Suns Predraft Workout #3: Baylor's Isaiah Austin And P.J. Hairston

The Suns held their third 2014 NBA Draft workout Thursday morning.   The six players in town were Baylor's Isaiah Austin, North Carolina's (plus D-League) P.J. Hairston, Virginia's Joe Harris, Iowa State's DeAndre Kane, UCLA's David Wear and Florida's Scottie Wilbekin.

The two big names in the group were Austin and Hairston, who are projected to be in the mix as potential first round picks.

Isaiah Austin

Position: Center

Draft Express Mock Draft: 2^nd round pick 35 to the Jazz

Draft Express Top 100 Rankings: 35

Suns general manager Ryan McDonough on Austin:

"It's hard to find seven footers.  I think if you look around the NBA there's a reason those guys generally get paid if they're pretty good cause they're valuable and hard to find, especially 7'0 guys with skill.  Isaiah at 7'1 has got a really nice stroke at that size.  He's got good ball skills on the perimeter, that was one of the things that stood out today.  It's just how he handles the ball and can make some plays off the dribble that most 7'1 guys can't make.   I think he'll need to keep adding weight and getting stronger to be able to play in the post and handle the physicality of the NBA game.  He has a lot of natural ability and things you can't teach.

P.J. Hairston

Position: Wing

Draft Express Mock Draft: 1^st round 24^th Kings

Draft Express Top 100 Rankings: 24

Suns GM Ryan McDonough on the advantage of going the D-League route compared to college:

"The advantages are it's all basketball.  I'm not trying to bag on college, but their pros.  They play all day, they practice all day, they're playing against men.  It's different, I think the number one thing I've heard from rookies over the course of my career is the NBA game is so much bigger, faster and stronger then anything they've experienced even playing at the high major college level.  I think the D-League is probably the best simulation for the size, strength, speed and physicality of the NBA game."

Joe Harris

Position: Wing

Draft Express Mock Draft: 2^nd round 60^th pick Spurs

Draft Express Top 100 Rankings: 69

Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek on evaluating a player that measured poorly in Chicago (athletically and physically):

"I think the testing gives everybody a good baseline.  I'm sure I wouldn't have tested well, would have John Stockton tested well?  You're looking at guys and can they play the game.  If you got equal guys, maybe you look at that guy who is a little bit longer and that might be a benefit.  For us as coaches we're looking at can the guy play.  If he's got some limitations one way or another does he know how to adjust and make up for that?  If a guy's athletic does he use it?  A guy can jump out of the gym, but if he doesn't use it at the right times it's useless.  You're taking those measurements and you're looking at them and seeing if they're applying them.

DeAndre Kane

Position: Combo guard

Draft Express Mock Draft: Undrafted

Draft Express Top 100 Rankings: 86

Suns GM Ryan McDonough on how a player unusually old impacts the evaluation process:

"I think generally those guys probably have a little lower trajectory in terms of their ceiling, I guess they're probably closer to their ceiling is the best way to put it.  They're not 19 or 20 years old, he's probably the same age as half our team.  You have to factor that in, but at the same time you don't dismiss guys because of that."

David Wear

Position: Forward

Draft Express Mock Draft: Undrafted

Draft Express Top 100 Rankings: Unranked

Scottie Wilbekin

Position: Point guard

Draft Express Mock Draft: Underrated

Draft Express Top 100 Rankings: Unranked