Suns draft Khaman Maluach with the 10th pick

[taz02]

The question, is this entirely Ishbia's pick or is he speaking for the Suns war room so to speak?

One would have thought, Brian Gregory would have been on the phone with Rich Paul.

There was no other pick at 10. No way the suns could pass.

 

[Mainstreet]

There was no other pick at 10. No way the suns could pass.

There were other players the Suns could have selected at #10. I'm sure talking with the player's agent is routine.

The interesting part, Ishbia seems to be acting like the GM.

 

[Folster]

The question, is this entirely Ishbia's pick or is he speaking for the Suns war room so to speak?

One would have thought, Brian Gregory would have been on the phone with Rich Paul.

It's interesting that the Suns were so confident that Maluach would not be there at 10 that they traded for Williams prior to the draft. They obviously had open communication with his agent prior to thr draft. It sounds like they were getting intel from Rich Paul that made them think he would be gone despite their attempts to get him to Phoenix. So something happened in the top 9 that caused a team who was going to draft Maluach to opt for another player. Maybe it was Utah having Ace fall to them at 5?

 

[Mainstreet]

It's interesting that the Suns were so confident that Maluach would not be there at 10 that they traded for Williams prior to the draft. They obviously had open communication with his agent prior to thr draft. It sounds like they were getting intel from Rich Paul that made them think he would be gone despite their attempts to get him to Phoenix. So something happened in the top 9 that caused a team who was going to draft Maluach to opt for another player. Maybe it was Utah having Ace fall to them at 5?

Ace Bailey going to Utah might have changed things. I would have to go look at the draft board.

If Maluach was not there, I'd likely drafted Thomas Sorber or traded down at #10 looking for an additional pick.

 

[Proximo]

Not sure who has seen this. Ishbia calling Maluach's agent before the draft.

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Very interesting. So Ishbia is our GM

Rasheer Fleming is also a clutch sports guy, wonder if he helped us get him to.

Maybe Paul like's his players on Ishbia's team because he is one of the few owners willing to go into the second apron and get his players paid.

 

[Mainstreet]

Very interesting. So Ishbia is our GM

Rasheer Fleming is also a clutch sports guy, wonder if he helped us get him to.

Maybe Paul like's his players on Ishbia's team because he is one of the few owners willing to go into the second apron and get his players paid.

Somebody really worked the draft boards in the second round when the Suns moved up.

I'm not sure Ishbia had the experience to do it. Not saying he didn't call the 10th pick.

 

[GatorAZ]

Somebody really worked the draft boards in the second round when the Suns moved up.

I'm not sure Ishbia had the experience to do it. Not saying he didn't call the 10th pick.

Ishbia has been the GM since the minute he bought the team. He may not be crushing tape but he’s making every decision.

 

[95pro]

I think they’re all in on working collectively, but using Ishbia’s weight as the closer? Idk weird org

 

[Mainstreet]

Ishbia has been the GM since the minute he bought the team. He may not be crushing tape but he’s making every decision.

Ultimately the owner makes the final decision, but someone was working the draft boards in the second round and I don't think it was Ishbia.

Also, someone had to be watching video on Fleming.

 

[BooksOrangePlanet]

Not sure who has seen this. Ishbia calling Maluach's agent before the draft.

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

really smart of the agent to let ish know maluach might be sliding because it sounds like we had no clue - and that doesn't bother me because we didn't see shams or anyone tweeting about it beforehand - ish got it directly from the horse's mouth - ahead of the media

im thinking ish got a message/text from maluach's agent letting him know maluach might be there at #10

ish makes the call pre-draft - learns it's for real

draft starts at 5pm az time - i noted it was going slow and mentioned we wouldn't be picking till after 6 - im guessing ish had at least 90 minutes to figure out the Williams situation

during that 90 minutes - ish decides he still wants to go thru with the deal - that must've been a crazy 90 minutes because im pretty sure ish was going to pass on queen and sorber- at least that's the vibe i was getting - and especially with us trading for williams right? i think we were going to draft a rasheer type player because the pgs were gone baby gone

point of this post - aside from trying to solve the puzzle is ish's ability to make decisions on the fly - and i like what he did here - big balls - threw them in the lake - good or bad this choice will forever ripple but ish didn't flinch - didn't ask why maluach was sliding because they had already assessed the kid

personally i think we can thank the playoffs for maluach - we can thank jalen williams and pascal siakam- haliburton and dort - if this same draft happens after the nuggets won there'd be zero chance of maluach dropping to the double digits - it just wouldn't happen - but with how the pgs - tweens and wings dominated this year WE GOT LUCKY AF

we didn't just need a center who could play defense - we needed one that could keep pace - maluach looks like hussain bolt compared to the nurks of the nba - that's right it's why i keep saying all this kid has to know is where to be

and i honestly couldn't care less how much this kid averages right away - whether it's 10 points or 20 points - truth is we fall off when we can't rebound - ayton and nurk were good at it, we were good when they were good

i am 1,000,000 all in on this kid - health being the biggest possible obstacle and that hasn't been an issue - nothing good ever happens to us - actually i wouldn't say that but you know what i mean - this kid seems too good to be true

 

[BooksOrangePlanet]

wemby started playing basketball at age 7 - im not saying maluach is wemby - but i am saying if maluach started at age 7 he likely goes #1 and we aren't having this conversation

 

[Yuma]

I don't care if this kid is unpolished. Williams should start and he should be the first big off the bench. We aren't competing for a championship and the only way you learn is by playing.

Exactly. Let him earn his minutes. There's a case to be made to have Williams even drafting Maluach. We have Williams to show Maluach the ropes, and to see if we want to give Williams a second contract. Richards, too.

 

[Yuma]

really smart of the agent to let ish know maluach might be sliding because it sounds like we had no clue - and that doesn't bother me because we didn't see shams or anyone tweeting about it beforehand - ish got it directly from the horse's mouth - ahead of the media

im thinking ish got a message/text from maluach's agent letting him know maluach might be there at #10

ish makes the call pre-draft - learns it's for real

draft starts at 5pm az time - i noted it was going slow and mentioned we wouldn't be picking till after 6 - im guessing ish had at least 90 minutes to figure out the Williams situation

during that 90 minutes - ish decides he still wants to go thru with the deal - that must've been a crazy 90 minutes because im pretty sure ish was going to pass on queen and sorber- at least that's the vibe i was getting - and especially with us trading for williams right? i think we were going to draft a rasheer type player because the pgs were gone baby gone

point of this post - aside from trying to solve the puzzle is ish's ability to make decisions on the fly - and i like what he did here - big balls - threw them in the lake - good or bad this choice is going to forever ripple - ish didn't flinch - didn't ask why maluach was sliding because they had already assessed the kid

personally i think we can thank the playoffs for maluach - we can thank jalen williams and pascal siakam- haliburton and dort - if this same draft happens after the nuggets won there'd be zero chance of maluach dropping to the double digits - it just wouldn't happen - but with how the pgs - tweens and wings dominated this year WE GOT LUCKY AF

we didn't just need a center who could play defense - we needed one that could keep pace - maluach looks like hussain bolt compared to the nurks of the nba - that's right it's why i keep saying all this kid has to know is where to be

and i honestly couldn't care less how much this kid averages right away - whether it's 10 points or 20 points - truth is we fall off when we can't rebound - ayton and nurk were good at it, we were good when they were good

i am 1,000,000 all in on this kid - health being the biggest possible obstacle and that hasn't been an issue - nothing good ever happens to us - actually i wouldn't say that but you know what i mean - this kid seems too good to be true

Supposedly both Williams and Maluach run the court really well. Heck, watching the Celtics back in the day, Robert Parrish made a living off beating other centers down the floor and going right to the rim. Celtics usually got an easy tean points or so a game just from Parrish's willingness to run.

 

[Adrian]

Suns GM: NBA Draft haul 'great 1st step' in roster reshaping

In the spirit of getting younger, larger and more athletic, Brian Gregory and the Suns front office stuck to its newfound vision.

arizonasports.com

 

[95pro]

Supposedly both Williams and Maluach run the court really well. Heck, watching the Celtics back in the day, Robert Parrish made a living off beating other centers down the floor and going right to the rim. Celtics usually got an easy tean points or so a game just from Parrish's willingness to run.

You don’t even have to go back that far, see the Mavs in last years finals.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Avery Johnson said that thing defensively with this kid is his quick feet. That makes it possible for him to switch on defense easily.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Supposedly both Williams and Maluach run the court really well. Heck, watching the Celtics back in the day, Robert Parrish made a living off beating other centers down the floor and going right to the rim. Celtics usually got an easy tean points or so a game just from Parrish's willingness to run.

So.

Don't get a point guard that slows the game down to a crawl then like cp3. He walks it up every time.

 

[Folster]

So.

Don't get a point guard that slows the game down to a crawl then like cp3. He walks it up every time.

I was thinking about this as well. Ott is going to want to push the tempo. That's not CP3.

 

[Proximo]

So.

Don't get a point guard that slows the game down to a crawl then like cp3. He walks it up every time.

Yeah, but on the other hand he is the pick and roll lob king and that could be useful on the 2nd unit.

I don't want him back don't get me wrong, but considering our other options I can kind of understand considering it.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Can Gillespie be a starting pg? He can shoot. His assist/to ratio is excellent. He has weaknesses defensively, but he has more steals than turnovers as a pg.

 

[Yuma]

Can Gillespie be a starting pg? He can shoot. His assist/to ratio is excellent. He has weaknesses defensively, but he has more steals than turnovers as a pg.

Gillespie had his minutes with starters this last season. He balls out in the G League, and he's an average to above average player in the NBA right now. His size limits him, but his smarts let him stay on the court. Like the steals you mentioned.

 

[Suns_fan69]

Gillespie had his minutes with starters this last season. He balls out in the G League, and he's an average to above average player in the NBA right now. His size limits him, but his smarts let him stay on the court. Like the steals you mentioned.

We just saw TJ McConnell be the best player on the court at times in the NBA Finals with the current MVP. Gillespie is highly unlikely to turn into that, but he's the same archetype with a slightly better 3pt shot so never say never.

 

[SirStefan32]

I think you give Gillespie a chance to run the point. I don't see anything fundamentally wrong with his game. He is not great at any one thing but he is flat-out competent across the board.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Gillespie had his minutes with starters this last season. He balls out in the G League, and he's an average to above average player in the NBA right now. His size limits him, but his smarts let him stay on the court. Like the steals you mentioned.

He is not an above average player in the nba. If he were he wouldn’t be playing for minimum contracts, in the G League, or on two way contracts, or whatever.

 

[hcsilla]

He is not an above average player in the nba. If he were he wouldn’t be playing for minimum contracts, in the G League, or on two way contracts, or whatever.

That might change in a few days, IMO.