David Griffin on Gambo & Ash

binkar

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David Griffin had a nice long visit with Gambo and Ash discussing the draft for three segments of the show.

go to suns.com and the audio link is on the left hand side.

Here are a few highlights in my opinion:
-He thinks it is a very deep draft in terms of being able to find quality throughout, but thinks its not very top heavy at all.
-Said they will take the BPA available unless that person presents too much risk and they feel there is another guy who can be a very solid player for ten years.
-Said Chicago is probably the only the only team not looking at the pg's in this years draft.
-Says you are always looking to move up into the draft if there is someone there who you feel like is a higher value at that pick then you will get at yours.
-Talked about how different players thrive in the Suns system that wouldn't in others and vice versa.
-Mentioned how they drafted Goran Dragic to play fast. The way they rate pg's he turned out to be the 11th best pg in the league the last month of the season and talked about how under Porters offense playing slower he was probably the worst player in the league. Said Goran can simply not play slow.
-Said they draft guys who specifically fit their system.
-Said it isn't very likely they move up.
-They like Earl Clark a lot. Says he fits the system very well. Is a dynamic play maker with some Boris attributes. Very sound defensive player.
-Likes Terrance Williams. Great defensive player. More of an offensive playmaker than a shooter. Has a chance to be very good.
-James Johnson is a very talented kid. His issue has been his willingness to apply that to both sides of the court and he hasn't done that consistently. They talked to him about showing more effort on both sides of the floor and he showed flashes of that at their workout.
-Gerald Henderson had a good workout with us.
-Talked about how Flynn is moving up in the draft because he is a leader. A guy who has been at Syracuse has said that Flynn is the best athlete he has seen in 32 years.
-Said Ricky Rubio looks like one of the Jonas Brothers.
-Compared Jonas Jerebko to Andrew Nocioni. Tough kid who can knock down some shots and defend multiple positions.
-Some worry that Jennings is more of a 6'1" 2 guard rather a PG. Said regardless of who says that, he is the quickest player in any draft and can get anywhere he wants to at any time.
-Says the Suns will not draft Dejuan Blair because he does not fit our system.
-Says he isn't sure what kind of player Curry is. Has a great feel for the game. Great shooter. Has some Nash qualities.
-Tyreke Evans. He is Usain Bolt on a basketball court (sorry I know I spelled that wrong). He can overwhelm you with his speed.
-Says the depth of the draft makes the 48th pick very intriguing and 2nd round picks make the actual league minimum and that its great if a 2nd round pick can make the team especially for a tax paying team like the Suns.
-Suns have the highest payroll in the league right now.
-They may take a European with one of the 2nd round picks and stash him away for a few years.
-Thinks Taj Gibson will be a good defender and decent offensive playmaker. He is 24 years old.
-Feels like its a great 2nd round this year.

I apologize for the poor punctuation, spelling, and overall organization of this post. I was typing while listening and didn't want to go back and fix all my errors.

Anyways, I really like Griffin and feel like he has the right approach to this draft. It should be exciting to see what we do and who we end up with on Thursday.
 

Shzm13

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Thanks for writing this.

Id love Terrance Williams or Earl Clark
 

Divide Et Impera

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IMO, if the Suns do nothing else this offseason, they had better do anything they can to get Clark. Let's not get Kobe'd on this (not saying Clark is Kobe). Let's not sit on #14 and hope and pray he is there when we pick only for a later team to leapfrog us and grab him. If we have to move up to #10-#12 if the heat is up on this guy, then we need to be active.

Clark is a true 3/4 combo in the way of Josh Smith. If we are running a F rotation of Stoudemire-Dudley-Clark-(Hill), I'll be fairly confident, although Amare is still a bum. Hill is in parentheses because I haven't heard if he's here or not next year yet.

Nash-Dragic
Richardson-Barbosa
(Hill)-Dudley-Clark
Stoudemire-Clark-Amundson
Shaq-Lopez

If Clark is the only significant rotation player we add next year, we'll be somewhat better. I'm sure you can tell I am quite short on confidence in this team....
 
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binkar

binkar

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I think Clark has slowly risen to the top of my board as well. His athleticism and versatility would offer a lot to this team. He can defend, pass, shoot the ball fairly well, rebounds the ball well, play the 3 and 4 in some situations. He fits our system very well, but could also create some mismatch problems in the half court. I like that he has been working out with Blair as it has hopefully added some toughness to his game. David Thorpe said that he has more upside than anyone else in the draft. Even if he doesn't reach his upside we get a great rotational player at 14. Thorpe compared him to Lamar Odom, but said he feels like Clark has the ability to be better. That would be pretty special at the 14th pick.
 

elindholm

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-Suns have the highest payroll in the league right now.

Wow, that's brutal. It won't be true after a few teams resign their free agents, but even so, laying out an enormous payroll for this roster has to be depressing.
 

PhxGametime

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Gerald Henderson is another decent wing Prospect but a bit short for a SF??


and no mention of Daye...
 

JerkFace

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and no mention of Daye...

I wouldn't read to much into that. Griffin was just responding to the players that Gambo and Ash were asking about. Gambo and Ash never mentioned Daye and Griffin never brought up any players on his own.
 
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binkar

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Uggghhh please, please stay away from Daye. I have a hard time seeing Daye being a great player in this league.
 

arwillan

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Henderson figures to be gone by the time the suns pick.
 

Brianellsworth

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Binkar ....thanks for the write up. You high basketball IQ is refreshing to read around here and extremely informative. I feel it would be beneficial if you posted more on this forum and expressed your opinions and thoughts more regularly.
 

cly2tw

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Interesting read.

From information on the web, I kinda think Clark is more like Jeffries than Diaw or Odom not to mention Josh Smith. Daye reminds me of Miles and Bender.

Williams, Jennings, Johnson in this order would be my pick.
 

JerkFace

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Griffin said that he was very interested to see Johnson's work ethic this time around and according to some reports Johnson showed the most work ethic on the court today. I think that unless someone unexpected falls it will be either Johnson or Clark (with Daye being a distant 3rd)
 

AsUdUdE

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Personally... I think the fact that during ALL that he didn't mention Daye once is a sign...

I think Daye will be the pick if he is there, whether that is a good or bad thing, I am not sure yet, but one thing I do know, though he has a high Bust rate, he has more upside than just about anyone who could possibly be avaiable at #14...

David Thorpe said in a podcast that Earl Clark will make more money during his NBA career than all but 1 or 2 guys in the 2009 Draft.. Even though I have my reservations about him, thats pretty high praise form a guy who works with these prospecdts day in and day out...

These next few days should be interesting...
 

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