Phoenix Suns: Draft Workouts Day 9 Recap
R.J. Hunter
A 6’6″ shooting guard from Georgia State, R.J. Hunter didn’t get much national exposure…until he hit one of the most memorable shots in NCAA Tournament history, that is.
With a three-point bomb nearly from half-court, Hunter sent his 14-seeded Panthers past the “second” round of the tourney with a dramatic last-second upset against the third-seeded Baylor Bears.
“I still get comments,” Hunter said about that shot. “It’s worn off for me because I’ve got so much more to do, but I still get stopped everywhere. That’s still kind of the crazy part about all of this, those last two minutes are probably the craziest two minutes of my life and people still talk about it so that’s kind of cool.”
Though he’s pegged as a shooter by most draft scouts, Hunter only shot 30.5 percent from three-point range (on 7.5 attempts per game) in his junior year at Georgia State. That might be because his team needed him to take on more ball handling duties, however.
“I thought the first two years I was more of a catch-and-shoot guy,” he said. “In the last year I was kind of forced to make plays, we didn’t have a true point. So I was kind of forced to play-make from the wing and see different schemes and read defenses better.”
The Suns were the worst three-point shooting team in the NBA after the All-Star break and could use some three-point shooting in the draft if Hunter is able to live up to his reputation as a knockdown shooter. Though he’s not particularly athletic, Hunter says he’s been using the draft workout process to prove people wrong about that.
“Not a lot of people saw me play; they caught two of my games in the tournament so I didn’t get to show a lot,” he said. “That’s actually perfect for me because I get to surprise everybody. If I was on TV everyday they’d be like, ‘Oh okay we were expecting that,” but I kind of get to show my ‘sneaky athleticism.'”
Hunter averaged 19.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.1 steals per game in his final collegiate season. His high basketball IQ, potential as a catch-and-shoot guy, rebounding ability for his position and his effectiveness in the pick and roll have many pegging him as a mid-first round pick.
Next: Christian Wood