Potential Fit
Pros
Kristaps Porzingis would fit pretty well on the Suns, spacing the floor at the four position, while being able to get up and down the court. However, it does seem like that fit will never really have a chance to be realized, barring a Suns move on draft day.
If a move were to happen and the Suns selected Porzingis, another fun wrinkle fans would get to enjoy would be having the massive interior size of two seven-footers on the court, which is not something many teams can roll out. And while Porzingis is not a great defensive rebounder, he would probably at least be able to match Markieff Morris in that regard after a couple of years in development; Morris averaged 6.2 rebounds per game last year, and just under eight rebounds per 40 minutes.
But above all else, the pick-and-pop potential at the four position would make Porzingis a perfect fit for the Suns. That floor spacing would allow Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, Archie Goodwin and T.J. Warren the ability to slash inside and get to the rim without having to worry about big men sagging in the lane, and the effectiveness would be especially magnified if Alex Len could continue to develop his shooting.
Cons
Porzingis isn’t a great interior defender, and he isn’t a great defensive rebounder, meaning that he wouldn’t exactly be that big of a step up from Markieff Morris in those areas. Perhaps the potential for Porzingis would be greater, especially as a defender, but if he never bulked up, he would have his own set of problems, which would serve as more of a Band-Aid solution, rather than a long-term fix.
Then there’s the “what if” scenario of Porzingis never bulking up. If that became a reality, the team could look pretty dumb for wasting a pick on a guy that so many people passed on. And if Porzingis just became a variation of Markieff Morris, fans might continue to get more and more restless with the front office.
However
If he’s available when the Suns pick at 13, the decision should be close to a no-brainer. If Porzingis never puts on weight and becomes a bust, you live with it, knowing that he had the potential of a top seven or eight draft pick, and certainly no one would blame the Suns for taking a chance on Porzingis.
Look at each of the No. 13 picks from the last 10 years:
2014: Zach LaVine
2013: Kelly Olynyk
2012: Kendall Marshall
2011: Markieff Morris
2010: Ed Davis
2009: Tyler Hansbrough
2008: Brandon Rush
2007: Julian Wright
2006: Thabo Sefolosha
2005: Sean May
Some of those guys turned out to be okay players, and certainly guys like Olynyk and LaVine are still improving and could become really solid, but there’s also a lot of “meh” there. If you have the chance to go out and get a guy who could be an absolute slam dunk, you should take it, although as I mentioned, it doesn’t seem probable Porzingis will be left on the board when Suns are picking.
Next: Conclusion