I think JaVale McGee and Mareese Speights both need to be here as representative big men.

I’ve said it before though: Joe Alexander. The NYTimes profile sold me.

He’s gone though a program that values defense at UCLA, thrived in the open court… I’m more convinced of his PG instincts than DJ’s even though I love DJ’s energy & D… also he is mature and ready to contribute in a back up role very soon if not immediately… that’s what I think anyway.

do you guys think we need a center or a pg with this pick? Also do you guys think any deals will be made by the Suns to move up this draft or add another pick?

What say you all?

could be a Shawn Marion-type player? I’ve never seen him play but if his defense is good enough he looks like the athlete we need to cover some of those SFs and dunk the ball with authority

That Sarver doesn’t go tight ass and sell the pick – Hell, I’d be looking at prospects long term right about now – Sure, the current unit is still playoff worthy, but in 2 years, will they be?

What do you think of the Orlando numbers?

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-pre-draft-measurements/measurements.php?year=2008&sort2=ASC&draft=0&sort=10

I think there are some interesting numbers there. In my mind, this just strengthens the argument for Joe Alexander, but will he be there at 15? He has a great vert (38”). Look at his strength, he benched the weight 24 times, as opposed to 7 for Javalle McGee. And look at the speed – he beat DJ Augustin (2.99 to 3.07)!!

Is JA worth moving up to get?

Some other numbers of note. Darrell Arthur – a disappointing 30” vert. Patrick Ewing – 42” vert. Richard Hendrix – a pedestrian 28 for vert, but an amazing 7’3” wingspan and 10.62 second time in the lane agility drill. no other frontcourt man scored under 11 seconds. Again, JaValle McGee scores horribly at 12.75 seconds. Donte Green has a vert of 31.5.

Conclusions off the top:

McGee is slow footed and weak in the upper body
Arthur can’t jump
Alexander is a gazelle who is also a beast and can jump out of the gym
Green is advertised as a leaper, but jumps 6.5 inches lower than Alexander.

Go for Joe, Hendrix would be a great 2nd round pick!

Does the Porter hire affect the draft pick? I think not, but it will be interesting to see. Terry does not have a long enough resume to suggest what type of coach he would be. I hope for his sake they don’t get a project.

The workout invitees have Q&As on suns.com. I like DJ’s outlook, but I still want to see him play defense. Does anyone have info? Did they play any 3 on 3? Chalmers was there, so he had someone to guard.

Since I’m pretty sure Joe Alexander is now out of reach, I’ve changed my opinions on which way we should go.

1. Mareese Speights
2. Nicolas Batum
3. Serge Ibaka
4. Brandon Rush
5. Robin Lopez

I’m really an upside guy, so the top three are guys who have lottery-type talent but alleged motivation or experience issues.

Rush and Lopez are more limited upside but really little downside guys. I would be satisfied with either.

McGee, Jawai, and Greene are all interesting picks but, to me, exceed the risk threshold that would make me approve passing up Rush or Lopez.

Goran Dragic!

I believe we will select the best wing available. At 15, that will also be the best athlete available after the best PG and size players are gone.

Unlike rosewood, I don’t like the players with motivation issues (despite size) when solid players are available. Fixing the game of a gym rat is easier than fixing the head of a prima donna (see Bowen). Guys with motivation issues end up in the Dirty, not, IMHO, improving their game.

At 15 we should be able to pick up a very talented, hard-working athletic player with SF/SG size at 15 with perhaps limited athletic upside but not much downside either. We need a team, not another prima donna.

These wing players fall in the draft b/c are the they are quite replaceable which is why we let Marion go in the first place.

Late draft is where you pick up shooting guards and rotation players.

I don’t worry about making late-rounder Alando Tucker obselete, as a little competition is fine. Tucker is a bit smallish in my opinion for SF, so he needs to be channeling Mike Finley from the SG position.

One big drag in my mind is that GSW picks ahead of us and tends to like the players we like. That sux.

I am a bit swamped and will post this officially later but here’s the schedule. Matt at RU is running this of course.

I am looking for you guys to participate and really drive this thing. I will play the Sarver role to your Griffin :) except I won’t be looking for $3m to trade it unless someone calls me and offers me $3m for my mock draft pick in which case you suckers and fend for yourselves!

Okay, gents, we’re good to go. No trades. Additional comments are encouraged, as long or as short as you’d like. I have no problem with you submitting multiple picks ahead of time to see who lands, but please don’t make me go Minnesota Vikings in 2003 on you. All times are CST, and that’s when your pick is due. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Monday:

1. Blog-A-Bull 8AM
2. Peninsula is Mightier 10:30AM
3. Canis Hoopus 1PM
4. (Working on the Sonics rep) 3:30PM
5. 3 Shades of Blue 6PM
6. Posting and Toasting 8:30PM

Tuesday

7.ClipsNation 8:00AM
8. BrewHoop 10:30AM
9. Queen City Hoops 1PM
10. Nets Daily 3:30PM
11. Indy Cornrows 6PM
12. Sactown Royalty 8:30PM

Wednesday

13. Blazers Edge 8:00AM
14. Golden State of Mind 10:30AM
15. Bright Side of the Sun 1PM
16. (working on it) 3:30PM
17. (sorting out between the bazillion good Raptors blogs) 6PM
18. Bullets Forever 8:30PM

I think we can strike him from the list for the following reasons:

[1] His agent is Arn Tellem, the same hardballer agent for Joe Johnson.
[2] His “Best Case” upside comparison according to DraftExpress is Leandro Barbosa.

We already got Leandro and there’s not enough upside to suffer that kind of an agent for another one.

And NO on this guy too. Sure, Arn Tellem is a negative, but I say NO because I am tired of being disappointed by European players.

Word is he won’t fall to us, but even if he is the most talented player at 15, I cannot stomach another European player on the team… =)

Anthony Randolph and Joe Alexander will not be available at 15.

Robin Lopez and Kosta Koufos are too limited. JaVale McGee is weak. Nice size but not close to being good enough yet.

Nicolas Batum is French, besides he’s still not good enough. I don’t like Darrell Arthur’s inconsistency.

I’m conflicted between Rush, Greene and Speights.

Any help?

I’m not so sold on raw athleticism or “upside”, and much more geared towards basketball IQ, work ethic/drive, character and applied skill. I think it’s important that who you’re getting right now is capable, after a preseason’s worth of acclimatization, of contributing to a team, even if it is 5 mins/night. There are too many players in this league who come in full of potential and athletic ability, who never truly improve.

Also, given the variances in strength of college schedule, what I look for are players that remind me of an archetype, or combinations of an archetype

My archetypes, skillwise, wrt position are:
C: Olajuwon/Robinson/Shaq
PF: Duncan/Malone/Rodman/Rasheed
SF: Pippen/James/Marion
SG: Kobe/Hamilton/McGrady/Ginobili
PG: Nash/Paul/Williams/Kidd/Billups/Parker

To no one’s real surprise, Alexander and Randolph are off the board in the RU Mock Draft. To some surprise, however, Chase Buddinger is going home to Lute next season.

I think DJ Augustin’s name hasn’t gotten enough play here yet. Granted, he will probably be gone, but the Suns need an heir to The Producer’s throne. It’s going to take a lot of convincing for me to believe that Strawberry is that guy. He’s a tenacious defender, but his ball handling/decision-making need a boatload of work.

Here’s my top 3 choices (for the mock draft) based on what’s transpired so far: 1) Augustin, 2) Rush, 3) Greene.

My feeling is that this is a veteran team that needs players that can step in and make an impact now by fattening the rotation.

The Suns are two years from a massive rebuilding project. I think guys like Robin Lopez, Rush, and Augustin all might be very good players and all are very likely to be able to contribute next year (well, maybe not Augustin since it’s hard for rookie PGs).

But with so much at stake (we’ll only have one late pick in next year’s draft and none in 2010), I just wish we’d aim a little higher. Batum, Speights, McGee, and even Greene are all big time talents, and I just can’t agree with passing up that kind of upside for a rookie 8th man contributor to a slim chance at a championship.

To me, having a contributor right now is all fine and well, and I wouldn’t go so far as to say Rush, Augustin or Lopez are bad picks, especially Rush. But in two years when Raja, Nash, Shaq and Hill are all gone, will they be the players that can take us to the next level?

So that’s my argument for, in the end, Batum. He probably won’t give us much of anything next year, but I don’t think the contributions of Rush or Augustin will be making the difference for a title run next year either. So I don’t see why letting Batum, who is only 19, mature for a couple years on the bench hurts us. But I do see why having a 25 year old topped out Brandon Rush in 2010/2011 instead of blossoming Pippen in Batum makes us a much more mediocre squad down the road.