The 2016 NBA Draft Lottery went out with a fizzle...Not even a slight bang to make shockwaves ripple throughout the league, or make some fans jump for joy while others recoil in despair.
Nope, not a single team moved up or down, with all 14 teams picking exactly where they were positioned in their pre-draft lottery slotting. For the Suns, that means that Phoenix will pick at #4, and #13...Along with picks #28 and #34 which were already pre-determined.
Of course, that isn't necessarily all bad for the Suns. Despite having a shot at one of the coveted top two picks (read: Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram), the Suns had the highest odds of actually picking #5 overall, which is exactly what happened the last time the Suns found themselves slotted at #4, just three years ago.
Not to mention the unlikely possibility that Dave, Owen, and I joked about being just the Suns luck...If Washington somehow landed in the top three, and kept their pick that was top-10 protected.
So yeah, there's a bright side (of the sun) after all.
Once the Suns' fate was sealed, we had a chance to listen to the man himself, Ryan McDonough, go over some of his thoughts before the pre-draft workouts began. Since I have video, I'll save you the trouble of reading everything (and more importantly, myself the trouble of transcribing everything) he said. But there were two themes that presented themselves above all of the rest.
One: The Suns are "not likely" to bring in all three first round picks into training camp next year. Not to mention that high second round pick as well. Whether that means wheeling-and-dealing their way to other picks or players, which McDonough said he was open to, or drafting a combination of impact players and developmental projects, that is yet to be determined.
Two: McDonough loves the International players. He spoke twice about the advantages of drafting players who stay overseas for a couple of years, and developing their game before coming over to the NBA. He specifically mentioned the recent success of Bogdan Bogdanovic in reference to this idea, and one has to believe that same success is giving him hope of repeating the same scenario once again.
In fact, I attempted to get Ryan to compare and contrast the advantages/disadvantages of drafting an International player vs. a developmental D-league player who could develop on the Northern AZ Suns, and instead, McDonough launched right back into his reasons for valuing international draft-and-stash players without even mentioning the Suns' new D-league team. Not that I think he's averse to developing a player here at home, I just think he really likes some of these international prospects.
With all of that in mind, here's the video below:
McDonough said the Pre-draft workouts will begin tomorrow. So we should have a much better idea of who the Suns are targeting over the coming weeks. Stay tuned, as our newest writer Owen should be in attendance at most of these workouts to get us the full coverage.
Draft season is here!