Suns pre-draft workouts

[Errntknght]

I think Divincenzo might be the big sleeper from this draft. I would like to see the Suns get him at 16, and then go PG at 31. I think he's moving up a lot of people's draft board and won't be there at 31.

I am also not sure why they haven't had him in for a look-see. Maybe they are still sold on Reed as the backup to Booker. But no way is Reed going to be as good as Donte is going to be.

I watched a couple of his videos and saw very little of him on defense - he did make some good steals but that doesn't mean much. He's a good shooter and has a good handle - also creative around the basket so I like him on offense but I'm more concerned about defense for any backcourt player. That's where Reed looked quite good in his SL stint, but he didn't look so good post injury. If he can get back to that over this summer, I'd rather have him.

 

[Hoop Head]

If I were the opposing team, I wouldn't leave Bender open either.

That's if he decides to shoot, which isn't guaranteed. So if he'll take the shot, which is about a 60% chance, and then there's a 36% chance he'll make it. I like those odds if I'm the opponent. I hope Kokoskov can get him to quit passing up open looks. If all he does is fix that, he'll average 3 more points a game, easily.

 

[ColdPickleNachos]

Vanderbilt could potentially be a steal in the second. Had a lot of hype going into his freshman season and injuries limited him significantly.

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[Errntknght]

Just watched the championship game and Divincenzo was indeed otherworldly. Made some great defensive plays along with his magical shooting but overall not great D, IMO. I can certainly see why somebody would want to draft him and if we draft him, I won't complain... players that clutch don't come around every year.

 

[Mainstreet]

More on Donte DiVincenzo.

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The Suns certainly could use his shooting.

 

[Ronin]

Sign me up on the Donte DiVincenzo bandwagon.
It is highly unlikely that he will be there at #31, gotta use the #16 pick on him.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Man NCAA flashes scare me. If they were so good . . . worthy of a lottery pick (even a low one) why weren’t they consistently proving it . . . particularly over three years for a junior.

 

[Ronin]

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[Ronin]

scott bordow‏Verified account@sbordow 6m6 minutes ago
Corliss Williamson was at Suns' workout today. Will work closely with Phoenix's bigs. Suns hoping he can impart the edge he played with - hence, the nickname Big Nasty - to players like Chriss, Bender and whatever rookie big they take

 

[Ronin]

scott bordow‏Verified account@sbordow 5m5 minutes ago
Some potential first-round picks - including guys in consideration for No. 1 - expected to be in town next week for workouts.

 

[Ronin]

scott bordow‏Verified account@sbordow 1m1 minute ago
Ryan McDonough on Corliss Williamson: “It’s funny. When we interviewed Corliss and did our background on him he’s very mild mannered off the court. But he has some of that Incredible Hulk when you get him mad.”

 

[Hoop Head]

Corliss Williamson isn't an ideal big man coach but he's probably a better option than Mark West, who the Suns have used with other bigs over the years. I know West worked with Stoudemire some and with Len in his rookie year. He's still with the Suns in some capacity, not sure what his title is though. I saw him interviewed a few times last year during Suns games.

Williamson was more a tweener forward. He had the size of a SF but played like a PF. He's 6'7 and only averaged more than 5 rebounds a game 1 time, in his 3rd season. He did play for 12 years though with a fairly limited offensive game so he did something right. He was 6th man of the year in 2001-02 also. You don't need to be 6'10 or 7' to coach 7 footers though, so hopefully he's able to do well in that regard with Ayton, Bender, and Chriss.

 

[Ronin]

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[Ronin]

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[Ronin]

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[Hoop Head]

Who is Pat Connelly? Said Assistant GM but I thought that was James Jones role. What role does James Jones have?

 

[ColdPickleNachos]

Who is Pat Connelly? Said Assistant GM but I thought that was James Jones role. What role does James Jones have?

https://www.sbnation.com/2017/7/19/15999562/james-jones-suns-president-ryan-mcdonough-lebron-james

It's just a different title, really. "Basketball Operations", I believe, includes various tasks beyond the scope of what the assistant gm would focus on.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Corliss Williamson isn't an ideal big man coach but he's probably a better option than Mark West, who the Suns have used with other bigs over the years. I know West worked with Stoudemire some and with Len in his rookie year. He's still with the Suns in some capacity, not sure what his title is though. I saw him interviewed a few times last year during Suns games.

Williamson was more a tweener forward. He had the size of a SF but played like a PF. He's 6'7 and only averaged more than 5 rebounds a game 1 time, in his 3rd season. He did play for 12 years though with a fairly limited offensive game so he did something right. He was 6th man of the year in 2001-02 also. You don't need to be 6'10 or 7' to coach 7 footers though, so hopefully he's able to do well in that regard with Ayton, Bender, and Chriss.

On what basis do you say he is not an ideal big man coach? Have you seen him? Have your seen reports of his flaws?

 

[Mainstreet]

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Some good stuff on Landry Shamet... straight and to the point.

 

[Hoop Head]

On what basis do you say he is not an ideal big man coach? Have you seen him? Have your seen reports of his flaws?

I'm judging based on him as a player, thought that was pretty clear. At the end of that post I even acknowledged that you don't need to be a 7 footer to coach 7 footers so hopefully he's able to have some success in that role but based on who he was as a player, I question the decision of hiring him as a big man coach since he was a SF in the NBA. Is it really that hard to wrap your head around?

If the Suns hired someone like Sean Elliott, just throwing a name out there, to be their Point Guard coach, would you question it? Doesn't seem like a great fit does it? He wasn't a PG in the NBA and didn't exhibit PG skills. Sure, he played with PG's and averaged a few assists a game but no one would confuse him with a PG. That's what I'm saying about Corliss. He wasn't a big, no one would confuse him with a big. He was a 6'7 tweener forward who didn't rebound well, or play too strongly in the paint either. So it seems odd that they hired him as their big man coach, right? What do you want your big men to do? Grab rebounds and play tough down low. That's part of being a big, even in today's NBA.

 

[Mainstreet]

Corliss Williamson was one gritty player. He was a dominant power forward in college but due to his limited height he played SF/PF in the NBA. This guy did not back down to know no one. I have no problem with Corliss coaching the Suns big men if he can teach them to play like he did. He played with an edge.

Here is a video of him mixing it up with Karl Malone.

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[Hoop Head]

I hope he's successful, it remains to be seen though. It seems a little odd that we'd hire someone who was a career SF to coach our bigs when we have 2 raw bigs in urgent need of coaching in Chriss and Bender right now. I don't think Ayton will require the same level of coaching or guidance that they do. He's not nearly as raw and I'd wager he'll have more of an impact in his rookie year than Chriss and Bender will have combined in what will be each of their's 3rd year in the league.

I never said he couldn't coach them, I want to be clear on that. You don't need to be a big to coach a big. Just like you don't need to be a star player in the league to be a successful coach that coaches star players. Role players generally make better coaches than stars at the NBA level. That's been the case across the league for years now. Williamson was definitely a role player, hopefully he's a good teacher for our youngsters and is a solid assistant for us. We'll see what happens.

 

[Raze]

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I still really like Melton out of that group. CRAZY good Defender. Extremely athletic. Lots of work to do offensively. Although he has some solid fundamentals as a PG. If he can come in with the mentality of a 3&D player he could really excel (presuming he can get his shot up to par). What I don't know is how he does in interviews. That's his make or break.

 

[Mainstreet]

De'Anthony Melton does have a little more uncertain status after sitting out a year at USC.

Shake Milton of SMU seems to be rising in the mocks.

 

[GatorAZ]

I still really like Melton out of that group. CRAZY good Defender. Extremely athletic. Lots of work to do offensively. Although he has some solid fundamentals as a PG. If he can come in with the mentality of a 3&D player he could really excel (presuming he can get his shot up to par). What I don't know is how he does in interviews. That's his make or break.

Can you take a guy at 16 that might learn to shoot one day?