GM Jones, Suns moving forward after drop in lottery
CHICAGO – Phoenix Suns general manager James Jones has put missing out on a top-three pick in the NBA draft lottery in the rearview mirror.
“I went into it excited about the opportunity to add a really good player to our team,” Jones said. “We’re going to have a chance to do that. Everyone wants the No. 1 pick. That goes without saying, but our focus shifts to find a player to complement our young core of guys and focusing on free agency.”
Jones and several Suns front office personnel are in Chicago for the NBA draft combine Thursday after a stunning turn of events in Tuesday’s NBA draft lottery.
The New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers and
Suns each had a best chance to win the lottery at 14%, but New Orleans and Memphis landed the top two picks. The Pelicans had a 6.0% chance to win the lottery while Memphis had a 6.3% chance to finish second.
The Knicks, who had the NBA’s worst record, landed the third pick.
So the Suns will in all likelihood miss out on draft Murray State sophomore Ja Morant to address their need at point guard. The Grizzlies appear to be a lock to pick Morant at No. 2
“I’ll be happy with whatever team drafts me,” he said.
That doesn’t mean Phoenix isn’t entertaining the idea of moving up in the draft.
“There are a lot of good players at the top of the draft. A lot of them that you could consider worthy of a trade up,” said Jones when asked if Morant is someone the Suns would trade up for.
Would we do it? I’m open to everything, but right now, we’re just moving forward with the focus on evaluation the guys at the top of the draft.”
Morant averaged a double-double of 24.5 points and 10 assists this past season in leading Murray State to the NCAA Tournament. He’s being compared to Russell Westbrook because of his athleticism and explosivenes, but scouts rave about Morant’s passing ability and feel for the game.
Still, Morant appears out of Phoenix’s draft radar at No. 6, but Jones is confident they’ll pick the best player on the board for the franchise when the time comes.
“You just go forward looking at the guys that are available,” Jones said. “As you start to have these draft workouts, as you evaluate the landscape, your game plan will form. You can’t sit here the day of the lottery or the day after the lottery and say, ‘Hey, this is what we’re going to do.”
The NBA draft is June 20 in Brooklyn, N.Y.
“A lot of things change,” Jones continued. “Players improve. A lot of these guys are in the gym working on things that they were unable to show during their college career.”
Jones said he’s looking forward to bringing in prospects to Phoenix to get a fuller evaluation.
“You get a chance to put them in your environment to see what they’re really about, that’s exciting for us,” Jones said. “We looking to the opportunity to have these guys and get them in an intimate setting where you can control how they play.”
That’s in the future.
Right now, Jones is at the combine evaluating talent. “You always want to have a chance to measure players against the competition,” Jones said. “I think this is a leveled playing field. You have the best of the best. The best players from all conferences. They’re all very similar in size and athleticism and skill set. Just looking for the guy who can compete and the ones that can impact the game. Impact winning in an uneven environment.”
Jones understands the difficultly of putting together teams as players are put on rosters to play games, but he’s looking for guys who “show flashes of being able to impact winning” under those conditions.
New Suns coach Monty Williams isn’t in Chicago as Suns officials said he’s making the transition to Phoenix after Toronto eliminated Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Suns plan to introduce the former 76ers assistant as their coach at a news conference next week. Williams will be in Phoenix Tuesday, Jones said.
“We’re going to focus on the fundamentals,” Jones said. “At his core, fundamentally, Monty is a great man, great human being and a really good coach. We’re going to work on being balanced. Making sure that our guys understand the proper ratio of shooting, scoring and passing. I think that’s something we neglected and that’s a focus for us moving forward.”