RealGM

It's looking like we're not lottery bound this season, and while it's too early to conclusively say where the Suns will end up and what will happen to some college players draft stocks, here are some prospects that I'm a fan of and think we could realistic be able to draft.

John Henson, North Carolina - 6'10 PF - Henson fits the build for what the Suns are looking for. He's long, athletic, rebounds the ball well (10.5 rpg in 25 minutes), and alters and blocks countless shots. With his length and great mobility, he has the potential to be an outstanding defender. Offensively he is still very raw, relying on his athleticism and energy to score most of his points, but the potential is there to develop into a great scoring threat, especially with Steve Nash spoon feeding him. He excels in the upon court, getting up and down the floor very quicky. His biggest deficiency right now is his strength, which can easily be improved on. Aswell he is awful from the free throw line, but his stroke is actually decent and looks like it could be fixed.Upside is huge with Henson, on most draft boards he is outside the lottery, but I would expect his stock to rise with scouts gushing over his physical attributes and potential.

Keith Benson, Oakland - 6'11 C - Having another big season in Oakland (19.1 PPG 12.3 RPG 3.5 BPG). Probably has a big of the big fish in small pond syndrome playing in the summit league, but has been impressive against some good competition this year. Another guy who is pretty raw offensively, but brings it on defense and on the glass. He's long and athletic on any level, and has a great motor playing with a lot of intensity. Needs to bulk up a lot to be fully utilize his skills. Mobile and runs the court well, and just seems like he would be a good fit here, with the skills the he brings to the table (defense and rebounding). Most see him going in the second round.

Mason Plumlee, Duke - 6'11 PF/C - Could very well end up going in the lottery. Another athletic big guy (see any pattern). Standing 6'11 with a decent frame, good length, and superb overall athleticism, Plumlee has the prototypical physical profile for an NBA power forward. Extremely explosive and agile with great coordination and a very high motor, Plumlee has the potential to excel anywhere on the court on the offensive end should he develop the requisite skills.

Those are just 3 quick players that I'd be happy to draft next year if they were within our range. Obviously there are some are some potentially great players that could come out in the 2011 draft (Perry Jones, Harrison Barnes, Jared Sullinger, Terrence Jones, Kyrie Irving, etc.), but I'm predicting that they'll be out of our reach. As you can see, my main focus was on getting us a legit big man that can defend, rebound, and potentially excel alongside Nash.

What players do the rest of you think would fit with our needs and our system?

It's simple. We need a pure game changer; from here on, we're no longer drafting by position, it must be done by talent. Doesn't matter what position the guy plays, he's got to be the absolute best player available at that point in the draft, we just need to stockpile talent now. Don't care who we really get as long as he isn't another Clark or Lopez.... aka bust.

We need a stud shooting guard. Bottom line. Kobe Bryant/Paul Pierce/Brandon Roy/Wade/Ginobili type attack off the dribble create their own shot.

That's the direction I want this franchise to go in.

Dragic at point playing off another dominant ball handling 2 guard.

Fisher/Kobe of the Suns in the future except Dragic can be better than Fisher

wow, good luck with finding those type of players guys.

sunsfever68 wrote:We need a stud shooting guard. Bottom line. Kobe Bryant/Paul Pierce/Brandon Roy/Wade/Ginobili type attack off the dribble create their own shot.

That's the direction I want this franchise to go in.

Dragic at point playing off another dominant ball handling 2 guard.

Fisher/Kobe of the Suns in the future except Dragic can be better than Fisher

Jason Richardson isn't a stud shooting guard?
We need a big man that can rebound and play defense like hell.

Harrison Barnes is who we need.

I would try to target Lucas Nogueria in the first round. I like his game, and he's quite tall.

ma_falaa_50 wrote:wow, good luck with finding those type of players guys.

I for one am completely against drafting a superstar!

Seriously though Henson looked pretty good in the game against Kentucky. Be interesting to see what happens with Derrick Williams, seems like he can be a freaky athletic version of David West at the next level.

I love the kittycat fan giving love to Williams phx#7. thats a good one man.

We have to look for a game changer. I personally dont think we need another role player that was stated above. We need a solid SG that can create his own shots because I dont think Dragic is going to be a top PG in this league. I think a fisher type of player is good, but Dragic will be much better. I like Barnes and Perry Jones III of Baylor as those type of players. Barnes is a smooth player, but I wonder if he might be anything similar to what the other young stud SF that came out of UNC a few years back.

Now if you want a stud, a future star, you have to blow this team up now and tank it and get young talent and picks in return. You also have to find a player in FA that can lead this young team, ie similar to what Nash did when he came here in 04. However, the reality is that Sarver will not want to do that. why?, because if he does, he is set to lose a lot of money as the arena sees less and less fans. I dont think he will be patient enough to set back and let the GM put this team in a good position the next few years.

Its hard to rebuild when you had one of the best PF's in the game leave for one of the worst and richest franchise in the league.

eastsidecrossover wrote:I love the kittycat fan giving love to Williams phx#7. thats a good one man.

Not really a UA fan, but Derrick Williams is an absolute beast. The only concern with him is his size but I think he'll likely measure out well enough to play PF.

He ain't just some hustle player like Jordan Hill, he probably has some of the best footwork in the nation and is showing he can hit the 18-20 footer.

You can find superstars after the first few picks. If I weren't holding a baby I'd list a bunch, but they're there. There are lots of high quality bigs available. I personally don't like Noigera or however you spell his name. Lazy is the biggest thing talked about him. Plumlee, Valanciunas, Enes Kanter, and Renardo Sydney all look like they have lots of potential at C. Trey Thompkins, Sullinger, and Williams are a tad bit undersized but they all look good too. And that's with our first pick, which will probably be between 12 to 20. One of those guys will absolutely drop to us. 2nd round bigs I like are Jajuan Johnson, Rick Jackson, and Keith Benson. All of them are seniors, who normally seem to be more ready to play coming into the league.

For those of you sold on a guard, I love Kemba Walker. Like Alec Burks, Jordan Hamilton, Malcolm Lee and Travis Leslie

phx#7 wrote:

eastsidecrossover wrote:I love the kittycat fan giving love to Williams phx#7. thats a good one man.

Not really a UA fan, but Derrick Williams is an absolute beast. The only concern with him is his size but I think he'll likely measure out well enough to play PF.

He ain't just some hustle player like Jordan Hill, he probably has some of the best footwork in the nation and is showing he can hit the 18-20 footer.

I forget what coach said it but some college coach said he had the best footwork in college basketball. Al Jefferson's a good example of someone who's not super athletic but he just knows how to negate people's height advantages on him by getting them in the air and timing his releases and drop steps to coincide with when the other guy returns to being flat footed. William's will probably drop a little because he's short.

DBrimstone wrote:William's will probably drop a little because he's short.

I bet he's a top 10 pick whenever he comes out.

Da_Reel_Kboy wrote:

sunsfever68 wrote:We need a stud shooting guard. Bottom line. Kobe Bryant/Paul Pierce/Brandon Roy/Wade/Ginobili type attack off the dribble create their own shot.

That's the direction I want this franchise to go in.

Dragic at point playing off another dominant ball handling 2 guard.

Fisher/Kobe of the Suns in the future except Dragic can be better than Fisher

Jason Richardson isn't a stud shooting guard?
We need a big man that can rebound and play defense like hell.

His name is Earl Clark and Robin Lopez. We just need Lopez to get healthy (pre back inkury) and PLAY Clark.

Nash
JRich
Clark
Frye
Lopez


Clark needs to practice shooting threes and driving to the hoop when ran off of the three point line. He doesn't need to be an ISO player even though he has the ability. ROLO needs to finish better on the PnR. Both guys can play defense and will get better considering they are only 22 and 23 years old. JRich is a second tier guard, Frye is the floor spacer and efficient rebounder/defender who is developing a low post game against mis-matches. Nash is Nash.

I don't think we will find anything in the draft that will get us any better thatn what we are. Get rid of Hedo and retire Grant.

JMac1 wrote:

Da_Reel_Kboy wrote:

sunsfever68 wrote:We need a stud shooting guard. Bottom line. Kobe Bryant/Paul Pierce/Brandon Roy/Wade/Ginobili type attack off the dribble create their own shot.

That's the direction I want this franchise to go in.

Dragic at point playing off another dominant ball handling 2 guard.

Fisher/Kobe of the Suns in the future except Dragic can be better than Fisher

Jason Richardson isn't a stud shooting guard?
We need a big man that can rebound and play defense like hell.

His name is Earl Clark and Robin Lopez. We just need Lopez to get healthy (pre back inkury) and PLAY Clark.

Nash
JRich
Clark
Frye
Lopez


Clark needs to practice shooting threes and driving to the hoop when ran off of the three point line. He doesn't need to be an ISO player even though he has the ability. ROLO needs to finish better on the PnR. Both guys can play defense and will get better considering they are only 22 and 23 years old. JRich is a second tier guard, Frye is the floor spacer and efficient rebounder/defender who is developing a low post game against mis-matches. Nash is Nash.

I don't think we will find anything in the draft that will get us any better thatn what we are. Get rid of Hedo and retire Grant.

I agree with ALMOST everything you just said but I do think we need an efficient low post threat to suck in degenses

AT DBrim:



Low post threats are hard to come by, plus our O isn't predicated on it. I am glad that you can see beyond the obvious with our team though

BTW, I hate the stagnating post up center not named Shaq, Duncan or Hakeem circa 99,99, and 94!

Draft the tallest most athletic big and hope he turns out like Amare did.

Hopefully Derrick Williams stays in school for another year so we can get back to the Final Four.

ginobiliflops wrote:Draft the tallest most athletic big and hope he turns out like Amare did.

I.e. Serge Ibaka!?

JMac1 wrote:

ginobiliflops wrote:Draft the tallest most athletic big and hope he turns out like Amare did.

I.e. Serge Ibaka!?

Serge Ibaka isn't far behind Horford for the PF I most want on the Suns.