CBS Sports mock draft: Suns pick Jaylen Brown, Domantas Sabonis
May 14, 2016, 7:09 PM | Updated: 10:14 pm
California forward Jaylen Brown, right, drives into Utah forward Jakob Poeltl during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinal round of the Pac-12 men's tournament Friday, March 11, 2016, in Las Vegas. Utah won 82-78 in overtime. (AP Photo/John Locher)
(AP Photo/John Locher)
The lottery order remains unresolved and the NBA Draft sits another five weeks out.
But with the combine wrapping up, the mock drafts have begun cropping up.
The Phoenix Suns will have plenty to contemplate in the first round wherever the lottery balls place them, and CBS Sports’ Sam Vecenie completed a mock draft updated with the knowledge he gained from attending the combine in Chicago.
He has Phoenix taking Cal swingman Jaylen Brown — assuming the Suns earn the No. 4 pick — and Gonzaga power forward Domantas Sabonis 13th overall.
There would be a bit of a concern here that the Suns might not have enough ball to go around between (Brown), Brandon Knight and Eric Bledsoe as the Cal product isn’t great off the ball yet. However, he’d provide a strong slashing, athleticism and defense complement Devin Booker on the wing in the future, and has as much upside as anyone in this draft beyond the top three players.
Brown, like most likely options at the fourth pick, comes with some risk after he closed his Cal career with less-than-impressive offensive outings.
Moving down Phoenix’s list of picks, Vecenie has Sabonis coming off the board faster than most (DraftExpress has Sabonis going 18th overall).
He believes the Suns would take the athletically-limited but high-IQ player over a few notable talents: versatile Michigan State shooting guard Denzel Valentine and Kentucky power forward Skal Labissiere, who before a tepid freshman season at Kentucky was in the conversation as a top-5 talent.
Sabonis didn’t attend the draft lottery, but the son of former NBA star Arvydas Sabonis projects well as a smart, skilled big man.
Writes Vecenie:
He’s a guy that isn’t going to show well in the front-facing portion of that event, as he’s relatively short-armed and not particularly explosive athletically.
And to close the Suns’ busy first round, Vecenie tabs Spanish 20-year-old power forward Juan Hernangomez as the 28th pick. There’s a good shot Phoenix would draft-and-stash a player with its third pick and Hernangomez would be a high-end option.
Again, it’s possible Hernangomez goes a bit higher than this after the tremendous season he had in Spain, but his loss would be the Suns gain if this was to happen.
