Potential Fit
Alex Len is center of the future. There is a good chance he is in the top five centers in the NBA in a couple years. Now the backup center position is interesting. If I were the Suns front office, I wouldn’t draft a backup center with the first-rounder. I’d try to bolster the roster somewhere else.
Odds are that Phoenix will re-sign Brandan Wright, making Johnson the third big. Basically, put him in a glass box that says “break in case of blowout.” But that’s okay, he’ll develop. I wouldn’t send him to the D-League either. I’d rather have Dakari Johnson as my third big rather than Earl Barron, especially since Johnson is 19 years old. That fact alone means he has a higher upside.
It’s always better to have big man depth, because they are more prone to foul trouble and one might be able to make the case they can get injured more easily as they are battling down low against such large people so often.
Next: Conclusion