NBA Draft 2016: 5 best destinations for Denzel Valentine
By John Buhler
West. Pacific. Phoenix Suns. 1. player. 66.
The Phoenix Suns need some help. Their ownership group has been very alienating of its older players and people that have been around the league for some time want nothing more than to get out of the Suns organization (Jeff Hornacek, Markieff Morris, Goran Dragic, and now Tyson Chandler).
That being said, the Suns do have some talented pieces in place for the foreseeable future in point guard tandem Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight, up-and-coming big man Alex Len, and the sharpshooting baby that is Devin Booker. With the right head coach in place next fall, Phoenix may not be atrocious in 2016-17.
Phoenix like many teams in the 2016 NBA Draft will have more than one first round pick to work with. The Suns will likely have the No. 3 overall pick in their own right, but get the Washington Wizards’ first round pick as part of the Morris trade this past NBA trade deadline.
If Phoenix doesn’t go with the Oklahoma Sooners’ Buddy Hield at No. 3 overall, the Suns may have to consider bolstering their backcourt by drafting Valentine out of Michigan State with one of the last two picks in the NBA Draft Lottery.
Washington will accidentally miss the NBA Playoffs after two strong seasons under head coach Randy Wittman. The Wizards are fighting for the playoff lives in the final weeks, but are likely going to finish in either ninth or 10th place in the Eastern Conference and wind up with the 12th to 14th pick in the draft.
That may end up being to high for the Suns to take Valentine, but teams picking in the mid-teens are almost certainly going to end up drafting him there. Perhaps Phoenix orchestrates a draft day trade with a team just outside the lottery to get Valentine at an appropriate draft allocation and pick up a future second round pick in the process?
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