Holiday has second Suns workout, this time with PG competition in Brunson

PHOENIX — UCLA point guard Aaron Holiday was the first NBA Draft prospect to have his second workout with the Phoenix Suns this year.

This time around, however, he had some competition at point guard with him in the workout.

Villanova point guard Jalen Brunson joined in on the workout, his first for the Suns. Both point guards are projected to be drafted in the mid-first round to early second round range, where the Suns have Nos. 16 and 31.

Holiday and Brunson are ranked ahead and behind each other on various draft boards, adding an extra bit of competitiveness to the workout.

If you’ve seen the two play, though, you know that wasn’t even necessary to bring out the best in them.

“It’s always fun,” Holiday said of working with and against Brunson. “Playing against good guards. It’s just always fun to compete.”

Holiday wasn’t even concerned about the who, what or why behind the Suns wanting him to come back.

“We thought it would be a really good workout with [Holiday] and [Brunson] so [Holiday] was game for it so we were very game for bringing him back,” assistant GM Pat Connelly said.

Rather, Holiday was focused on the similar mindset from his first workout.

“I just try and come in and show the same thing,” Holiday said, mentioning leadership first.

Funnily enough, that’s the first attribute Brunson said as well.

“Just to be able to come in here and try and help change the culture,” he said. “I want to be part of a winning culture and I’ve been winning my whole life.”

Indeed he has.

As early as his sophomore year in high school, Brunson was leading Stevenson High School in Illinois to the state title game, where they would fall. After compiling a 27-5 record that year, he would have a record of 62-5 in his last two years of high school ball, including a state title win in his senior year.

That rolled over to Villanova, where Brunson won two NCAA Championships in three years and combined to lead the Wildcats to a record of 103-13. That’s 18 losses in five years.

Brunson is a fearless, tough guard like Holiday, but operates more as a score-first operator who has a tremendous feel for picking his spots.

As a junior, he averaged 18.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. Brunson’s assist-to-turnover ratio was 2.6, an excellent number.

“He’s an established winner and been a gigantic leader for a team that is really built on leadership,” Connelly said of Brunson. “If you look at Villanova and what Jay Wright does, he develops guys into being great leaders.”

Oregon’s Troy Brown Jr., Georgetown’s Marcus Derrickson, France’s Amine Noua and Seton Hall’s Desi Rodriguez rounded out Thursday’s workout. General manager Ryan McDonough said Wednesday the rest of the week’s workouts are expected to be with prospects that are in consideration for the No. 1 overall pick.

Follow @KellanOlson