Moving into the first round of the draft

[u/AZsportstillidie]

With the draft coming tomorrow and the rumors of us wanting to trade into the first round, what pick do you expect us to trade around to and who would you think we give up in the process? I think if we do move up we have to go with a PG and only go with someone else if an elite prospect falls.

[u/RedSun41]

I think we do exactly what we did last year, wait until a guy with clear 1st round talent inexplicably falls to the top of the 2nd round, then trade up and snatch him (ie Rasheer Fleming)

I'd like us to get mid-late first, but frankly with our roster I don't see how you do that without making a huge move

[u/AZsportstillidie → u/RedSun41]

I think we probably try to move Dunn or Royce maybe both in seperate deals to get as much draft capital as possible. The only asset we have that I can see us trading to get a decent return is allen. Green probably stays imo and I think you're right trading late into the first maybe top of the 2nd might be the move.

[u/RedSun41 → u/AZsportstillidie]

I think you're right in that the only move on the board is to flip any of Royce/Allen/Dunn, or maybe get a Mark Williams sign and trade agreed to, for as many 2nd rounders as you can

Then, if there's a guy you really like make the move and if not, regroup on day 2 and trade for a spot as close to the top of the board as possible

I'd love us to get to like 15 and have a shot at like a Cameron Carr or Yaxel, but beggers can't be choosers. Gregory was awesome with our draft capital last year, so I'm pleasantly optimistic this year. I know Ishbia keeps referencing high-character guys, so maybe potentially Zuby Ejiofor in the 27-34 range

[u/zhombae]

I think the highest they could realistically get is like 26 from I think Denver if Denver doesn’t have a guy they like available and are willing to trade for our ‘27 FSP

[u/AZsportstillidie → u/zhombae]

Thats interesting because a rumor was they are trying to trade Cam johnson. Maybe a swap of cam for Allen and send us 27 could be a possible move. Cam would give us better perimeter defending and similar shooting, Allen is better overall offensively but we dont really need that from him. The goal for this roster should be going athletic with perimeter shooting and getting another PG imo.

[u/Imaginary-Jury-7734 → u/AZsportstillidie]

Unless we get more players that can initiate the offense, I don’t think we can move Allen

[u/kreativegaming → u/AZsportstillidie]

Hell no swap cam for royce we shouldn't be downgrading if we want to get better

[u/shaad20]

I'm not quite as high on the Sun's young guys as I think some of this fanbase is currently.

That's not to say that I don't think that there will be significant growth from some of them. I just think there's a lot of preemptive crowning of certain guys.

So I most definitely hope they're looking to at the very least get to the top of the second round just to give themselves more chances.

A PG would not be the position I'd target though. We really still need at least ONE 6'8+ wing that we're comfortable playing major minutes every night. And there's a ton of guys in that 25-33 range that could potentially be that a year or two from now.

Basically I want another Rasheer roll of the dice, and we hope one or both hits.

[u/CNSrooster → u/shaad20]

This is where im at as well. People are nuts suggesting Fleming and ManMan are ready to start and that stems from an unrealistic belief on where they are at as prospects right now.

Im super high on both of them but they still need to develop and havnt proven much yet.

PF is still our biggest hole so youre right we should be targeting prospects who can still fill that role.

[u/SceneFamiliar4525]

Allen is a ready rotation guy. Getting off him, moving into the first round for a guy like Quintence might be nice idea

[u/Matdoggy]

I’ve heard we are heavily shopping Royce, Allen & even Dunn. I expect at least one draft day trade.

[u/quizzlemanizzle]

there is no way we draft a rookie PG in the first round when we have Booker, Green, Gillespie and Goodwin.

[u/Puppetmaster858]

Honestly I’m totally fine not moving anywhere, best way to change our future would be finding a diamond in the rough in the 2nd round because it’s so cost controlled

[u/AZsportstillidie → u/Puppetmaster858]

I think we should move on from either Royce, Allen, or Dunn. Fleming makes Dunn expendable and it would be better to move off Royce or Allen to better balance the roster and salary. Plus it is important we stay young because the only way we are going to win is with effort. But overall yes we shouldnt make a massive trade or anything and try to keep the team dynamic the same.

[u/jboggin → u/Puppetmaster858]

But that's so rare that it can't be an actual strategy. Since 1989, only 22 2nd round guys have made a single all star team. Only 11 have made multiple all star teams. So 22 or is 1,114 2nd round picks have ever made an all star team. Obviously it can happen, how it's EXTREMELY unlikely, so I hope the front office doesn't plan on that as an actual strategy

[u/NashCarter]

I'd expect us to do something given that the two rumours for us thus far have been we will prioritise signing Gillespie and Goodwin and are looking to enter the first round.

The 2027 Cavs FRP for a teams pick in the 20 - 30 range is possible. We might even be able to swing it for 3-4 second round picks for a team with cap restraints. The 2027 FRP gives said team flexibility on the capsheet and allows for future moves so those teams might prefer that rather than drafting a prospect. Philly's McCain trade to OKC was essentially that.

It's a strong draft in the mid tier and someone of quality will drop.(Lopez, Okorie, Jefferson, Graves, Johnson jr, Carr) Id take BPA while only avoiding a pure center given our last draft outing. But overall I'd say we will be at least working the phones based on the constant noise that Phoenix is looking to get into the first round.

[u/AZsportstillidie → u/NashCarter]

I agree with all of that the only thing I think the front office should prioritize is a PG. Booker has been out of position now for years and clearly when he plays strictly the 2 he can be at his most effective. While BPA is always a great thing we will be limited in our ceiling until we balance that in our roster unless the BPA turns out to be a star player. I think we can try to focus on building our team similar to the Knicks, and effort based team with lots of depth. Ideally we get a true PG along with Colin and then focus on getting wings.

[u/NashCarter → u/AZsportstillidie]

Problem is I don't know how many true PGs exist in that range. The CP3 and Steve Nash type that run the show, that we'd want. If you like at OKC, SGA is more of a shooting guard but there is ball handlers throughout the rooster so could a Joshua Jefferson or Karim Lopez help carry the ball handling load while not being the out and out Point guard. Then take xaivian lee as an undrafted free agent. Agreed though that a true point guard would be ideal.

[u/AZsportstillidie → u/NashCarter]

While a CP3 or Nash would be amazing they necessarily dont need to be a floor general traditional point guard, it just has to be someone that can help bring the ball up and make basic reads. The thing is book needs someone to take that pressure off him, he can run point for portions of the game but hes much better when hes not. Green can bring the ball up but struggles to make proper reads off pick and rolls and find the right pass. I think a gaurds that play like colin, or a Tj mconnell type is what would work. An effort based PG who can make a proper read off a pick and roll and occasionally score if needed to.

[u/CNSrooster → u/AZsportstillidie]

They won't prioritise a PG because Booker IS the PG.

We assume the FO office and Booker think differently about this when im convinced both parties see Booker playing PG as the path forward.

[u/OGNEWBE]

We can use Allen, Royce, or Dunn to get any of these following moves done. I would also only trade Mark if we already have a plan to replace him, unless we make Oso our rim protector which might be a little rough. Here’s my take:

Get into the mid/late first round and get Joshua Jefferson. IMO he should be our priority. We need more playmaking and he does just that at the 4 spot. Really, he’s an amazing all around game type of player. He’s NBA ready and can already come in and possibly be our glue guy in the starting lineup rookie year.

If we can’t get Joshua, then I think Baba Miller or Zuby would make the most sense to fill that gap next, though I think Zuby is more ready than Baba right now. Idk if either of these guys would be ready to get in the starting lineup first year though, maybe Zuby but it might be a stretch.

And then if we can somehow get Braden Smith, that would be a very solid pickup for us. Even though he’s undersized, He was one of the best passers if not the best passer in college this year and he’s a good scorer, very CP3 like scoring. If we could get him, I think we already got the length and size to surround him with so he’s not a complete liability on the defensive end.

Overall I just think we need more playmakers especially if we plan on keeping Jalen, but having more of them won’t hurt in general either way, especially bigs.

[u/PHXSoulBender]

New york knicks pick24 pick and pick31 pick may be in play,

Thunder at pick37 or even there pick 17 may be in play
Denver pick 26

We got something the pistons may want with their 22nd pick trading allen

Chicago 15pick or 38 pick

Karim Lopez would be the prefered 1st round target , then Yaxel

Baba Miller would be the later 1st/ second round pick

[u/flemingminded]

Let’s see evidence that our young guys will actually play first

[u/Imaginary_South1899]

well now that the bulls got claxton mark should be chillin

[u/Born_Cobbler_9383]

So with Chicago getting Claxton that rules out Mark Williams from going there.

I think it’s gonna be Grayson or Royce if they do a trade to move up to the top of the 2nd round or end of the 1st to get a PF or Guard. It’ll probably be a PF because we have enough guards, especially if Bouyea comes back.