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With a sterling amount of pre-draft workouts for the Phoenix Suns last week, this week has been -- for lack of a better word -- ehh. Silence is the big theme for the Suns front office thus far, leaving fans nothing but the bitter circumstance of speculation via reading between the lines on random tweets.
Report: Jamal Murray has solo Wolves workout https://t.co/Y667bs0IXl
— Rotoworld Basketball (@Rotoworld_BK) June 13, 2016
According to this tweet, Murray was in Minnesota yesterday staking his claim to join the likes of Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns and Zach LaVine to make some unholy version of the Super Friends. If Murray is following the same workout pattern as Dragan Bender, he should be en route to Phoenix today before making an appearance at the facility tomorrow on (what I assume) would be under the condition of an individual workout.
And, as we know from last Friday, Ryan McDonough has had about enough of all of this individual workout stuff.
"I think [an individual workout] is a trend that is happening league-wide. I was actually talking to T.J. Warren about it today. I think when we worked him out there was multiple lottery picks in the workout. Devin Booker came in and competed last year ... It is something we value -- I wish there were more of it," McDonough told reporters Friday. "This is unfortunately one of the few parts of the process that we do not control. Our thought process on it is something is better than nothing."
McD sported more passive-aggressiveness in that quote than LeBron James' Twitter account. Hey-oh! I'll be here all day, folks.
As of today, we have finally been given confirmation on a date for the Bender workout:
Report: Suns will work out Dragan Bender on Saturday https://t.co/vEugafZB5e
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) June 14, 2016
But as for Murray, Buddy Hield and Marquese Chriss, no such plans have been made. Hield and Chriss are an interesting case because they appear to be playing jedi mind tricks on front offices around the league by making salivating GMs and coaches come to California in order to see them workout.
Ainge on today's Hield & Chriss work in Cali. Hield: "A guy that’s ready to step in & play. Very, very, impressive." https://t.co/6c25qmxWnw
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) June 14, 2016
I think players and agents are fully realizing that there typically isn't much leverage for prospects during the draft process, so when it is apparent, it is important to soak it up for as long as they can.
Especially for a player like Chriss, who has seen his stock rise more in recent weeks than a nerd who dates a cheerleader in high school. What use does he have risking the speculative money he has earned by exposing himself to enhanced workouts that could damper his draft position?
The spirit of competition be damned; if a player is satisfied with where their draft stock currently lies, they should not feel condemned to further showcase themselves to teams. More power to them.
I am sorry that this post turned into a mini rant.
For now, let's rejoice in the fact that Bender is a sure thing on Saturday.