There is a lot of talk and most of it is hoping that this years draft will change our beloved franchise, the Phoenix Suns. Sorry but we are going to have to look further down the road (like when Carter's deal is off the books after the '11 season and when Nash retires after the '12 season)
I've heard of a few main possibilities for this draft that are actually realistic to HELP us move forward; not revitalize a concussed franchise. I'll put them in order of most possible to least possible:
Markieff Morris PF (who I think we will take, should be a solid PF in the league with great rebounding and above average D and mid-range)
Iman Shumpert PG (not very good offensively from passing to outside shooting, amazing athlete and really good D, plus a 6-6 guard)
Alec Burks (could be a great slasher for the future, decent D and mediocre shooting/ball handling)
Jordan Hamilton (think T-Mac, lots of offensive ability, bad shot selection, worse D)
Chris Singleton SF (opposite of Hamilton, amazing D but questionable offensive skills)
Jimmer Fredette (not enough lateral movement to be effective defensively at all in NBA, AMAZING shooter/shot creater)
Marcus Morris (thinks he's a SF but he plays like a PF, TWEENER, aka not good)
Kemba Walker (not going to be available, if he is available he is then a no brainer for us to draft)
Tristan Thompson (same thing as Kemba, definitely a great pick for us but won't be available at 13)
Trade Up (Suns don't have much to offer teams except some crapy contracts but even the one that makes the most "sense", Carter's doesn't make sense for us because we would have to extend him for 1 more year to make it a 1 yr $18mil contract, and take on 18 million from another team in order to move up. The Suns are looking to shed cap, which they already are doing with Carter by buying him out for $4 mil straight up, and are not looking to add cap for an extended period of time to move up in the draft; which is the only reason a team would trade us their pick...to free up cap)
REMINDER: that is an order that I alone have come up with by doing what research I can online from chats with various Arizona Professional sports writers to national Mock Drafts and my favorite; my knowledge gained from actually watching a ton of college basketball. Ultimately I came to that order through need, talent, and who will be available around our pick. Also this probably means they will take somebody who isn't even on this list and that statement just comes from my experience of knowing how utterly unpredictable the draft really is.
Ok now that I got the part that I dislike out of the way for YOU (predictions in the draft); I want to do something for both of us, get real.
If you're a Suns fan you want them to be competitive as badly as I do. If that's going to happen we probably need to be bad for another 2 years, get a couple more solid lottery picks, make some good draft choices and use our cap space wisely in free agency (thank god Sarver and Gentry are not in charge of this anymore, no more Childress/Warrick signings sightings). Blanks and Babby have created a salary that will be flexible in the 2011 season losing Carter's 18 mil/yr and VERY flexible in the '12 season when Nash's 12 mil/yr, Pietrus' $5 mil/yr, and Hill's $3 mil/yr contracts expire = a minimum of $38 million opened up between '11-'12 seasons, and you can probably tack on another $3 mil/yr by Brooks' contract expiring; but for arguments sake lets make things "difficult" on ourselves and say we "only" have $35 mil/yr to spend because Sarver is "cheap".
We have our SF position for now in guys like Childress and Dudley, and even SF/PF combo guys Frye and Warrick through '12. We also have Gortat locked up past the '12 season. I believe that SF's and SG's are the easiest position to draft/sign in free agency so come the '12 season (the year Nash's deal is done and in my opinion will retire) we will have two main focuses that will be tough to address, PF and PG.
In order to address those needs the easiest most reliable way is to sign free agents. I believe we will figure out better options at SG/SF through the draft.
PF's that are either Unrestricted (can come and go as they please) or restricted (team they were with in '10 has option to match any deal offered to that player) that are available in '11, when we will have a lot of money to spend from dropping Carter's deal. (I only put down ones that I would WANT on the team and I think are good options, not Hilton Armstrong types)
'11 U = Unrestricted R = Restricted
Glen Davis (U)
Jeff Green (R) (I know hardly a PF, very good defensively, if he can add some weight, no prob)
Nene (Player Option to terminate contract in '11)
Chuck Hayes (U)
Marc Gasol (R) (more of a Center but I like him so much I put him on here)
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (R)
Carl Landry (U)
David West (Player Option to terminate contract in '11)
Spencer Hawes (R)
Greg Oden (R, tell me he isn't worth a really cheap and I mean CHEAP contract?)
Yi Jianlia (U)
There is some good talent there, my favorites, that would also be affordable ($3-$9 mil/per of our $35 mil/per) would be Hayes, Mbah a Moute, and Landry. They all have proven they can play D, rebound, and finish around the rim (a Moute not so much but is the best defender on that list). If you want to go out and spend some money for this position, say around $10 mil/per, Green and David West would be in that territory in my opinion. Green gives you youth but is a little undersized and West is just gettin old and has had some injuries recently so is probably higher risk higher reward.
Nene would be the guy I would want us to go out and get, he is a BEAST in the paint and is very aggressive going to the rack and on the glass; great compliment to Gortat. The only thing is that Nene has proven this to the rest of the league and will probably run you from $15-$18 mil/per depending on the market he could even get around $20 if somebody is crazy enough.
So lets just be optimistic and say we get Nene in '11, still don't make the playoffs and get another option at either SF/SG to test for the future. Then we move into the '12 season NEEDING a PG to take over for Nashty (damn that will be a sad day of great memories).
'12 PG's that are either R or U free agents.
Derrick Rose (R) (not gonna happen, he ain't leavin chicago unless the team is blown up, literally EXPLODED by a BOMB)
Raymond Felton (U)
Randy Foye (U)
Deron Williams (Player option in '12)
Chris Paul (Player Option in '12)
Chauncey Billups (U)
So at this point the Suns would be, hopefully, looking at a line-up of Nash (gone at this point), a SG of either Dudley or the Draft, young player from the Draft, PF Nene, C Gortat. You add in D-Will or Chris Paul, you're talking about a pretty solid damn restart to this franchise in 3 players, one of those two PG's, Nene, and Gortat. Then if you happen to stumble across a STUD at either SG or SF, you can go less expensive and more realistic in Felton, Foye, or Billups to come in and run the offense and play D. Just like writing this article it's not going to be easy, but, it is possible. Look for the Suns to be back in the top 4 spots in the West come the 2013 season due to solid drafts by Babby and Banks, and quality guys picked up in free agency at the PF and PG positions. In wrap up we could give $15 mil/yr to Nene give or take a few mil and then sign D-Will or CP3 for around $20 mil/yr give or take a few mil depending on the Nene deal in '11; and that would be the best way to transform this franchise into one of the best teams in the NBA by the end of the 2013 season. We could also sing somebody like Chuck Hayes for a few mil a yr and if the draft hasn't been kind to us figure out a deal for a very good SG/SF for around $10-$15 mil/yr to make up for bad draft selections and still role with a team that has either D-Will or CP3, a very solid SG or SF, Dudley, Hayes, Gortat with Childress and Warrick coming off the bench.
Theres a lot of what ifs in here, but ultimately we can be a very competitive team again...but it's not going to be within the next couple years. If I'm wrong GREAT! That means we are better that I expected, quicker than I expected.
