PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns are massive wild cards with their No. 22 pick in the upcoming 2024 NBA Draft.
June 26, the night of the draft, becomes the official date when Phoenix can trade their pick and a player (some believe Jusuf Nurkic just due to salary) to better fit the team’s “win-now” window. The Suns could also opt to stick and pick a youthful player with a cost-controllable contract, which isn’t exactly what Phoenix has on their roster as we stand here today.
The Suns – should they stay – will have some fairly strong options to choose from across the floor and at various positions.
Enter Purdue big man Zach Edey, who put on quite the show during the Boilermakers’ run through the NCAA Tournament just a few months ago. The 7-foot-4 center could help bolster any paint presence in the league almost overnight.
Yet Draft evaluations are both high and low on Edey as a prospect. Some believed he could enter the top ten while some also thought he could fall past the top twenty, which would put him right in the range for the Suns – who have been connected with him in a few mock drafts.
ESPN Jonathan Givony says Edey will likely fall before the Suns are on the clock:
“Teams say Edey’s range appears to be in the Nos. 9-19 range based on the workouts he has conducted and scheduled. He was with the Toronto Raptors this past week, will visit the Los Angeles Lakers, and is in the conversation at Memphis (9), Utah (10), Chicago (11), Oklahoma City (12), Portland (14) and Miami (15),” wrote Givony.
“Several teams say Edey’s productivity ranks him as a top-three prospect in this class according to their draft models — ESPN’s Kevin Pelton had him ranked No. 2 in his stats-only draft projections. He proved nearly unstoppable in the paint at the college level, drawing fouls, crashing the offensive glass and dismantling defenses with his screening and the incredible gravity he offers diving to the rim in pick-and-roll, helping Purdue shoot 40% from the 3-point line.”
Backup center Drew Eubanks has a player option this coming summer with the Suns, so Phoenix’s spot behind Nurkic is still unknown.
Adding big man depth was one of three things the Suns targeted as priorities this offseason – you can read more about that here.
