Phoenix Suns Front Office Speaks! John Treloar Drop Nuggets On SG Prospects

Posted on www.azcentral.com early this morning is a story centered on a series of quotes from the Suns' draft guy, John Treloar. It's not really news, per se, but it's SOMETHING from the Suns front office. Actual quotes about actual prospects. So let's chew on it a bit.

Phoenix Suns eye options to add scoring through the draft | Paul Coro | azcentral.com

While nothing in the article says the Suns are definitely taking a shooting guard with their #13 pick, it certainly seems that they are interested in doing so.

Hit the link to read Treloar's quotes on Dion Waiters (attacks the basket), Austin Rivers (scorer mentality), Jeremy Lamb (great size, tough sophomore year) and Terrence Ross (underrated, but might just be the best of the bunch).

The Suns have been talking about adding a go-to scorer at the wing for 2 years now, ever since the talent exodus after the 2010 playoff run. Waiters and Rivers fit the bill of creating their own offense, though neither is a sure thing. Lamb and Ross are bigger and offer a defensive presence that the Suns also need, but don't often create their own shots at the basket.

Treloar's comments on Terrence Ross are interesting. Yesterday, the latest ESPN mock draft had Beal, Waiters, Rivers and Lamb all gone by the Suns' #13 pick, leaving only Ross for the Suns. While I doubt that 4 shooting guards (including Bradley Beal) will be taken in the first 12 picks of a PF-heavy draft, it's almost certain that at least Ross will be available for the Suns next Thursday.

The question is: if any of the other 4 are available as well, would the Suns take Ross? At this point, I've got to think that the Suns would take any of those other guys ahead of Ross. Beal is not an option. He will be taken in the first 5 picks. But any of the others could drop to 13.

At this point, the Suns need someone who can create offense where its not handed to them on a silver platter. Waiters and Rivers make their own offense and they both have the alpha-male mentality, so they appear to fit the bill best on a team devoid of alpha talent under contract. Neither Lamb nor Ross are alpha males, but they can defend and they can make jump shots. Lamb has a higher upside of the two. He is longer in the arms, and had been successful on a better college team.

But if Terrence Ross were the only one available, I am sure the Suns would be pleased with that too. He may have a lower ceiling than the others, but he also brings the lowest risk. And with his defensive abilities and shooting touch, he could be another Eddie Jones which ain't too shabby.

Sounds to me like Treloar is setting us up for that possibility.