Babby: Markieff was at the top of our board
Jun 24, 2011, 3:19 PM | Updated: 4:42 pm
There were a bunch of names connected to the Phoenix Suns prior to Thursday night’s NBA draft but the team’s president of basketball operations, Lon Babby, says they got their man at No. 13.
“Markieff was at the top of our board when it was time for us to pick. But more importantly, the reality is he’s the player we wanted,” Babby told Sports 620 KTAR’s Doug and Wolf Friday morning.
The reasoning for Morris being on the top of their list? It’s simple, he fits the Suns’ needs.
“He helps us immediately with his toughness, defensive ability and his rebounding,” Babby said. “He fits well with our current system in that he can spread the floor and shoot. He begins to move us in a direction we want to move in terms of his defensive toughness and his overall approach to the game. He was a perfect choice for us and fit into our plans for those reasons. We couldn’t be more excited”
Hopefully fans get excited, just not too excited. That’s because Babby admits Morris still has a lot of growing to do but he has some good teachers to help him with it.
“People have to understand he’s the 13th pick in the draft and let’s have reasonable expectations of what he’s going to do,” he told the hosts. “It’s going to take time for him to learn to be a pro. Part of the reason we’re approaching things the way we are is that we have have a Steve Nash, Grant Hill, Jared Dudley and Marcin Gortat who can mentor and work with our young players as they begin to come in.”
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