Smart Suns fans will root for losses
It is time, Suns fans, to start rooting for your team to stumble through its remaining 27 games, to wish for the Lakers and 76ers to suddenly discover that a circular metal hoop and string net is a popular destination point for a round, orange sphere. The race for Ben Simmons is on. The LSU freshman is the real deal and, as one NBA executive told me, “the only lock for a franchise guy in the draft.”
Repeat after me: Let’s … go … Suns … opponent. Let’s … go … Suns … opponent.
The Suns have the third-worst record in the NBA at 14-41. Philadelphia is “No. 1” at 8-46, with the Lakers at 11-45.
The latest-version of the NBA lottery gives the team with the worst record a 25 percent chance of landing the top pick, the second-worst team a 19.9 chance and the third-worst 15.6.
Although odds increase the uglier the record, securing the right pingpong ball is no sure thing. Last season it worked for Minnesota, which finished with a league-worst 16-66 mark and landed Karl-Anthony Towns.
But the year before, Cleveland only had the ninth-worst record and secured the top pick and went with Andrew Wiggins.
With the Suns’ past bad luck, who knows. This is the organization, after all, that lost a coin flip to the Milwaukee Bucks in 1969 and the right to take Lew Alcindor with the No. 1 pick. Gulp. It sure seems as if the Suns are due for a little good fortune.
Simmons fits that category. The 6-10 forward is versatile, smart and freakishly athletic. He has great court awareness, is a terrific passer, can guard multiple positions and, frankly, just gets the job done.
“Other than shooting, there is little he can’t do on the floor,” the NBA executive said. “He needs to improve defensively, but he would start for us right now and would be our third best player.”
This executive’s team, by the way, is playoff-bound and one of the better ones in the league.
Clearly Simmons isn’t perfect. He did not start LSU’s game against Tennessee for academic reasons. But then the Suns aren’t trying to split the atom.
More NBA
The Brooklyn Nets, fourth in the standings with a 15-40 record, don’t pose a tanking threat because they don’t own their pick. They traded it to the Celtics.
It’s a delicious twist, isn’t it, that Markieff Morris and his new Washington Wizards teammates visit Talking Stick Resort Arena to play the Suns on April Fool’s Day.
This and that
Brad Cesmat’s media world is expanding.
The
founder
and
CEO
of Sports360AZ.com and host of Brad Cesmat’s Football AZ will now bring Brad Cesmat’s Baseball AZ to six Fox Sports regional channels, including Fox Sports Arizona.
The four-day-a-week show starts Friday and will key on Cactus League teams as well as things to do while visiting Arizona. The focus on the numerous clubs that participate in spring training here is why Fox Sports Midwest, Southwest, Ohio, San Diego and Wisconsin will carry the show during its six-week run.
Suns owner Robert Sarver surprised several hundred kids Friday who were at Talking Stick Resort Arena for an event with AVID, a non-profit organization that provides academic and social support to students so they’ll be ready for college.
Sarver walked by and asked a guide who they were. He then made an impromptu stop at the team shop and distributed free shirts to the 336 kids in attendance.
Stat of the day
THE NOTEBOOK
A mere 1.5 percent.
Those were the odds the Orlando Magic had to win the NBA lottery in 1993 and earn the rights to the top pick. That’s exactly what happened and the 41-41 team with the 11th-worst record selected Chris Webber. It’s the largest upset of the lottery to date.
Quote of the day
“In my opinion, it was blown out of proportion. Listen, this guy is emotional. I’m not saying he’s a quiet kid. Yeah, he’s kind of a spicy kid. Kind of an aggressive kid. From time to time he’s aggressive. But this is what we need. You want to have a good basketball player and you want to have a guy who’s going to go out there and is going to compete. And I think he’s going to be a great addition to this team.
“This guy is going to come face to face with somebody else if somebody is going to foul me or John (Wall) or anybody else. He’s going to go and challenge a guy face to face. And this is what we need. We need this guy, who’s going to stand up for his teammates and he’s going to fight. I’m quite sure Markieff is going to do that.” – Washington Wizards center Marcin Gortat, on his new teammate, Markieff Morris. The two played together in Phoenix.
Follow Paola Boivin at paola.boivin@arizonarepublic.com and on Twitter at Twitter.com/PaolaBoivin. Listen to her streaming live on “The Brad Cesmat Show” on sports360az.com every Monday at 10:30 a.m.