Suns Land Kansas Wing in New NBA Mock Draft

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns currently own the No. 22 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, and while there's plenty of speculation as to what owner Mat Ishbia wants to do with future draft capital, the pick remains with the Suns until we're informed otherwise.

With Phoenix putting all of their chips to the middle of the table in regards to a championship window, the Suns could benefit from an injection of youth that will have a controllable contract and can help both now and later in the Valley.

That's exactly what they got in The Athletic's most recent NBA mock draft, where the Suns take Kansas' Johnny Furphy at No. 22 - though it's not believed they'll ultimately make the pick as Sam Vecenie explains:

"Furphy has a lot of the attributes NBA teams seek when trying to identify projects worth a long-term investment. It’s hard to find wings with Furphy’s size and athleticism. He’s come a long way in just 18 months to even get to this point. His athleticism and shooting ability always made him an intriguing upside swing, but when he played at the Center of Excellence in Australia, he didn’t seem to know how to impact the game. He was up and down this past season at Kansas, but he clearly earned Bill Self’s trust, which is not particularly easy for freshmen to do. Still, he averaged nine points per game in total and only 8.6 points in 30 minutes per night with a 44.1 true shooting percentage over his final seven games," wrote Vecenie.

"Furphy is projected by scouts as a likely first-round pick, but I’ve placed him here in large part because there is little leaguewide belief in the Suns being the team to will be making this selection. Owner Mat Ishbia is clearly in win-now mode, and the team can package this pick with its 2031 first-rounder to get a player who can provide more immediate value. Additionally, team president and GM James Jones is not known to value the draft highly."

If the Suns do stick and pick, Furphy appears to be a solid target at this point in the draft - we'll see if that actually comes to fruition.