Suns’ Marquese Chriss broke rim in pre-draft workout
Jun 24, 2016, 12:53 PM | Updated: 1:04 pm
Washington's Marquese Chriss, center, dunks against Arizona during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
The Phoenix Suns traded the 13th pick, 28th pick, a 2020 second-round pick and Bogdan Bogdanovic to the Sacramento Kings for the rights to power forward Marquese Chriss.
Standing at 6-foot-10 and 233 pounds, Chriss is considered to be the best athlete in the draft.
Chriss was able to show off his insane athleticism in pre-draft work outs when Suns coach Earl Watson, who played point guard for 13 years in the NBA, was tossing him alley-oop passes.
Watson talked about the alley-oop that impressed him the most on Off the Edge on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Friday.
“I wanted to give him the hardest pass to catch in the NBA, so he can dunk on a guy who jumps just as high as him, such as a (Hassan) Whiteside,” Watson said. “After he dunked it, bolts and screws fell out of the rim.”
That is definitely one way to go about impressing a team’s management.
Chriss isn’t just a high-flying dunker, as he also has a pure shot from the elbow, which led to Watson comparing Chriss to LaMarcus Aldridge.
His range also extends beyond the three-point line as he knocked down 35 percent of his attempts last year at the University of Washington. He averaged 13.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.
