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The Suns had their second day of pre-draft workouts this morning. The list of invitees included almost exclusively second round targets, headlined by Aaron Harrison of Kentucky.
Harrison, the SG out of Kentucky, is the only DX Top 100 player among the group invited. He is generally considered the less skilled of the two Harrison brothers (brother Andrew is a borderline first round pick), and his selection would continue a long tradition of the Suns and lesser brothers. Aaron has good size and athleticism for the SG position in the NBA, but failed to grow as a shooter in his two years at Kentucky.
Perhaps the second most well known player of the group is Seth Tuttle of Northern Iowa. The anchor of the surprisingly good Panthers, Tuttle is a PF with a great passing touch and deceptively good shooting. While not a fabulous athlete, his vertical (28 inches) and size (about 6'9 with shoes) compares favorably to another stretch big with a deceptively good outside shot - Ryan Anderson.
Kevin Pangos is another name that may be familiar to some, as he has been one of the faces of Gonzaga basketball for the last 4 years. Pangos displaced the popular David Stockton as the starting PG for the Bulldogs in 2011-12, and has been a consistent part of the Bulldogs' recent success. While not nearly the heady ballhandler Stockton was (Stockton was recently signed by the Kings), Pangos is a better scorer and athlete, and his 3 point shooting will likely be his calling card if he is to have a shot at the next level.
Jordan Sibert out of Dayton was a high volume scorer for Archie Miller. He is somewhat undersized for the 2 guard position, and notably was not asked to participate in either the Draft Combine or the Portsmouth Invitational, but Sibert, like Pangos, is likely looking to make 3 point shooting his calling card. in 2013-14 Sibert shot nearly 43% from behind the arc, before coming back down this season.
Kenneth 'Speedy' Smith out of Louisiana Tech is a bit of an odd inclusion. Smith is a low volume, low efficiency player who led a surprisingly good La Tech team to the NIT two years in a row. What Smith lacks in scoring power he makes up for in athleticism, defense (1.9 steals per game) and heady play (7.3 assists per game with only 2.4 turnovers).
The other unknown on the list is Gerald Beverly out of tiny Daemen College (enrollment 2958) in upstate New York. Little is known about Beverly, except that he dominated at his level, averaging a double double and converting on nearly 60% of his opportunities. He has apparently attracted attention from other NBA teams. His agent, Roger Montgomery, is a specialist in working with 2nd round and undrafted project players, most notably having worked with Jeremy Lin, Sonny Weems and Langston Hall (Mercer, class of 2014).
Name | Position | DX-100 Rank | Height | PPG | RPG | APG | FG% | 3P% | PER |
Aaron Harrison (Kentucky) | SG | 78 | 6'6 | 11 | 2.6 | 1.4 | 39.5 | 31.6 | 18.1 |
Gerald Beverly (Daemen) | PF | Unranked | 6'7 | 20 | 12 | 0.7 | 60.7 | 33.3 | NA |
Kevin Pangos (Gonzaga) | PG | Unranked (59 in Seniors) | 6'2.5 | 11.8 | 2.8 | 4.7 | 47.3 | 43.3 | 20.1 |
Jordan Sibert (Dayton) | SG | Unranked (48 in Seniors) | 6'4 | 16.1 | 3.3 | 2.0 | 45.6 | 34.9 | 21.7 |
Kenneth 'Speedy' Smith (La Tech) | PG | Unranked (51 in Seniors) | 6'3 | 6.6 | 4.0 | 7.3 | 38.3 | 36.8 | 16.0 |
Seth Tuttle (Northern Iowa) | PF | Unranked (40 in Seniors) | 6'8.25 | 15.3 | 6.9 | 3.3 | 60.4 | 43.2 |
31.4 |