Suns get No. 10 pick in NBA draft lottery
Spot is right where team was expected to land
The Phoenix Suns landed in this year’s draft lottery where the odds projected them to land: the No. 10 overall pick.
Despite their history of bad luck in the lottery, at least the Suns could somewhat prepare according to their pre-lottery position, which was realized Thursday.
They had the pre-draft highest probability of 65.9% among all 14 lottery teams to get the 10th pick before the lottery.
Suns general manager James Jones, who represented the team in the draft lottery, said that with the No. 10 pick, the organization isn’t necessarily pursuing “specialists,” but rather more “high-level, versatile players.”
When asked about analyzing draft prospects’ experience and age, Suns rookie shooting guards Cam Johnson and point guard Ty Jerome are the latest examples from last year’s draft class.
“We’re always looking for experience, always looking for capacity. I don’t go based on age,” Jones said. “If there’s a young player that’s demonstrated the ability to be a reliable player, to be consistent enough to earn minutes every night, I have no problem drafting that player. If it’s an older player who’s demonstrated throughout their college career that they can do the same thing, no problem drafting that player as well.”
The Minnesota Timberwolves wound up with the overall No. 1 pick; they also had the top selection in 2015 and used it to take Karl-Anthony Towns from Kentucky, and he wound up NBA Rookie of the Year.
Golden State got the No. 2 pick, followed by Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Atlanta, Detroit, New York, Washington, Phoenix, San Antonio, Sacramento, New Orleans and Boston.
Chicago had a 32% chance of moving into the top four spots, Charlotte about a 26% chance. They leapfrogged four teams that had better top-four odds — Cleveland, Atlanta, Detroit and New York.
For now, the delayed draft, originally set for late June, is scheduled for Oct. 16. The NBA has been hoping for a Dec. 1 start to the 2020-21 season, though Commissioner Adam Silver said on the ESPN telecast of the draft lottery that date now “is feeling a little bit early to me.”
The Suns had a possibility of about 20% to move down into the 11-14 spots. They had a 19% chance to get the 11th pick and a 1.2% chance to end up with the No. 12 pick.
The Suns had a 14% probability of moving up from the No. 10 spot and into the top four, and a slim 3% chance at obtaining the No. 1 overall selection.
Teams with the best odds percentages of landing the sequential top four picks before Thursday were the Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves (all three tied at 14% chance of being No. 1) and Atlanta Hawks at 12.5%.
Moving up into the top four would’ve been similar to their improbable 8-0 win streak in the bubble’s seeding games.
The Suns had the lowest odds of earning the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs and winning an NBA title upon entering the NBA restart in Orlando with their 26-39 record.
Unlike the 2019 draft, there is no presumptive No. 1 overall pick in 2020 like the New Orleans Pelicans’ Zion Williamson.
NBA pundits say the top three will be a toss-up among point guard LaMelo Ball of the Illawarra Hawks in Australia’s National Basketball League, former Memphis freshman 7-foot-1 center James Wiseman, and Georgia one-anddone freshman shooting guard Anthony Edwards.
Many mock draft analysts have predicted that Villanova’s 6-foot-8 sophomore swingman Saddiq Bey, French point guard Killian Hayes, or the 2020 AP College Player of the Year and dunk specialist Obi Toppin, Kentucky freshman guard Tyrese Maxey could be available at No. 10.
The Suns don’t have any additional picks from previous draft or trade transactions, but that could change before and on draft night.
The rest of the first-round order, starting with the No. 15 pick and going to No. 30, as of now is: Orlando, Portland, Minnesota, Dallas, Brooklyn, Miami, Philadelphia, Denver, Utah, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Boston, New York, the Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto and Boston.