Phoenix Suns 2019 offseason plans Part 1: The Draft
By Adam Maynes
The Phoenix Suns have the 6th and 32nd overall picks in the NBA Draft. The prevailing question on fan’s minds, however, is what are they going to do with those assets?
The Phoenix Suns need major help at point guard and power forward with no obvious answers through any means at either position.
The draft can be a good place to snag a core player for the long run, someone who will develop in your system; if he outplays his rookie contract, the situation affords the organization to go bigger on veteran players at other positions to try and win now; with youth comes a longer career which means that the good times can roll for many years.
One of the major problems with today’s NBA is that the players coming out of college are entering at a much younger age than in decades past which means that more often than not those players need seasoning, thus they need time.
In the case of the Suns, the franchise has missed out on the playoffs for so long (one season short of a decade), that while during an era of self-destructive tanking, management can get away with raising a player with a limited amount of college experience for a few years.
However, Phoenix fans are so far beyond accepting such a scenario that drafting someone at a position of need and not adding an above average veteran to compliment is no longer an acceptable option.
If the talent available in the 2018 draft were so in 2019 where the Suns sit sixth, then the angst and worry about the situation might not be quite so high as it is now.
Considering that Mohamed Bamba was selected sixth last season and that a healthy Michael Porter Jr. might have pushed Trae Young to six, the Phoenix Suns would have been in a wonderful position.
Yet this season, after the third overall pick there is not a single player who may be available to Phoenix with a consensus of NBA-worthy skill, placing first year full-time General Manager James Jones in an unenviable conundrum.
So then what are the Phoenix Suns’ options in the draft on Thursday?
Let’s take a look.