No. 32 overall pick Davon Reed covers Suns’ needs of defense, shooting

PHOENIX — Miami guard Davon Reed was a bit of a surprise for the Phoenix Suns to select at 32nd overall.

Both Draft Express (62) and ESPN (57) had Reed ranked near the undrafted bubble in the 55-65 range. The Suns clearly liked him, bringing him in for two draft workouts, but those rankings made it seem more likely for Reed to be a target with the 54th pick.

Reed went under the radar during the draft process, rarely being mentioned among the second-round sleepers at his position like Josh Hart, Sindarius Thornwell and Sterling Brown.

During his first draft workout with the Phoenix Suns, he was not one of the prospects chosen to speak with the media.

The people he did speak to, however, were the prospects he worked out with.

Near the end of both his workouts, Reed was vocal with the prospects he was working out with, encouraging them (and himself) as they ran through drills.

It’s easy to tell Reed was well-liked by teams judging by how busy he was the past few weeks. He had 19 draft workouts, including two each with the Suns and Indiana Pacers.

Following the draft, Suns general manager Ryan McDonough revealed that Reed actually had work done on him by Aaron Nelson, the team’s head trainer, the night before his second workout. Phoenix had a local player ready to take his place in case Reed couldn’t go.

“That tells you what his mentality is like (and) what his toughness is like,” McDonough said.

After his second workout, Reed did speak to the media and was adamant about being more than a typical “3-and-D” role player who can do the little things like hit open shots and defend.

“I know I’ve been labeled as a 3-and-D guy but I just wanted to show them that I can do a lot of things off the dribble,” Reed said after his second workout Monday.

For Reed, it’s all about his frame. He’s strong and long.

At 6-foot-5 with a 7-foot wingspan weighing 208 pounds, Reed has the body to defend both guard positions. That’s a great player for the Suns to add, because while 5-foot-10 Tyler Ulis is great at being a pest, he’s not a great defender, and everyone is well aware of Devin Booker’s issues defensively.

That defense is what Reed will contribute with first and McDonough labeled it as the theme of his first two selections.

“Davon, you guys kind of see the theme with the first two picks,” McDonough said.

“He can defend his position and he can make an open shot.”

Reed’s shot will keep him on the floor. He attempted 286 three-pointers in his four-year career at Miami and made 40.6 percent of them.

“He’s a blue-collar player,” McDonough said. “Didn’t put up huge scoring numbers or anything like that but with our roster we didn’t feel like we needed that.”

At 22 years old, he’s ready to play with either Booker or Ulis right away.

And as was the case with the Josh Jackson selection, Reed plays with an edge and swagger that will fit right in.

“They’re not screwing around,” McDonough said of the team’s first two selections. “They’re serious-minded guys.

“We obviously value competitiveness with our young guys and those two guys have it.”

Follow Kellan Olson on Twitter

Follow @KellanOlson