Suns GM James Jones Talks NBA Draft, Evaluations, Potential Trades
The Phoenix Suns didn't make a pick in the NBA Draft for the first time since 1998.
General manager James Jones is okay with that despite having a short-list of guys he would've liked to see in a Suns uniform.
It was a rather uneventful night for Suns fans, as the most action Phoenix saw on television is when ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins said, "another man's trash is another man's treasure" in reference to center Deandre Ayton.
Despite the Suns having no new selections out of the draft for the second time in franchise history, Jones still jumped on a zoom call with reporters to answer questions on Thursday night.
James Jones Speaks on 2022 NBA Draft
"There were are a few guys. A number of guys that we targeted, just the deals that we had, they didn't come together," said Jones to reporters after the draft. "But I thought that the draft had some quality depth at some of the positions. Ultimately we weren't able to execute some of those trades and now we'll just look forward to free agency."
The Suns brought in nearly ten known players to workout prior to Thursday night, but none were more impressive than Arkansas forward Jaylin Williams.
Out of the known visits for Phoenix, Williams was the sole player to be selected. The Oklahoma City Thunder chose him at pick No. 34.
Arkansas PF Jaylin Williams Receives Praise
"Oh man, he's an extremely versatile, dynamic big guy. He has great hands, great instincts and can play at the top of the key with the ball. He's a playmaker at the big position which is a commodity for most teams in today's NBA. In the modern game you need bigs that can make reads and be playmakers, and he was that in college, and I think he'll do that well in the NBA," said Jones.
Narrowing down a draft board is a big task for Jones and the rest of his front office. While countless players find themselves entering their name in the draft, it's up to the Suns to figure out who will fit best with the organization.
Suns' Draft Evaluation Process
"We have every player that's in the draft processed on our board. When you get down to it, if you look at the combination of fit, skill set, talent, need, you typically get down somewhere about 10 guys who you know they're really high level fits," said Jones.
"After that, you're talking about degrees of fit and how much time, how much energy, how many opportunities guys will need to assimilate, kind of get acclimated to how you play. So you just prioritize and you put them in tiers. But I think when you go into the night, you have all those players but you truly know there are about eight to 10 guys that you could say are truly Suns players that from day one will come in and not have very many issues getting accustomed to or getting integrated into what we do."
Earlier in the offseason, Jones said if the right opportunity presented itself, the Suns would do their best to jump back into the NBA Draft.
The Suns' first-round selection was packaged in the trade with OKC that landed Chris Paul, while their second-round pick was used to acquire Torrey Craig.
That appeared to be a real opportunity after reports surfaced of Phoenix attempting to gain a second-round pick back prior to Thursday evening. It would have been their first second-round pick since 2019.
However, Jones was unable to wheel and deal with any of the other teams, ultimately falling short. He believes teams knew what situation the Suns had put themselves in.
Phoenix Actively Sought Trade Partners
"I can say what most people say: we're extremely aggressive and we chase down every angle. But what I will say is that because we were in a position to acquire picks, I think teams contacted us more than they did in the past just because we didn't have a pick at all," said Jones.
"But you know, the conversations we have on draft night, most of them don't involve whether or not we can acquire players or picks. They're usually opportunities for teams to figure out, you know, what the future landscape looks like and try to find where teams are going with their teams because all of these deals intertwined. If you're talking to one team, you're probably talking to 10 trying to find out who has the best deal and then they're trying to communicate with you in a timely fashion why they aren't going with your offer. And then you just try to adjust.
"So I thought tonight was typical of every draft where you have 30 teams in the NBA all trying to figure out in real time, how to improve their teams."
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