NBA Draft Rumors: Phoenix Suns interested in Russ Smith?

By Jack Crosby | Jun 21, 2014

Mar 27, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Russ Smith during practice for the midwest regional of the 2014 NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports /

As we saw this past season, the Phoenix Suns are nearing becoming a legitimate NBA playoff contender. They narrowly missed out on a trip to the postseason, meaning that they could be just a few key pieces away from getting over that hump. One of those key pieces could be one of their selections in this week’s NBA Draft.

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In particular, it could be former Louisville star Russ Smith, who the team has already brought in for not one, but two private workouts.

For a team to ask a specific player back for a second session most certainly means they’re interested, and if you listened to the comments of coach Jeff Hornacek in regards to both Smith and former Syracuse point guard Tyler Ennis, that seems to be the case.

“Russ is very active, he plays a lot of the game like it’s a playground game, he’s got the between the legs (dribble),” Hornacek said, “where Tyler very fundamentally plays it straight, so there’s a contrast there, and they both did a nice job.”

As for Smith himself, he took a really positive mindset away from the second workout he went through.

“I felt like I did what they asked,” Smith said. “It was a three-on-three setting, two-on-two, one-on-one. Definitely if I get into a five-on-five setting it’ll be a lot better, but this is great. I like the pace, I like the staff, what they’re about. I feel really good leaving today.”

Again, this Suns team isn’t far away from making some noise in the league, and Smith, should they select him on Thursday, could be one of the missing pieces to the puzzle.