Benjamin joined by Greg Esposito from @PHNX_Sports talks the Suns draft strategy and why the Suns made the right pick in Ryan Dunn!
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Fox Sports 910 Benjamin Garcia filling in for Jody aylor today on the drive you know I continuously I keep on saying on the show it’s a good day to be a Suns fan and what I mean by that is recently there hasn’t really been a day that you can remember outside of the Bradley Beal trade before we all knew that that trade would likely blow up in the faces of suns fans that there’s been a good day and as much as I talk about trading Kevin or moving on from this or moving on from that or or pulling the cord it’s important as a fan and as a city to rejoice when there is time to rejoice and and that’s what I feel like the Suns did last night they double down they have a clear Direction they’re going to keep Kevin Durant whether I agree with it or not it’s a clear Direction they went and got a guy in Ryan Dunn who we talked with Mike Barber from Richmond Times Dispatch broke it all down great interview with him and now let’s bring on Greg Esposito ES from phnx Suns to help continue break down the Suns pick of Ryan Dunn and where they might go and how he grades the Phoenix Suns espo good morning how you doing man I’m doing good uh you know what you didn’t you didn’t rejoice in losing a second round pick for Drew Eubanks because you tampered well didn’t rejoice in that moment well you know it’s interesting because Matt ishbia wanted us to Rejoice for winning uh 49 games last year and and that that was a a celebration on its own I think it is important to celebrate the little things because you know it’s hard for the Suns right now and and Suns fans because it’s a lot of Stephen A Smith blowing smoke you know we went after him last hour it just Reckless talking nonsense and it’s going to be like that for most of the summer the suns are probably going to have a quiet sum a quiet summer besides the vet minimum guys you know I’ll ask you how do you feel with how the sun’s not only with a guy in Ryan dun last night but perfectly man ulated the draft to where it fell to them where are you at well look they they maneuvered in a way that I didn’t think that they were going to be able to get the kind of capital that they did and some people say well it was only three three second round picks yeah but for a team that entered the day with only two second round picks and a 2031 pick that they could trade in terms of a flexibility for future moves it was smart and when you looked at 22 people were talking about Ryan dun as a guy that that might be worth taking there that the Knicks before they traded for male Bridges were likely going to take him at 24 you trade back uh and you get get him at 28 and it was a masterful move and they obviously understood where the board was heading draft wise and and kind of what was going to happen because they wound up with their guy and getting those second round picks as well it was about as well as you could have hoped a knight was going to go for the Phoenix on when you know all signs had pointed to uh that they were going to trade back that was what we had been hearing uh and they did a great job in in what they got and set themselves up for a little bit more opportunity to potentially add something this off season using some of those second round picks you know you mentioned those second round picks and people will say and I think it’s the Casual fan which there’s nothing wrong with that people got things to do we’re the experts in this space right second round picks are currency in the NBA who knows they could use those maybe all three of them we saw five second round picks get traded last night Gerald boray last night was joking just rubbing it in the face of the Chicago Bulls fans the Thunder just throwing shelling out second round picks to go get their guy the Suns can now use that currency to move up in this draft maybe they go get Tyler KCK who who knows can you speak so that my audience even understands how important having those second round picks are guys get traded at this deadline all the time Royce O’Neal second round picks where are you on that oh they’re important when it comes to the trade market and especially when you have such limited uh options of what you can trade thanks to the second apron I mean you look at the Kings uh they added another another point guard last night and there is an opportunity when you look at a guy like a Davon Mitchell who could be a the backup point guard here in Phoenix you could now make a move where you trade a guy like a nasier little where the contracts match up and you sweeten that deal by giving a couple second rounders so uh because teams want these picks right this is this is important Sam prey turned second round picks into something that that were desirable in the NBA where before they were looked at as kind of throwaway things well now they’re part of the key currency in getting things done especially when you have limited Windows to do so this will help the Suns this offseason or at the trade deadline acquire somebody that probably can help them now it’s not about oh in 2026 in 2031 they now can draft a guy at number 40 or number 50 that’ll change the franchise no it’s about you can use that to get something useful this year where you didn’t have that option before last but let’s pivot the conversation over to Ryan dun the sun selection ultimately with their first round pick did the Suns get the pick right I mean just plain and simple the Phoenix Suns in my opinion their biggest need was a wing Defender someone that can come in and add some athleticism add some length and be able to be versatile on the defensive end where he’s not hunted in pick and roll situations where are you at on the Ryan Dunn situation did the Suns get the right position at the right time well they checked all the boxes that you were looking for there and look there were some draft at experts who said this is the best defensive prospect they had ever seen in the NBA right in the modern draft era so this kid has definitely has one Elite skill and you know and when you’re drafting that late in the first round you want a guy that does something at a high level one thing and then you try to work on on other parts of his game he does that well he is freak athleticism one of the top athletes at the forward spot in the entire draft so he’s going to come in and he’s going to be able to play defense on anybody right and he’s a guy that is great in transition and can make the Smart Cuts on offense now I’m not going to lie to anybody he can’t shoot he was a terrible three-point shooter uh shot 30% in his first year uh at in college shot 20% his second year and has struggled from the free throw line but there’s belief that he can fix that shot and it wasn’t just the Suns there’s multiple people uh that worked him out that said his shot was surprisingly better than they thought in the workout so I I’m a believer that you can’t you can’t teach hustle you can’t teach heart you can’t teach smarts uh and and raw talent you can teach shooting right you can get better and a guy that did that and I’m not saying that Ryan Dunn will be this guy but the guy that did that is one of the Great sons of all time Shawn Maran came in from unv shot 29% from Deep at UNLV shot 18.2% in his first year with the Suns from Deep eventually the shot corrected itself where he was good enough with that to to not be a a liability on that end and his Stellar defense and athleticism pushed him uh to the Forefront of what the Sun did same height similar weight scouting reports if you read them are insane I went back and read Jay bis’s scouting report of Shawn Maran and if you take the name out and I did it on on our show last night you think it’s Ryan Dunn’s Scouting Report so there’s and I get it that’s one example there’s multiple guys who couldn’t shoot that never learned but this guy is not as some say just Josh aogi with a few more inches this and that’s not a knock on Josh Josh has got a nice game but this kid has so much Raw Talent uh is a freak athlete I think they got a very great pick at number 28 considering where you were and in a draft where a lot of people said there wasn’t anybody all that spectacular I I think you got a kid that can really help you now and grow for your future two things that I just heard from you there one the Josh aoi think is funny because the sons literally need Josh aogi just 4 in taller so that’s great and two the Sons just drafted Shawn Marin my all-time favorite Phoenix son the guy that got me basically into basketball so the Suns just you know just drafted Shawn Mary no big deal Greg Esposito pH andx Suns joins us right now on Fox Sports 910 here is my final question to you and it might be kind of crazy tumani Kamara kind of similar in the way of Ryan Dunn a defensive guy we kind of thought not exactly a shot maker able to get to the rim and then we saw tumani kamaro in the NBA this year is pretty good defensively the Phoenix Suns could have used that guy does it make you feel even better about this pick that last year James Jones was able to identify a similar type hybrid guy in tumani Kamara in this year with Ryan Dunn is that make you feel even better about the pick or am I just pulling things out of thin air like you’re supposed to do in the media well I mean it it’s obvious that there was a need and they even had it last year I I think Ryan is is a better player than tumani Kamar but that the fact that you saw tumani have some success in Portland uh makes it encouraging that they at least can look at this type of kid evaluate him well and make the pick so but I think I think fans should be very intrigued by what you’re G to be able to see from this kid and what coach buen holer might be able to get out of him in terms to the offensive end this is going to be interesting and we’re going to see him on the court uh in just two weeks from now Up in Vegas at summer league and I think people are going to be pretty uh pretty impressed with what they’re going to see out there really excited to see him play in Summer League even more excited to wa to watch phnx suns’ coverage tonight round two I believe they’re going to start that right off at one o’clock Hill uh right one o’clock that’s where you guys will be starting yep one o00 they got a second round pick so we’re putting in the two three hours of work that quires to to cover that I’ll be tuning in I turned off ESPN and watched you guys last night I thought it was that impeccable of a draft night coverage Greg Esposito phnx Suns covering all things Suns will be watching we’ll be following thanks for joining me and I appreciate your time ESO always a pleasure happy to do it any time that’s Greg Esposito phnx son
