2013 NBA Draft Early Entry List and what it means for the Phoenix Suns

First things first the Phoenix Suns need to hire a general manager to set a philosophy and a gameplan for the NBA Draft as well as this summer. The off-season has begun for the teams Suns and teams alike meaning once the hire is made, the team needs to hit the ground running.

The Early Entrant List provides all the freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and draft eligible international prospects that are officially in the NBA Draft. This year there are 77 total.

With a number of prospects coming back to school, including four potential lottery picks, the draft got a little thinner on the back end where the Suns have the No. 30 pick via the Cleveland Cavaliers from the Miami Heat. The top of the draft remains largely unscathed where the team will have the 4th highest odds to win the NBA Draft Lottery and draft a potential franchise cornerstone.

Having a first round pick in the lottery and towards the back end means the team (and the fans) need to know the entire class. More homework needs to be done to get a feel for who the team should target in June.

All the prospects have been broken down by class and alphabetically so there are no specific rankings made:

Freshmen Class
Steven Adams, C, Pittsburgh
Anthony Bennett, PF, UNLV
Archie Goodwin, SG, Kentucky
Grant Jerrett, PF, Arizona
Ricardo Ledo, SG, Providence
Ben McLemore, SG, Kansas
Shabazz Muhammad, SF, UCLA
Nerlens Noel, C, Kentucky
Norvel Pelle, PF, St. John's (through LA City Prep)
Joshua Simmons, SG, Spartanburg Methodist (JC)

Compared to previous freshmen classes this one may appear to be lacking. There are four potential lottery picks in Bennett, McLemore, Muhammad, and Noel, but after the ranges for the remaining freshmen stretch into the second round.

Sophomore Class
Trey Burke, PG, Michigan
Michael Carter-Williams, PG, Syracuse
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, SG, Georgia
Myck Kabongo, PG, Texas
Shane Larkin, PG, Miami
Alex Len, C, Maryland
Christian Kabongo, SG, New Mexico State
Tony Mitchell, F, North Texas
Otto Porter Jr, SF, Georgetown
Tahj Tate, SG, Delaware State
Adonis Thomas, F, Memphis
B.J. Young, G, Arkansas
Cody Zeller, C, Indiana

This a deep sophomore class with Burke, Carter-Williams, Caldwell-Pope, Len, Porter Jr, and Zeller as likely lottery picks. There are some enigmatic talents in this class that could be great, but seem to hold themselves back for a variety of different reasons. The sophomores will be very well represented in the 2013 Draft.

Junior Class
C.J. Aiken, PF, St. Joseph's
Vander Blue, SG, Marquette
Reggie Bullock, SG, North Carolina
Adrien Coleman, SG, Bethune-Cookman
Allen Crabbe, SG, California
Dewayne Dedmon, C, USC
Gorgui Dieng, C, Louisville
Jamaal Franklin, SG, San Diego State
Tim Hardaway Jr, SG, Michigan
C.J. Leslie, PF, N.C. State
Nurideen Lindsey, PG, Rider
Amath M'Baye, SF, Oklahoma
Ray McCallum, PG, Detroit Mercy
Victor Oladipo, SG, Indiana
Kelly Olynyk, C, Gonzaga
Marshawn Powell, F, Arkansas
Phil Pressey, PG, Missouri
Andre Roberson, F, Colorado
Trevis Simpson, SG, UNC-Greensboro
Tony Snell, SF, New Mexico
Deshaun Thomas, SF, Ohio State
John Taylor, Fresno Pacific, PG

Every year the junior class shows well with some players taking a little longer than others to develop. Playing behind upperclassmen doesn't help for some, but this group has the most depth and could see 19 players drafted this summer. Potential lottery picks include Dieng, Franklin, Oladipo, and Olynyk.

International Class
Alex Abrines, SG, Spain
Giannis Adetokunbo, SF, Greece
Francois Affia, PF, Slovenia
Nemanja Besovic, C, Serbia
Bogdan Bogdanovic, SF, Serbia
Matias Bortolin, PF, Austria
Linos Chrysikopoulos, SF, Greece
Laszlo Dobos, C, Spain
Djorde Drenovac, PF Italy
Viktor Gaddefors, SF, Italy
Rudy Gobert, C, France
Mouhammadou Jaiteh, PF, France
Livio Jean-Charles, PF, France
Sergey Karasev, SF, Russia
Louis Labeyrie, PF, France
Raul Neto, PG, Brazil
Philipp Neumann, PF, Germany
Lucas Nogueira, C, Brazil
Alexandre Paranhos, PF, Brazil
Artem Pustovyi, C, Ukraine
Bogdan Radosavljevic, SF, Germany
Marko Ramljak, SF, Croatia
Dario Saric, F, Croatia
Dennis Schroeder, PG, Germany
Strahinja Stojacic, SG, Serbia
Walter Tavares, C, Spain
Daniel Theis, PF, Germany
Janis Timma, SF, Latvia
Marko Todorovic, PF, Spain
Axel Toupane, SF, France
Adin Vrabac, SF, Bosnia

Due to the defections from the underclassmen this year the International prospects will get a boost in the first round especially. About two months ago only Gobert, Karasev, and Saric were considered first round prospects. Now the likes of Adetokunbo, Jaiteh, Livio-Charles, Nogueira, and Schroder are in the mix. Close to half of the first round could come from outside the country when you factor in Steven Adams (New Zealand), Anthony Bennett (Canada), Gorgui Dieng (Senegal), Alex Len (Ukraine), and Kelly Olynyk (Canada).

Stay tuned in all week here on Bright Side as there will be daily draft coverage starting today