Bright Side Of The Sun - Phoenix Suns 2013 NBA Mock Draft Diary - Daily journal of picks, trade talks and hand-wringing that shaped the 2013-14 SunsDedicated to Phoenix Suns Basketball since 2006https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47819/bs-fv.png2013-06-22T07:00:45-07:00http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/rss/stream/42042372013-06-22T07:00:45-07:002013-06-22T07:00:45-07:00Mock Draft Diary: It's grading time!
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<figcaption>Moses Robinson</figcaption>
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<p>The SB Nation First Round NBA Mock Draft was a huge hit, and lots of fun. The Phoenix Suns now have three rookies, led by Victor Oladipo, and a much younger team picture with lots of cap space.</p> <p>Following the recent models of Houston and Orlando, the mock <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/">Phoenix Suns</a> took full advantage of the SB Nation mock draft to acquire as much youth as possible while clearing the necessary cap space for future maneuverings.</p>
<p>Going into the mock draft, the Phoenix Suns boasted the league's second-oldest non-playoff rotation (26 years old, second only to Dallas) and nine guaranteed 2013-14 contracts with only one of those contracted players younger than 24 years old.</p>
<p>Truly, the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba-draft">2013 NBA Draft</a> is going to be the opening bell of a new era of Phoenix Suns basketball. It has to be.</p>
<p>Going into the draft, the Suns have the #5 and #30 overall picks (and #57, but that one unlikely to make the playing rotation). If the Suns draft only those two spots, that leaves just <b>three</b> roster positions under 24 next season. Three.</p>
<p>Top it off with <a target="_blank" href="http://www.shamsports.com/2013/06/the-amount-of-cap-room-teams-will.html">only $8.5 million in cap space</a>, after factoring in releases of all non-guaranteed players, the Suns did not have a lot of wiggle room this summer to eat salary in trades in order to get youth after the draft.</p>
<p>Quite simply, it's not good enough just to draft those two spots and wait for free agency.</p>
<h3>Mock Draft Results</h3>
<p>This was my mantra going into the SB Nation Mock Draft:</p>
<ul>
<li>get as young as possible</li>
<li>collect tradeable assets</li>
<li>make even more cap space available for later trades</li>
</ul>
<p>This mock draft was not going to complete "the team of the future" for Suns. Rather, the draft would create even more assets for future trades. I was not going for veterans. Just kids. I wanted to preserve the Suns chances at a cornerstone player in the 2014 draft. There are no quick fixes with this team.</p>
<p>Remember that Houston took three first-rounders last year, turning one of them into James Harden. Orlando spent the entire year acquiring kids after Dwight left, ending the year with several rookies (Vucevic, Nicholson, Harris, Harkless) that will someday be used to acquire a star.</p>
<p>That was my mantra. Do whatever I could to collect youth and assets.</p>
<h3>Recap of Draft</h3>
<h4>1) Take Victor Oladipo at 5th overall</h4>
<p>First, the mock front office and I decided that we would take the best available player at #5, rather than move up or down. There are 5-6 players all jockeying for top 5 positions, all fairly equal in talent and upside.</p>
<p>When Oladipo fell, it was a slam dunk. But if any of the other 4 (Noel, Len, McLemore, Porter in that order) had dropped, I'd have taken whoever it was.</p>
<h4>2) Trade <span>Marcin Gortat</span> for #10 and <span>Joel Freeland</span>, draft Rudy Gobert</h4>
<p>After taking a guard at #5, we wanted to take a big man at #10. You can debate the name of that big man all you want, and so would I, but at the time of this draft the 20-year old Rudy Gobert was the top-rated remaining big man in the draft. Two weeks later, that's more of a question.</p>
<p>The trade itself is one of value. Gortat was leaving in a year. He's not here to babysit a young team, he wants to play for a playoff team. His $7.75 million expiring contract needed to be turned into youth sooner or later, lest the Suns lose him for nothing. The #10 pick was a valuable asset. And Joel Freeland is a quality backup big man too.</p>
<h4>3) Trade <span>Jared Dudley</span> for #20 and Rip Hamilton, draft Jamaal Franklin</h4>
<p>Here's another debatable pick, because of the relative value of Dudley vs. Gortat and the duplication involved in taking Jamaal Franklin. Yet I wasn't building the roster of the future here. I was collecting assets. Franklin will have the same/similar value as <span>Jeremy Lamb</span> had last year - a projectable young player for inclusion in a trade. Or, if he blows the Suns socks off, he makes Oladipo expendable in a bigger deal for an even bigger star. It's all about collecting assets.</p>
<h4>4) Trade <span>Kendall Marshall</span> and #30 for <span>Brandon Knight</span> and #37</h4>
<p>Yet more duplication here. But realize that Brandon Knight is the same age as Kendall Marshall but he is more accomplished as an NBA player and can get his shot when he wants it. He's a 37% 3-point shooter on 4+ attempts per game and can play combo guard with Dragic. If Knight develops into the star the league thought it was getting in 2011, he gives the Suns yet another tradeable asset (Dragic or Knight) without destroying the team.</p>
<p>I am hoping the Suns would be able to use the #37 on someone like C.J. Leslie, but it would most likely be used on a draft-and-stash of a Euro player. Same for the #57 - draft and stash. The picks could also be used to acquire a veteran 3-point shooter for the nights the kids aren't playing well.</p>
<h3>Summary</h3>
<p>With these moves, the Suns now have $14.9 million in cap room this year.</p>
<p>The $14.9 million assumes the release of all non-guaranteed deals except <span>P.J. Tucker</span>.</p>
<p><a href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2822473/Picture_16.png" target="_blank"><img alt="Picture_16_medium" class="photo" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2822473/Picture_16_medium.png"></a> <br id="1371908555742"></p>
<p>I realize this roster might not win 20 games next year as currently constructed, but at least it's got some potential. Remember the Suns won 25 excruciating games last year with an old lineup boasting little future.</p>
<p>The Morrises still might develop, and will now get to share the stretch-4 role.</p>
<p>Further moves I would make, once July 1 hits:</p>
<ul>
<li> <b>release <span>Michael Beasley</span></b>. With Franklin playing a lot of SF in a three-guard lineup and the bigger Morrises available for backup SF (Marcus) and stretch-4 (Markieff and Marcus), along with <span>Channing Frye</span> returning to play some 4 and 5, there's no room for SuperCool</li>
<li> <b>trade <span>Luis Scola</span></b> for a future asset, ANY future asset. That poor guy had such a hard time on a loser last year. I really felt bad for him. He took that losing harder than most anyone on the roster. His contract will be easy to trade. Like Beasley, the Suns have more than enough bodies to play his minutes.</li>
<li> <b>Sign a stop-gap center</b> who can rebound, block shots</li>
<li> <b>Trade duplicative assets</b> (Franklin, Morrii) for SF/PF big with a future</li>
</ul>
<h3><b>Depth chart</b></h3>
<p>PG <b>Dragic</b>, Knight</p>
<p>SG Oladipo, Franklin</p>
<p>SF <b>Tucker</b>, Franklin, Mook Morris</p>
<p>PF Kieff Morris, Mook Morris, <b>Frye</b></p>
<p>C <b>Frye</b> (or free agent, if Frye not healthy), Gobert, Freeland</p>
<p>Highlighted are the team's veterans. I realize this roster is a hodgepodge (some might call it a sh!* sandwich) and not likely anything the Suns would want to enter the 2013-14 season with.</p>
<p>But I wasn't going for that. I was going for assets. Assets to be used for something much bigger. "When" that something happens, I don't know. But the Suns are primed when it does.</p>
<p>The best building lock of the future is Victor Oladipo.</p>
<h3>Postscript</h3>
<p>I got what I wanted out of this draft. Was it the best the Suns could have done? Heck no. But doing this all in real time, not knowing who was going to fall where and which trade proposals were going to work out, I found out quickly that there's no blueprint to follow. You think you're doing the right thing and then, bam, the picks don't go as expected.</p>
<p>If Noel or Len had fallen to 5, and the trades went as they did, we could have ended up with Noel(Len)/Muhammad/Franklin/Knight. That would have been a nice distribution of talent, one for each position, but is Len a better prospect overall than Oladipo? Who knows. And, unless you duplicate positions with youth, you can't really afford to trade any of them unless you're getting a better player back at that same position. The way the draft unfolded, both Knight and Franklin can be dealt from a position of strength.</p>
<p>As the draft went on, after the top 6-7 picks, there was basically only a choice of future backup center or rotational wing player with high upside. With the Morrises and Frye already filling the potential stretch-4 roles, I didn't think a young PF would get any playing time to up his trade value. And the Morris value is at an all-time low right now. They need playing time to prove their worth to the Suns and/or in trade.</p>
https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2013/6/22/4454518/phoenix-suns-mock-draft-diary-acquired-six-traded-three-got-a-lotDave King2013-06-21T06:37:00-07:002013-06-21T06:37:00-07:00Mock Draft Diary, Final Day: #30 Pick or Trade?
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<figcaption>USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Going into the final few picks of the SB Nation Mock Draft, the Mock Suns Front Office still had one more draft pick in their back pocket: the 30th overall pick. Read how we decided what to do with it.</p> <p>With a bit of nostalgia, I get to recap for you how the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/">Suns</a> finished out their SB Nation mock draft with a bang. But before we get into how we fired the last, huge missile, let's look back on what's happened so far.</p>
<h3>Recap</h3>
<p>SBNation decided to run a league wide mock draft, with each blog manager drafting for his or her team and negotiating trades between each other using at least one first round pick in each deal.</p>
<p>First, we dabbled in trading up but decided against it and watched Victor Oladipo fall to the Suns. He's the guy that most Suns fans drool about, since he's such a hard worker and was so great in his junior year at Indiana.</p>
<p>Then, after a whole bunch of maneuvering and negotiating, BSotS traded two veterans for two more first round picks and took 7'2" Rudy Gobert (with 7'9" wingspan) and 6'5" Jamaal Franklin (with 6'11" wingspan). The cost was <span>Marcin Gortat</span> and <span>Jared Dudley</span>. I can see Gobert taking a year or two to get his feet wet in the NBA and to establish his presence, so the Suns will need to sign veteran center if <span>Channing Frye</span> doesn't come back next year. But they don't need a 30-year old on a 4 year, $10 million contract (which is what Gortat would have wanted).</p>
<p>Franklin will play big minutes right away in three-guard lineups with Oladipo and Dragic. They can wreak havoc defensively, rebound the ball, run the court like lightning and put the ball in the hole.</p>
<p>One downside is that none of the three is a high-volume, high-percentage 3-point shooter. That means the Suns would have to (a) play them along with a big-time shooter at the 4 and/or 5, like Channing Frye, or (b) play Franklin at the 4 where he played in college while another wing hits the 3s. Or both.</p>
<p>Another weakness is secondary playmaking when Dragic rests and when he's out there to give the Suns a two-pronged attack. Oladipo can handle the ball a bit, and Franklin led his team in assists (and rebounds, points and steals), but neither is a primary ballhandler even for short minutes.</p>
<p><span>Kendall Marshall</span> could be that playmaker, but he's more of a passer than a shooter. And true playmakers are a threat to shoot from anywhere. If Marshall develops his shot, then he could be a force. But he doesn't quite fit with the new ultra-quick, ultra-athletic guard rotation and doesn't make up for it in shooting at this point.</p>
<h3>On tap</h3>
<p>The Suns have one more pick at #30. But I really don't want four rookies on the roster, so I wanted to explore trading trading the #30 for a young veteran with a future. Of course, no one wants who has a young veteran with a future wants to trade him for just the #30, so I decided to add in as many remaining trade chips as I needed.</p>
<p>I still had Marshall, the Morrii, and a handful of non-guaranteed deals with which to provide salary relief to taxpaying teams.</p>
<p>What I wanted was either a pure small forward who could shoot, or a combo guard who could play the 1 or the 2 depending on the lineup. The player needed to be a veteran but still on his rookie contract and the potential to be better in a couple years than they are today.</p>
<p>So I contacted two teams who'd been active in the Mock Draft to see if they wanted to do one more deal: Philadelphia (<span>Evan Turner</span>) and Detroit (<span>Brandon Knight</span>).</p>
<p>In both cases, their former high pick was wearing out his welcome and didn't quite fit the team of the future. Turner was good, but not #2 pick good. And Knight was good, but redundant with <span>Rodney Stuckey</span> and now C.J. McCollum as combo guards on the same team. Both teams could use a pass-first playmaker to get the ball down to the bigs on their team. And Philly had the hometown Morris brothers for nostalgic purposes.</p>
<p>Alternately, we could trade down from #30 to get multiple assets in the 2013 and 2014 drafts (second-round only). But that's not sexy or exciting in a Mock Draft that only goes to pick #30.</p>
<p>Both Philadelphia and Detroit came back with good, doable trade offers. The BSotS front office was torn for a bit. We exchanged at least a dozen emails debating the merits of each deal.</p>
<p>Tick tock.</p>
<p>Tune in on Friday for what happened.</p>
https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2013/6/21/4450986/phoenix-suns-mock-draft-diary-one-more-to-add-to-oladipo-gobertDave King2013-06-20T06:23:50-07:002013-06-20T06:23:50-07:00Mock Draft Diary: Debating Dudley for another #1
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<figcaption>Christian Petersen</figcaption>
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<p>With Oladipo and Gobert in the fold, the BSotS front office was determined to grab yet another first round pick, even if it meant trading fan favorite Jared Dudley.</p> <p>Now that SG Victor Oladipo (5th overall) and C Rudy Gobert (10th overall) are <a href="https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Phoenix Suns</a>, should the team just draft a guy at 30 and walk away happy?</p>
<p>No, I say!</p>
<p>This is a mock draft, my only chance to be something slightly more than an armchair GM. After this draft is over, I just might be banned by BSotS from participating in next year's Mock Draft, but for now the baton is mine. Mine!</p>
<h3>Recap</h3>
<p>I went into this draft with a desire to remake the Suns roster with youth, and allow free agency to surround that youth with short-term rental veterans until the young guys matured.</p>
<p>My version would be better than Dallas' a year ago,who only did the short-term veteran part. More along the lines of Houston, who drafted three guys in the first round last summer and then supplemented the kids with veterans in July (Lin, Asik, Delfino) and October (boom! <span>James Harden</span>).</p>
<p>First, you have to start with youth. With the help of the BSotS front office, I drafted 21-year old SG Victor Oladipo and then traded soon-to-be free agent <span>Marcin Gortat</span> for the #10 overall pick. Everything was going great, until I picked a guy at 10 that everyone and their unborn child hates: 20-year old French C Rudy Gobert. But I still love Gobert's upside, so I'm happy with that pick.</p>
<h3>Next</h3>
<p>Next, I decided that the roster needed even more youth - and not just what the #30 pick would bring.</p>
<p>My best trading assets were: recent lotto picks <span>Kendall Marshall</span>, <span>Markieff Morris</span> and <span>Marcus Morris</span>, <span>Shannon Brown</span> (1 yr, $3.5 million, $1.75 guar), <span>Hamed Haddadi</span> (1 yr, $1.3 mil, mostly non-guar), <span>P.J. Tucker</span> ($.788, non-guar), #30 pick and... <span>Jared Dudley</span> (3 yrs, $4.25 mil/yr).</p>
<p>Once I couldn't turn Dudley into a top-10 pick (both Detroit and Minnesota offered bad deals, IMO) or even a late lotto pick (more on this in a moment), most of the BSotS front office said it was time to pull Dudley off the table.</p>
<p>Yet, I'm looking at Dudley and I see a guy who would do great on a winning team but cannot be "the man" on a losing one. Last year took its toll on Dudley emotionally. He prefers, and thrives in, a winning environment. Another 2-3 years of losing before he was a free agent - past his prime by that time - is probably not the best plan for him.</p>
<p>Once I decided the Suns were better off turning Dudley into a rookie who could grow - either now, at next year's trading deadline, or next year's draft - I had to decide "who" would be worth the trade.</p>
<p>I did that with Marshall, the Morrii and Dudley all together and apart.</p>
<h3>Options</h3>
<p>The middle of the first round was unexpectedly unfertile.</p>
<p>Sacramento had just traded down to 7 from 11, so they wanted to keep their pick (Michael Carter-Williams).</p>
<p>Oklahoma City (12) had wanted Gortat, but he was gone by that time. In hindsight, the deal offered by OKC might have been better than what I ended up with by the time OKC was on the clock. OKC had offered Perkins' $20 million, the #12 and <span>Jeremy Lamb</span> for Gortat and Dudley. At the time, I had wanted something better than Lamb for Dudley (was still in talks for #8 or #9 to take McCollum) and didn't want to take on Perkins' $20 million for two seasons. Plus, I already had the #10 for Gortat.</p>
<p>In hindsight, I could still have taken my favorite big man at 12, had Perkins play most of the C minutes while Gobert/Adams/Zeller/Plumlee developed into starters, and had Jeremy Lamb to share minutes with Victor Oladipo. Actually, if I had agreed to the OKC deal pre-draft, I could have taken Anthony Bennett at #5 instead of Oladipo (remember, Alex Len was gone at #4). A perfect scenario would have been Len at 5, Zeller/Muhammad at 12, Lamb for the shooting guard position and Perkins as 2-yr stopgap C while Len developed. But Len was gone and Oladipo was the pick at 5, leaving the 10 or 12 pick needing to be a C to replace Gortat.</p>
<p>Anyway, moving on.</p>
<p>Unexpectedly, Dallas (13) was completely uninterested in any deal I had to offer. I thought they would want to dump the pick for some future seconds, even the Minnesota 2014 lottery-protected #1. I even offered to take back Marion in exchange for non-guaranteed contracts that would have saved them $7 million for free agency. But my pitch was wrong, apparently, and Dallas kept their pick after all.</p>
<p>Utah (14 and 21) was a potential trading partner with a GM interested in trades, but they already had youth all over their roster. Everywhere except PG. We talked about Kendall Marshall for either the 14 or 21 (most likely 21). If I could have done that (Marshall for 21), I would have taken Dudley off the block. But alas, Utah took PG Dennis Schroeder at 14 and the Marshall deal was dead.</p>
<p>Milwaukee (15) was a non-starter. They didn't want anything I had to offer, which I guess meant I wasn't offering the right deals. They announced to all the bloggers that they would anyone BUT Henson or Sanders. With most of the roster about to be free agents, that didn't leave much left. Nothing got done here.</p>
<p>Boston (16) decided to keep their pick as well. So did Atlanta, surprisingly uninterested in trading either of their 17 or 18 picks. I thought sure ATL would want to clear cap space for Howard/Paul, but they weren't interested.</p>
<p>And then they went and took one of the guys I was targeting for a mid-first pick: Giannis Adetokunbo. But ATL snapped him up at 17.</p>
<p>As these picks were being made, I kept watching another one of my favorites - Jamaal Franklin - falling down the board. Franklin has been injured and is just now rising up the boards. Franklin is a SG/SF swingman who led his under-talented team in every category last season - points, rebounds, assists and steals. Franklin is a crazy-hard worker and, with a 6'11" wingspan, a top notch defender. He does everything well except long range shooting, but even that has been impressive in recent workouts.</p>
<p>To take Franklin this late in the first round would be a steal, in my opinion. I could easily see him as a secondary ballhandler/scorer in the lineup alongside Goran Dragic and Victor Oladipo. That three-guard lineup could wreak havoc offensively and still play defense, getting turnovers and easy points.</p>
<p>By this time, with the Marshall trade off the table, and no one interested in the other Suns assets (in a mock draft, the value of Brown/Haddadi/Tucker non-guaranteed deals is nil) at this point, I was ready to trade Dudley if I could pick up Franklin.</p>
<p>However, no one else in the BSotS front office was of the same mind. While they didn't lynch me, or execute a coup to replace me, many expressed a desire to keep Dudley if he couldn't get a lottery pick in return.</p>
<p> </p>
<div class="sidebar"><a href="http://www.ridiculousupside.com/2013/6/17/4437472/sb-nation-blogger-2013-nba-mock-draft">
<h2>SB Nation Blogger Mock Draft</h2>
<img src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/14926085/88691684.0.jpg"><span>Watch all the picks happen here!</span></a></div>
<p>I disagreed. Dudley was #21 pick himself, and is best suited in a 6th man role or 5th best starter. If I could draft a guy who could within 2 years (and for 10 years after that) be a full-fledged starting-caliber shooting guard/small forward, I had to make the move.</p>
<p>I was targeting Cleveland (19) and the <a href="https://www.blogabull.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Bulls</a> (20). Cleveland could really use a guy like Dudley to make the playoffs next season. And the Bulls could always use another veteran who could shoot. Rip Hamilton just wasn't giving them what they needed.</p>
<p>Watch the mock draft today to see how it shook out.</p>
<h3>Coming up</h3>
<p>The Suns will acquire new players both today and tomorrow.</p>
<p>The last six picks will be announced on Friday, including the Suns final pick. The Suns still had lots of young tradeable assets and the #30. And surprisingly, late in the first round there was a lot of chatter about the Morrii, Marshall and the 30 for proven, but still young, veterans who would help the Suns transition while the kids learned how to play the NBA game.</p>
<p>Stay tuned for today's pick, and then tomorrow for what the Suns do with the #30.</p>
https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2013/6/20/4448054/mock-draft-diary-debating-the-merits-of-trading-dudley-for-a-midDave King2013-06-18T12:34:24-07:002013-06-18T12:34:24-07:00Mock Draft: "Every day I'm shufflin", Gobert a Sun
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<figcaption>USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Moving forward into a new era is tough to do, especially when it involves trading away a player who was a cornerstone for your franchise. To make that trade without bringing in a ready-made replacement makes it even tougher.</p> <p>As has been rumored for weeks in real life, my "mock" front office saw the logic in making a trade <span>Marcin Gortat</span> to the Portland Trailblazers in exchange for <span>Joel Freeland</span> (2 yrs, $3 mill per year) and the #10 overall pick.</p>
<p> </p>
<div class="sidebar">
<a href="LINK%20LINK%20LINK">
<h2>SB Nation Mock Draft</h2>
<img src="http://cdn1.sbnation.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/14997689/20130516_jel_sl8_019.0_standard_709.0.0_standard_709.0.jpg"></a> <span>Suns acquire #10, draft Gobert</span>
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<p> </p>
<h3>Trading Gortat</h3>
<p>It's time to get the most possible for Gortat, and the Trailblazers obliged with giving back the #10 pick. While the Blazers need to get "older" with a veteran center to play next to <span>LaMarcus Aldridge</span>, the Suns need to get a lot younger.</p>
<p>The trade, as rumored in real life and executed in this mock draft, cannot be completed until the new league year starts. But that didn't stop us, and it doesn't often stop real teams either. (though that might have allowed GS to wiggle out of the Amare trade in 2009, because it wasn't finalized on draft night, but that's just a rumor)</p>
<p>Really, the Suns need to get younger and Marcin Gortat, who will be 30 and playing for another team this time next year, is one of their best assets. Getting a 2013 lottery pick - #10 even! - is a heckuva deal.</p>
<h3>Rudy Gobert</h3>
<p>At the time of the mock draft (two weeks ago today), 21-year old Rudy Gobert was ranked on most sites the best available pure center after Nerlens Noel and Alex Len. With those two off the board, it was still a toss up between Gobert, Cody Zeller (20) and Steven Adams (19) for me.</p>
<p>My fellow front office folks were also torn between the three, and even Mason Plumlee, but nbadraftinsider,com's Managing Editor <i>and the only real live NBA scout in our "mock" front office</i> Kris Habbas gave a great scouting report on Gobert to sell us all on him.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Obviously there is a chance for him to not pan out, but in all honestly, what is the difference between Gobert and Noel? They are both quality defensive prospects with one main skill to hang their hat on; Shot-Blocking.</p>
<p>Noel is a better overall athlete, but Gobert is further along physically and has the tools to be a great defender. He is efficient on offense and has to improved year-by-year on that end showing potential of being a 10-10-3 type player.</p>
<p>Can he be a bust? Absolutely, but so can Noel, Len, Zeller, Adams, and the other high profile big men. That is the risk with drafting a big.</p>
<p>Who should they target at 10? If you have Oladipo already and are losing Gortat the easiest thing to do is draft a five. Gobert is the highest rated five to me left. If you are not in love with Gobert then I shy away from the position altogether because Olynyk and Zeller have higher bust potential than Gobert.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Well, I really wanted a five and so Gobert was the pick. On the actual draft night, the Suns' pick might be different. Gobert came to Phoenix weeks ago - at the start of the workout season - while Steven Adams came in at the end, just a few days ago. It's possible they like Adams more.</p>
<p>The wildcard here is Mason Plumlee, older than the others but extremely athletic. If the Suns see too much bust potential in Gobert and Adams, then maybe they go with a more sure thing in Mason Plumlee from Duke who will already be 23 or 24 next season as a rookie. Lower ceiling, but higher floor.</p>
<p>Why not Cody Zeller? The mock front office thinks he will be a 4 in the NBA, not a 5. The Suns have a few guys who play the 4, and are bringing back <span>Channing Frye</span> next year too. They really need a 5.</p>
<p>But then again, maybe Zeller has the highest ceiling overall and so maybe he's the better pick.</p>
<p>But I took Gobert. Deal with it.</p>
<h3>What of the other lottery pick trades?</h3>
<p>None of the others worked out. We decided that none of the trade offers from Detroit (8), Minnesota (9) and OKC (12) gave the Suns enough of a return. Better to hold onto Dudley than to take on salary.</p>
<p>If Dudley goes, then salary needs to be cleared AND the Suns need to get a young prospect as well.</p>
<h3>What's next?</h3>
<p>With Victor Oladipo and Rudy Gobert officially "mock" <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/">Phoenix Suns</a>, that is not all. Oh no, that is not all.</p>
<p>The Suns still hold a lot of cards - Dudley, young players Morris, Morris and Marshall, and the #30 overall.</p>
<p>Surprisingly to some Suns fans, these were somewhat coveted assets to teams outside the top 10.</p>
<p>Since Dudley was a #21 pick himself and is not a true NBA starter on a championship team (as Eric from canishoopus.com said: "we missed the part where he is a multi-time All Star"), maybe the better deals are a few picks away.</p>
<p>I spent the next few days of our Mock Draft negotiating for more youth - I wanted at least two new young players with the second half of the first round.</p>
<p>The more youth, the better.</p>
https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2013/6/18/4442506/sb-nation-mock-draft-suns-trade-marcin-gortat-for-10-select-rudyDave King2013-06-18T07:41:23-07:002013-06-18T07:41:23-07:00Mock Draft Diary: Negotiating for more lotto picks
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<figcaption>USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>After mock-drafting Victor Oladipo at #5, the Phoenix Suns draft just got a lot more difficult with the attempt to acquire another lottery pick or two, to compliment their new shooting guard.</p> <p>Many people believe the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/">Phoenix Suns</a> have the worst collection of talent in the NBA. And with only <span>Kendall Marshall</span> and (now) #5 overall pick Victor Oladipo under 24 years old when next season starts, the potential development of the team to elite status as currently constructed is next to nil.</p>
<p>The league's second-oldest lottery team (Dallas was older) returns as many as 11 guaranteed contracts from last season's worst-in-the-West squad (if you count <span>Shannon Brown</span> and <span>P.J. Tucker</span>). After Marshall and Oladipo, only <span>Michael Beasley</span>, <span>Markieff Morris</span> and <span>Marcus Morris</span> are as young as 24. The rest of the squad is older than that.</p>
<h3>The Plan</h3>
<p>That's why, as the mock-Suns acting General Manager, I decided to shake up the roster as much as possible in the 2013 NBA Draft. Frankly, while the Draft is considered "weak", the top 10-15 players are still more talented and possess brighter futures than most anyone on the Suns' current roster.</p>
<p>Once the mock draft rules were in place and the doors opened for business, I worked feverishly to acquire up to two more lottery picks to send out there with Victor Oladipo.</p>
<p>I wanted a pivot man AND another shooter/scorer before the 13th pick was announced. And I wanted to use two of the Suns best players, <span>Jared Dudley</span> (28 next season) and <span>Marcin Gortat</span> (29 next season), as the bait.</p>
<p>My thinking was that Dudley and Gortat couldn't help the team win more than 25 games, so how much worse could it get if they were each replaced with one or more younger players? Plus, getting younger would help the Suns acquire a good player or two in the much stronger 2014 draft as well.</p>
<p>There is no quick fix in the NBA, so it's completely unrealistic to imagine the Suns being completely made over in one summer AND still have Gortat and Dudley in the rotation. With Gortat expiring in a year, potentially leaving with no compensation whatsoever, and Dudley at the peak of his trade value, it was time to strike.</p>
<h3>Marcin Gortat</h3>
<p>As soon as the bell sounded, the Portland mock-GM emailed me the offer everyone's been talking about on the interwebs. It's an offer I would not be surprised to see in real life too: Marcin Gortat for the #10 and <span>Joel Freeland</span>.</p>
<p>I wanted to use this #10 pick on the next best available pure center on the board - the one with the highest upside regardless of the time it would take to develop him.</p>
<p>For a while, I tried to replace Freeland with Myers Leonard, but even I was lukewarm on that given that the center the Suns would draft at 10 would likely be better than Leonard, while Leonard might stunt our rookie's growth. It's not really a good idea to have two guys who need the same amount of development playing the same exact position. Plus, the Suns would need a veteran stop-gap center to play minutes too, leaving either Leonard or the rookie on the end of the bench. Other than Leonard, Portland didn't have much to offer in place of Freeland, since half their roster would be free agents in a matter of days.</p>
<p>We spit-shook on the trade, giving each other an out: as long as Portland didn't use the #10 in a trade to move up, and as long as the Suns hadn't found a better trade for Gortat and as long as the Suns saw someone on the draft board they liked.</p>
<p>Before the Suns took Oladipo at 5, I engaged OKC on Gortat for #12. They needed an upgrade on <span>Kendrick Perkins</span>, and the Suns had a big hole at shooting guard. We were both willing to discuss Gortat for Perkins and the #12, straight up. The Suns would be eating about $12 million in salary over two years, so I had to decide if the #12 was worth that much sunk cost.</p>
<p>But then I got the Portland offer - a better pick and lesser salary in return for Gortat. In order to add <span>Jeremy Lamb</span> to the pot, we briefly discussed adding Lamb and Dudley to the trade.</p>
<p>That would have returned Jeremy Lamb, #12 pick and a $10 million salary hit for two seasons in exchange for Gortat and Dudley.</p>
<p>Tick tock. Teams on the clock. Portland offer (#10 and Joel Freeland) in the pocket. With the #10 or #12, I would want to get the best remaining center on the board.</p>
<h3>Jared Dudley</h3>
<p>Let's see what I can get for Dudley on his own. If I could trade Dudley for something equivalent to, or better than, Jeremy Lamb then I could tell OKC to take a hike. I really didn't want to eat Perkins 2-yr, $20 million contract.</p>
<p>I tried to engage Sacramento at #7 for Dudley, but got a quick "no thanks". I was surprised, considering Sacramento really needed a solid veteran like Dudley to supplement an already-young core, but wasn't going to squeeze too hard trying to get blood from a stone. Moving on.</p>
<p>Two hot options for Dudley were #8 (Detroit) and #9 (Minnesota). At 8 or 9, we could grab C.J. McCollum to play combo guard between Oladipo and Dragic. Hornacek loved his three-guard lineup in the late 80s with the Suns, and MCollum's presence would provide the Suns the secondary scorer they so badly need while allowing Oladipo to play the Tucker/Sefolosha role as defender and spot-up shooter for kick-outs.</p>
<p>Detroit needed a steady presence for their young squad, so Dudley was a draw for them. They also were struggling with too many combo guards and not enough pure playmaking to take advantage of their big men, so Kendall Marshall was an interesting option for them too.</p>
<p>As it stood going into their pick, Detroit was holding firm wanting too much back for the #9 and a combo guard, who would have just duplicated McCollum and potentially stunted his growth. The other shooting guards in the draft (KCP, Shabazz) besides McCollum would have stunted Oladipo's growth, in my opinion. We needed a playmaking combo guard who could spell Dragic and provide scoring in the second unit while playing <i>alongside</i> Oladipo.</p>
<p>Minnesota was another option for the Suns with the #9 pick in exchange for Dudley. But Minnesota played hard ball, wanting a lopsided trade in their favor that made it unpalatable. They wanted the Suns to take back a long-term contract, plus too many draft considerations, really diluting the value of the #9 pick. Plus, I wanted McCollum at that pick.</p>
<p>Would either MInnesota or Detroit cave, in time for the Suns to end up with McCollum for Dudley?</p>
<p>Would the Suns take Portland's offer of #10 and Freeland for Gortat? Or would we find a better deal?</p>
<p>Tick. Tock. #7 on the clock. #8 through #12 coming up soon.</p>
https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2013/6/18/4441432/phoenix-suns-mock-nba-draft-diary-attempting-to-acquire-more-lotteryDave King2013-06-17T18:54:13-07:002013-06-17T18:54:13-07:00Oladipo: Behind the scenes in a Mock War Room
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<figcaption>Andy Lyons</figcaption>
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<p>When you watch the NBA Draft and everyone is just picking in order as predicted, you might think that all the GMs are being lazy. Well, it's just the opposite.</p> <p>It sounds perfectly easy, or lazy, or both, for the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/">Phoenix Suns</a> to have selected Indiana shooting guard Victor Oladipo in the SB Nation Mock Draft after Noel, McLemore, Porter and Len had been taken 1-4. Oladipo was (and is) clearly one of the five best talents in the 2013 NBA Draft.</p>
<p> </p>
<div class="sidebar"><a href="http://www.ridiculousupside.com/2013/6/17/4438480/nba-mock-draft-phoenix-suns-select-victor-oladipo-from-indiana">
<h2>SB Nation Blogger Mock Draft</h2>
<img src="http://cdn1.sbnation.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/14940665/20130127_pjc_ss1_040.0_standard_133.0.jpg"><span>Suns Select Oladipo at #5!</span></a></div>
<p> </p>
<p>But nothing is that easy, nor should it be.</p>
<p>We kicked off our Mock Draft on a Sunday night, with Cleveland on the clock. Each pick would be given 24 hours maximum so teams could consider trades and consult with their "front offices."</p>
<p>While waiting for the Suns pick at No. 5, I received a couple of offers to trade down but declined them immediately. The Suns needed the best possible talent they could acquire, and trading down from a top-5 pick wasn't going to get it done.</p>
<p>I went into the draft determined to get the Suns a wing player. Specifically, I wanted either Ben McLemore or Victor Oladipo with the first Suns pick. My assumption was that C Nerlens Noel (or Alex Len) was going Np. 1 to Cleveland and that SF Otto Porter was going No. 3 to Washington. Neither team needed a two-guard, since they'd just drafted two-guards a year ago at 3rd and 4th overall.</p>
<p>That left two slots (No. 2 Orlando, No. 4 Charlotte) ahead of the Suns into which those two favorites could easily slip and be gone by the time the Suns were on the clock.</p>
<p>So I got scrambling. I am not one to sit idly by with crossed fingers.</p>
<p>I explored trading up from No. 5. I first talked with Orlando for the No. 2 pick, but Orlando wanted me to take back long-term salary just for the right to jump three spots. I thought about it and posed the question to the "front office." Did we really think buying a guarantee of McLemore or Oladipo was worth an additional several million in salary for years (the cost of a higher pick, plus the cost of a veteran)? One of them might fall to us anyway.</p>
<p>Barring trades, Charlotte (No. 4) was the wild card. Orlando would take one of Oladipo or McLemore. As mentioned before, Cleveland and Washington were not a threat. But what about Charlotte? Would they take a wing, or a big (Bennett or Len)?</p>
<p>Considering that Oladipo/McLemore would just duplicate Charlotte's restricted free agent <span>Gerald Henderson</span>, I concluded that Charlotte was better off taking a big. The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/teams/charlotte-bobcats">Bobcats</a> had to get better in this draft, and the only way to do that was to add a big and re-sign Henderson.</p>
<p>Another consideration was whether Cleveland (No. 1), Washington (No. 3) or Charlotte would trade out to a team that really needed a wing, resulting in both McLemore and Oladipo being taken before the Suns pick.</p>
<p>That was always a possibility, but I gave the other GMs the same logic I used for myself - none of them would trade out of the top 5 this season. If anything, they'd only jockey amongst themselves for positioning. The lower teams woudn't offer enough talent to justify dropping into the lower lotto picks.</p>
<p>So, we declined the Orlando offer and stuck to our guns. Oladipo or McLemore would drop. And if they didn't, I liked C Alex Len, PF Anthony Bennett and SG C.J. McCollum enough to be the consolation prize. I'd try to trade down a couple spots if it got me another asset.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the draft went clean. No trades. Cleveland, Orlando and Washington all drafted according to form. When Charlotte took Len, Victor Oladipo was all ours.</p>
<p>Now, the fun starts.</p>
<p><i>It's time to pair Oladipo with another lottery pick or two...</i></p>
https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2013/6/17/4440206/nba-mock-draft-phoenix-suns-selecting-victor-oladipo-at-5-overall-isDave King2013-06-17T07:44:54-07:002013-06-17T07:44:54-07:00Suns Mock Draft Running Diary
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<figcaption>Mike Stobe</figcaption>
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<p>The entire SB Nation network ran a mock draft, with each lead blogger acting as his team's General Manager. Check out the diary for Phoenix Suns blog to see how much was involved in shaping the next year's Suns.</p> <p>Here we are, folks, just 11 days from the actual, real live 2013 NBA Draft!</p>
<p>To add a little intrigue to the waiting period, SBNation.com decided to have <a href="http://www.ridiculousupside.com/2013/6/17/4437472/sb-nation-blogger-2013-nba-mock-draft" target="_blank">each blog participate in a FIRST ROUND MOCK DRAFT</a>. The Draft was conducted via email, texting and whatever other communication technology each team wanted to use, over the course of 7 days, from June 3-10.</p>
<p>RidiculousUpside.com is posting a few picks per day, starting today, over the course of the week before the draft.</p>
<h3>The Skinny</h3>
<p>Each NBA blog picked a designated General Manager and most of them used their entire blogger core as their de facto Front Office.</p>
<p> </p>
<div class="sidebar"><a href="http://www.ridiculousupside.com/2013/6/17/4437472/sb-nation-blogger-2013-nba-mock-draft">
<h2>SB Nation Blogger Mock Draft</h2>
<img src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/14926085/88691684.0.jpg"><span>Watch all the picks happen here!</span></a></div>
<p>The most fun part of the mock draft was the ability to execute trades with each other. As long as the trade involved at least one team's first round pick, any trade that fits in the salary cap would count. We also decided that trade "promises" could be made, to finalize the trade once the new league year began in early July, if that was necessary to complete the trade under the cap rules. These trades have been promised for years in real life, so why not in the blogosphere?</p>
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<p> </p>
<h3>The Front Office</h3>
<p>On the Bright Side, the whole writing staff participated in the selection and trades process. We got offers to consider, as well as proposing trades of our own. Just as I suspect is true in real life, some GMs were interested in making trades while others had no interest at all. And the longer the draft went, the more interested were the later teams in making a trade.</p>
<p>We didn't play parts, like in a movie, or draw straws on who was who in the Suns real front office.</p>
<p>But what did play out was quite similar to the Suns actual front office today:</p>
<p><b>Seth Pollack</b>, NBA league manager for SBNation.com and former editor of the Suns blog, happened to play the part of Robert Sarver. He participated in trade and pick discussions and even proposed one trade to another team without consulting the rest of us! But overall, he let the day-to-day guys run the show, so props to Seth!</p>
<p><b>Jim Coughenour</b> offered advice and suggestions but went out of his way to remind people that he wasn't a prospect talent evaluator. He weighed in more on trades and cap rules than anything else. Yep, sounds like Lon Babby to me too.</p>
<p><b>Kris Habbas</b>, our resident NBA Draft Insider who scouts in real life all year long, played a part that I imagine mirrors John Treloar (Suns' Director of Player Personnel and draft guru) in real life. Kris ended up being the guy who offered the most insight on each prospect but did not participate much in trade discussions. When we couldn't decide on which prospect to draft, Kris often helped us break the tie by giving us an on-the-spot scouting report and recommendation.</p>
<p><b>Sean Sullivan</b> acted as a scout on draft prospects and weighed in on trade suggestions and discussions. He was a jack of all trades that appears to mirror the contributions Ronnie Lester was hired to perform in real life for the Suns.</p>
<p><b>Jacob Padilla</b> was also a scout and confidant for the GM, providing insight in all areas of the draft. Let's call him our very own Bubba Burrage, who remains a scout for the Suns after the front office shakeup. Jacob has been around BSotS for years and still provides great insight into the current team and where the team should be headed.</p>
<p>Brand new blogger <b>Richard Parker</b> played an active role in the discussions on all levels, from capology to data analysis to trade offers and prospect evaluation. He played a key role in many decisions, so let's call him our Pat Connelly (Suns new Asst. GM) - new to the scene but with a high level title.</p>
<p>That leaves one major role left, and I appointed myself the perfect guy to fill that role. Acting as the team's General Manager, the loudest voice in the room, I initiated and ended all discussions when the time came. I made all the final picks, good or bad. I was our Ryan McDonough.</p>
<p>The only problem is that I haven't watched a whole lot of anything on these prospects, while McD watches everything and has been watching and evaluating for years, I fully expect that I made dumb decisions (at least one that the rest of the FO disliked, that's for sure). But that's what happens when you put bloggers in charge of the draft: dumb decisions.</p>
<p>So I used as much input as I could handle from the guys, and I made the best decisions I felt I could make.</p>
<h3>The Plan</h3>
<p>First up, I had to decide the course of action for the Suns this season.</p>
<p>My first issue was that the Suns were one of the oldest lottery teams in the league (second to Dallas), and yet the Suns collection of veterans had still only won 25 of 82 games. Let's not forget that. The Suns won only 25 games all season - the second worst winning percentage in the history of the franchise.</p>
<p>That winning percentage was consistent all season, with the first 41 games at 13-28 and the final 41 games at 12-29. In the first half, Gentry played the veterans the most minutes and enjoyed almost perfect health. The second half had Gortat missing most of the games, and O'Neal missing many. But otherwise, no more injuries. Stlll, the Suns nearly matched their first-half totals.</p>
<p>In short, this roster as constituted is "old" and unlikely to significantly improve to contender status with time. So, I decided it was time to shake things up with the draft.</p>
<p>First order of business: getting the best possible talent with the first selection.</p>
<p>Did we draft Alex Len? Or Ben McLemore? Or Victor Oladipo? Or someone else? Did we move up from 5? Did we drop down?</p>
<p>Coming later today, <a href="http://www.ridiculousupside.com/2013/6/17/4437472/sb-nation-blogger-2013-nba-mock-draft" target="_blank">ridiculousupside.com will reveal the Suns' first pick in the MOCK 2013 NBA Draft</a>. Once that pick is made, I will post my diary of how that pick came about.</p>
<p>Watch <a href="http://www.ridiculousupside.com/2013/6/17/4437472/sb-nation-blogger-2013-nba-mock-draft" target="_blank">ridiculousupside.com all week</a> for who picked who, who traded who and how it all affected the <a href="https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Phoenix Suns</a>.</p>
https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2013/6/17/4437806/phoenix-suns-mock-draft-diary-daily-journal-of-picks-trade-talks-andDave King