2023 Draft Discussion

[Ghost of Kleine]

https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2023/6/14/23760841/former-sun-devil-desmond-cambridge-jr-among-four-reported-pre-draft-workouts-for-phoenix-suns

Former Sun Devil Desmond Cambridge Jr. among four reported pre-draft workouts for Phoenix Suns
The draft is about a week away, so time to catch readers up to speed on the targets Phoenix have looked at

By DamonAllred
@iamdamonallred

PHOENIX SUNS president of basketball operations and general manager James Jones is notorious— infamous, even— for holding his cards close to the vest. While I respect it to no end, it can be irritating trying to cover him and his plans as part of the media, especially around draft time. There’s just so much we still don’t know.

I even asked the team directly about a week ago whether they would let us know about any draft workouts or anything like that as many teams do, and they told didn’t have anything then and didn’t expect to at any point before the draft.

It’s totally their right and I wasn’t expecting anything different, but it still makes our job a little harder, because it forces us to rely on agent reporting and players self-reporting their workouts, like on Instagram stories or otherwise. There are four — count ‘em, FOUR — pre-draft workouts we know about so far, sorted by their ESPN ranking including notes about their availability (only 58 draftees this year; Chicago and Philadelphia each forfeited second-round picks due to free agency tomfoolery):

50. Emoni Bates, Eastern Michigan scoring wing who measured in at 6’8.25 (without shoes), 179.2 pounds, and a 6’9 wingspan

Spoiler:

Watch on YouTube

Availability: I imagine there’s a good chance he’s still on the board when the Suns pick at 52. He’s the type of chance I wouldn’t mind taking despite the concerns (struggles with playmaking and defense, plus had a gun charge that was dropped between freshman and sophomore seasons) because of how electric the upside is.

81. Markquis Nowell, Kansas State point guard who stands at 5’8, 160 with a 6’0 wingspan

Spoiler:

Watch on YouTube

Nowell should be there after 58 picks to sign undrafted. Teams are always concerned with size, especially when the player is literally my size, but Nowell’s game is much bigger than he is, already doing unprecedented things like breaking the single-game assist record during Kansas State’s March Madness run, losing by three in the Elite 8.

n/a. Desmond Cambridge Jr., Arizona State combo guard standing at 6’4, 180 with an unreported-but-definitely-at-least-plus-’3 wingspan

Read on Twitter

Be sure to check out the full thread from my good pal, Bryce, where he points out how and why Cambridge should be enticing to NBA teams. And I’m sure there’s a lot of overlap between Suns fans and people who vividly remember Cambridge’s three-quarter-court shot to beat rival Arizona in Tucson, whether positively remembering or negatively. His appeal goes beyond that play, though his age — 24.5 by draft day — will certainly scare teams off. I love his team defense especially, and he could be a good long-term project for the Suns’ G League program, whenever that’s up and running.

n/a. Tanner Groves, Oklahoma big profiling at 6’10 240 with an unreported wingspan

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Another full thread to check out, I include about four minutes worth of film broken up by offense and defense. He’s certainly slow by NBA standards, but if the Suns can set up guys like Frank Kaminsky and Jock Landale for success, then Groves should be no different. The bar to clear is so low when it comes to undrafted signings, because the risk is so low. They usually don’t take up a real roster spot and if they do, it’s on a minimum deal that doesn’t affect the cap.

James Jones is yet to sign a player undrafted on the night of the draft and bring that player into camp two or three months later, but in an offseason where the Suns project to have so few tools for roster maneuvering, this could be the draft where he signs his first, especially when comparing the spending habits of Robert Sarver and Mat Ishbia.

Basically, what I’m getting at is I’m easy to please at this point. Give myself and the other draft nerd fans something to hope for about the long-term future and development on this roster.

Plus, we’ll talk again soon about the prospects the Suns might be looking at ahead of pick 52 in another trade-up check-in.

[kennydorglas]

Seems we're all in on Emoni Bates

[Ghost of Kleine]

Seems we're all in on Emoni Bates

Likely due to two prominent factors:
1- He's from Michigan ( eastern). So that appeals to Ishbia's interests for Michigan guys.
2- KD has been high on him for a long time now. And considers him to be special ( in a good way)....lol.

I can envision the suns having interest in him to be mentored by KD since they're very similar archetype players.

[Dr Manute]

I hope we get more 2nd round picks.

[sunskerr]

Easymoneysniper

Emoni

E-money

There's the reason KD likes Emoni Bates

[RaisingArizona]

I hope we get more 2nd round picks.

Why do you only show up in the off-seasons lol

[Slim Charless]

Easymoneysniper

Emoni

E-money

There's the reason KD likes Emoni Bates

I hope we get more 2nd round picks.

Why do you only show up in the off-seasons lol

Looks like there's a distinct possibility that we run it back, but with cp3 on a reduced salary along with whatever picks Ishbia can buy. Which is fine I guess. Maybe our trades are limited to simply trading Shamet back to Monty.

If that's the case then Emoni is a good choice at such a low pick level. Maybe let him play a yr in our new G-Leaguer team for a yr, then bring him over. Trayce Jackson-Davis and Andre Jackson would be 2 fantastic adds that can help out immediately. Both of those dudes could've found playing time with us last year. Both also don't need the ball and can do the dirty work that we need done.

[Saberestar]

What about Horton-Tucker?

He was just OK for the Jazz and he has a Player Option for $11M.

He probably exercises that option because I can't imagine him getting a better contract than that. Shamet makes $10.2M and it's basically an expiring.

We can add a 2nd to make it work for both sides and that could be a win-win trade.

Horton-Tucker is a nice perimeter rotation player with great handles and he has played under Vogel on the Lakers.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Easymoneysniper

Emoni

E-money

There's the reason KD likes Emoni Bates

I hope we get more 2nd round picks.

Why do you only show up in the off-seasons lol

Looks like there's a distinct possibility that we run it back, but with cp3 on a reduced salary along with whatever picks Ishbia can buy. Which is fine I guess. Maybe our trades are limited to simply trading Shamet back to Monty.

If that's the case then Emoni is a good choice at such a low pick level. Maybe let him play a yr in our new G-Leaguer team for a yr, then bring him over. Trayce Jackson-Davis and Andre Jackson would be 2 fantastic adds that can help out immediately. Both of those dudes could've found playing time with us last year. Both also don't need the ball and can do the dirty work that we need done.

[dremill24]

What about Horton-Tucker?

He was just OK for the Jazz and he has a Player Option for $11M.

He probably exercises that option because I can't imagine him getting a better contract than that. Shamet makes $10.2M and it's basically an expiring.

We can add a 2nd to make it work for both sides and that could be a win-win trade.

Horton-Tucker is a nice perimeter rotation player with great handles and he has played under Vogel on the Lakers.

Woof... I'd rather have Shamet

Edit: I should elaborate. THT can get to the basket reasonably well but I'm not a fan of his defense, he can't shoot a lick from outside, and he doesn't score with any efficiency at all.

There's a world where operating off the attention KD/Book get makes it easier for him but that's not a gamble I'd make.

[bwgood77]

Anyone see Vecenie's new enormous detailed draft guide? GoK, you would love this....

https://theathletic.com/4606741/2023/06/14/nba-draft-2023-top-100-prospects-guide/

Detailed write ups on each of his top 75 prospects with sections for background, strengths, weaknesses and a summary.

It also has each prospect's year by year college #s broken in detail along with all their measurabes, etc.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Anyone see Vecenie's new enormous detailed draft guide? GoK, you would love this....

https://theathletic.com/4606741/2023/06/14/nba-draft-2023-top-100-prospects-guide/

Detailed write ups on each of his top 75 prospects with sections for background, strengths, weaknesses and a summary.

It also has each prospect's year by year college #s broken in detail along with all their measurabes, etc.

Yeah, I saw it, but hadn't posted it really because I figured I'd try to cut back on posting draft stuff just a little bit until we see what picks we might actually end up with after already posting like 10 pages of info on prospects.

I do seriously like Trace Jackson Davis and/or Podziemski in the late 1st range. And my tiered list for potentially elite lockdown defensive wings (we'll need around Book/KD) being Jaylen Clark (1st), Andre Jackson (2nd), and Jordan Walsh (3rd). But would absolutely consider taking Leaky Black a bit ahead of whatever range he climbs to after workouts. Jai'me Jaquez is also mildly intriguing I suppose. But I wouldn't really take him over Clark, Black, or maybe Jackson for specific defensive needs.

[bwgood77]

Anyone see Vecenie's new enormous detailed draft guide? GoK, you would love this....

https://theathletic.com/4606741/2023/06/14/nba-draft-2023-top-100-prospects-guide/

Detailed write ups on each of his top 75 prospects with sections for background, strengths, weaknesses and a summary.

It also has each prospect's year by year college #s broken in detail along with all their measurabes, etc.

Yeah, I saw it, but hadn't posted it really because I figured I'd try to cut back on posting draft stuff just a little bit until we see what picks we might actually end up with after already posting like 10 pages of info on prospects.

I do seriously like Trace Jackson Davis and/or Podziemski in the late 1st range. And my tiered list for potentially elite lockdown defensive wings (we'll need around Book/KD) being Jaylen Clark (1st), Andre Jackson (2nd), and Jordan Walsh (3rd). But would absolutely consider taking Leaky Black a bit ahead of whatever range he climbs to after workouts. Jai'me Jaquez is also mildly intriguing I suppose. But I wouldn't really take him over Clark, Black, or maybe Jackson for specific defensive needs.

Yeah, his guide was 180 pages in small print. I was thinking "Wow! That's almost as long as GoK"s aggregate trade suggestions and draft profiles he's written this year! Vecenie might give Klein a run for his money!"

[sunsbum]

Anyone see Vecenie's new enormous detailed draft guide? GoK, you would love this....

https://theathletic.com/4606741/2023/06/14/nba-draft-2023-top-100-prospects-guide/

Detailed write ups on each of his top 75 prospects with sections for background, strengths, weaknesses and a summary.

It also has each prospect's year by year college #s broken in detail along with all their measurabes, etc.

Yeah, I saw it, but hadn't posted it really because I figured I'd try to cut back on posting draft stuff just a little bit until we see what picks we might actually end up with after already posting like 10 pages of info on prospects.

I do seriously like Trace Jackson Davis and/or Podziemski in the late 1st range. And my tiered list for potentially elite lockdown defensive wings (we'll need around Book/KD) being Jaylen Clark (1st), Andre Jackson (2nd), and Jordan Walsh (3rd). But would absolutely consider taking Leaky Black a bit ahead of whatever range he climbs to after workouts. Jai'me Jaquez is also mildly intriguing I suppose. But I wouldn't really take him over Clark, Black, or maybe Jackson for specific defensive needs.

Yeah, his guide was 180 pages in small print. I was thinking "Wow! That's almost as long as GoK"s aggregate trade suggestions and draft profiles he's written this year! Vecenie might give Klein a run for his money!"

Nobody beats the GOK. Not on his watch.

[bwoolf2]

Read on Twitter

?t=JDjfkzRxmO1qWoBjbs-b3g&s=19

[kennydorglas]

Hey GOK, do u have any hope if Ishbia will actually start buying some 2nd rounders for us now?
seems like this will be our last resort to TRY and build some rotation from now on.

[Dr Manute]

I hope we get more 2nd round picks.

Why do you only show up in the off-seasons lol

I got a new job and forgot my log-in. I have some extra time now and tried some old passwords. One ended up working. I've been looking at the site off and on, but haven't been able to respond until now.

[Dr Manute]

Read on Twitter

?t=JDjfkzRxmO1qWoBjbs-b3g&s=19

I would love to get this guy. My son told me about him just yesterday - would be great on the Suns.

[Saberestar]

Gambo

The Phoenix Suns expect to have a second-round pick in the draft Thursday they just are not sure which pick it will be. It could be 52 or it could be 57. To be determined based on the final details of the Beal trade.

[LV-Suns]

Read on Twitter

?t=JDjfkzRxmO1qWoBjbs-b3g&s=19

I would love to get this guy. My son told me about him just yesterday - would be great on the Suns.

Bol Bol?