Conclusion
If you haven’t guessed it from reading this, I kind of like Staten as a prospect. If he’s on the board at 44, I think the Suns should at least consider using a pick on him, with the following contingencies:
- They selected a big man with their first pick.
- They want to draft a backup point guard (obviously) to play behind Bledsoe/Knight.
- No consensus top 25-30 prospects have fallen to 44.
If those three conditions are met, I think using the 44th pick on Staten or going after him as an undrafted free agent could be the way to go. It’s funny, but he actually reminds me a little of another Big 12 player, one who went undrafted last year, before finding a home in Houston (and then Los Angeles): Tarik Black.
Now obviously, Black is a big man and Staten is a guard, but the two do have some similarities. Both were considered relatively small for the position they wanted to play. Black is a 6’8″/6’9″ power forward/center — ESPN and NBA.com have him listed at 6’11”, but he never measured above 6’9″ with shoes on, and having watched him at KU, he is clearly not 6’11”.
Anyway, back to the main point, like Staten, Black was considered a guy that could have a decent floor, but a relatively low ceiling after playing four years of college basketball. But that didn’t stop him from making an impact right away.
Eight games into the season, Tarik Black had the opportunity to play some real minutes with Dwight Howard sidelined, and he went to work, posting 10 points and six rebounds in a win. Eventually, over the first full month of the season, he posted five-plus rebounds in a game 10 times, and posted a few near double-doubles, before finally accomplishing that feat on Dec. 3, with a 10-point, 11-rebound outing against Memphis.
I’m not going to waste anymore time talking about Black’s season, but it ended up being pretty solid, especially as he moved to the Lakers following the Rockets’ addition of Josh Smith. The greater point here is that I think Staten could have a similar impact with an NBA team. He doesn’t have a super-high ceiling, but he has a good track record, and enough skills to keep him around with no major character concerns.
If he’s on the board at 44, or if he’s available to the team after the draft, I don’t think it would be a bad decision for the Suns to explore adding him to the roster. And if all went according to plan, he could become a solid backup, playing a very similar style to the way the Suns’ point guards play now.
Next: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson: Phoenix Suns 2015 Draft Profile