best way to build a core.

Well it helps when you get four #1 draft picks since 2003, Suns haven't even had one in their entire existence.

Of course, but Curry was the 7th pick, Thompson was the 11th pick, and Green was the 35th pick. Having the number one pick helps dramatically but you can still build without it if you make great picks. The draft provides hope and anytime you trade a pick you are losing an opportunity to draft a special player at any slot.

Clap Clap. And there lies the problem. People believe this crap about well he isn't the number one pick, trade it away, because he is a tier below. And you trade and you trade and you sign a FA and so on. Draft our guys and build our team. We have been trying to sign FA's for the past 6 years and haven't done a thing.

Begging players to come here or begging teams for their players is a waste of time. Draft well at #4 and #13 add it to Knight, Booker, Len, TJ, and Bledsoe. We do have some talent. I keep hearing all of this love for Minny, but they haven't done jack nor has NO. "They have so and so," heck people are speaking on Lavine now like he is a stud?

We always want to throw our players to the wolves. I left the Brown camp after I was reminded of TJ (BW ). We have a 3 who is getting better. GS drafted Steph back in 2009 not a year or two ago, give it some time.

If Mc'D gets it right at #4 and #13, we can get some solid talent. If Booker is the player we think he is, we are one player away from having a 1 two 2 punch.

I hate Knight as much as you guys do, but the imbecile has skills. I am willing to roll with him for another season with a better Booker and a healthy Bledsoe.

FYI the new Booker and Eric Bledsoe haven't played together yet. I also believe Bledsoe was shut down for the entire season to tank, I can't believe that hasn't been mentioned here.

[NavLDO]

I think that Warren is a better scorer then Brown but I think that Brown can be a better defender than Warren. I know it wont work next year but a front court of Chriss or Bender and Brown would be scary to watch teams keep up with them running the floor.

And don't forget, Warren's per40 stats last year for 47 games, playing only 22 mpg (when he was in Hornacek's 'dog house')

23/5.5/1.5 with 40% from 3 on 2.6 attempts (again, these are per40) and 70% FT%, 1.38 A/TO (which is good for a SF), .55 and .53 TS% and eFG%.

I can't wait to see Warren under Watson; I think we may see a similar 'improvement' we saw with Len after Horny was fired.

[JMac1]

Just draft Dragan. He should be able to play perimeter D and shoot from day one. Keep him out of the post the best you can and he can contribute right away. Shoot and D. 15-20 mins a game.

[NavLDO]

Full game Sabonis vs Chriss\Murray.

https://youtu.be/ACneIMNi30w

I think Chriss is going to get Murdered in the NBA on defense. His motor is not good, he floats all over the court and doesnt persue rebounds at all. His rebounding issues arent because hes young, its because he doesnt try, stands around and watches the ball. I was actually warming up to drafting him but not after watching this game.

Murray I like, he can get to the basket at will. He needs some polish, his game is a bit wild all around but he definitely has all the tools.

Sabonis, what can you say? Slow and steady wins the race. Hes just so solid in everything he does.

Im going to try to find another washington game to watch Chriss but right now I am super unimpressed.

Again, just keep in mind that he's only been playing for what, 3-4 years? It's 'easy' to coach up 'trying'. He had excellent O-Rebounding numbers this past year, so to me, it's a matter of getting him in the right mindset.

I'm not saying that I'd be thrilled with Chriss, but when I hear from several scouts/media types saying they haven't seen athleticism like Chriss has at his size in over a decade. To me, that's worth exploring. At 4th overall?? IDK, but I'd rather go after a PF, SF, or C with the 4th overall, and think McD could surely find one prospect at one of these positions that he likes better than Dunn or Hield or Murray. I just can't see spending the 4th overall pick on a Guard, UNLESS both Knight and Bledsoe are traded on Draft night for another lotto pick this year.

We will just have to disagree with Chriss, I see way more negetives than positives in his game. How anyone compares him to Shawn Marion and Amare is beyond me, like literally blows my mind. I think hes more of a project than Bender is.

I agree with you there, but yes, we disagree on Chriss' ability. Chriss is 'raw' and 'inexperienced', not 'lazy' or a 'poor motor' guy; when a player is unsure of himself, his role, where he's supposed to be, etc., it's natural to look 'disengaged'. I honestly believe, if given proper coaching and opportunity, he has the ability to be special.