Suns would likely pass on Jimmer to take Iman Shumpert
Jun 20, 2011, 8:55 PM | Updated: 10:01 pm
Suns fans have been pretty vocal about who they don’t want the team to select with the No. 13 pick, but by the time the Houston Rockets are on the clock for No. 14 they may be yearning for the days when they were afraid of hearing “Phoenix Suns select Jimmer Fredette.”
“What player are they going to pick at 13,” John Gambadoro said on Sports 620 KTAR’s Gambo and Ash show. “I think they lean towards Markieff Morris.
“If Markieff Morris is off the board at 13 then I think the player they pick is Shumpert.”
When Gambo says “Shumpert” he is talking about Iman Shumpert, a 6-5 guard from Georgia Tech.
“I’ll tell you right now, that I think if it came down to Shumpert or Jimmer Fredette they will take Iman Shumpert from Georgia Tech over Jimmer Fredette from BYU.”
Plenty of publications have Shumpert pegged as a second-round pick, though his defensive abilities are something the Suns could be after, especially with the team’s desire to improve on the defensive end of the floor.
“Out of any player that they’re discussing, that guy kind of fits their mold a little bit more than anybody else.”
The idea of focusing on defense is noble, if not long overdue. Furthermore, his selection would not be the first that had people scratching their heads, as Sports 620 KTAR’s Mark Asher noted that a selection of Shumpert would elicit the same response that Dan Majerle did when the Suns took him 14th overall in the 1988 draft.
That said, reaching for a player who many don’t think is worthy of so much as a first round selection, let alone a lottery pick, would not seem like a great move for a front office that is hoping to gain credibility with an increasingly impatient fan base.
