Asking a casual Phoenix Suns fan about the state of the team heading into the 2016 NBA Draft Lottery and subsequent 2016 NBA Draft will more than likely elicit a variety of responses.
Following a season that failed to meet the playoff expectations set in place for the team at the start of the year, the Suns, as the season went along, realized that despite the season-long struggles they had something very special in last year’s first-round pick, Devin Booker (#13 overall).
Along with the 19-year-old Booker, the Suns will have more than $26 million invested next season in his backcourt mates—Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight. Because both players are under reasonable contracts over the next few year, the general consensus is that—regardless of their drafting position—the Suns will try to procure some much needed size with their three possible first round picks.
In addition to their own pick (with an 11.9% chance of becoming the first overall pick), and assuming things remain as they currently stand, the Suns will also have the Washington Wizards’ pick (#13), and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ pick (#28) to build their team with.
This is only the second time in team history that the Suns will enter the draft with three first-round picks, and they are almost certainly looking to bring home a more-impressive haul than they were able to in 2014. Of the three players that the Suns drafted in that 2014 first-round, only TJ Warren (pick #14) has made a tangible impact on the team, as Tyler Ennis (pick #18) was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for the aforementioned Knight after playing just eight games for the Suns, and Bogdan Bogdanovic (pick #27) who was viewed primarily as a draft-and-stash pick, remains playing professionally in Turkey.
While the Suns-having-three-picks-in-the-first-round history lesson doesn’t inspire the greatest confidence in the team’s drafting ability, the team is set to have their highest draft pick since 1987 when they drafted Armon Gilliam second overall. While it has yet to be seen whether or not the lottery luck will fall on the Suns’ side—enabling them to draft LSU’s standout big-man Ben Simmons—even if they do slide to the fourth spot, there will be talent and size available.
The most likely pick in that range, Croatian seven-footer Dragan Bender, has been on the radar of the team and their fans heavily in the weeks leading up to the draft lottery, and would give the team a multitude of options in dealing with Tyson Chandler and his remaining contract moving forward. While the use of such a high pick on a question-mark-riddled big man may remind many fans of the choice to select Alex Len fifth overall in 2013—it could also lead to the creation of dominant duo inside for years to come.
Recently removed from their run of inclusion with the Western-conference elite, the Suns have found themselves in unchartered draft territories in 2014 and 2015, and this year’s draft continues that trend. With the opportunity to procure the first-overall pick for the only time in franchise history (along with two additional first-round picks), the Suns can speed up their mini-rebuild with a successful draft this year.
Regardless of where the ping pong balls end up in the lottery, the Suns have the opportunity they have been waiting for. The options are on the table, now it all falls on Phoenix GM Ryan McDonough– to go Ben (Simmons), go Bender, go big, or go home.
