The excitement was growing in the SB Nation Arizona headquarters as we all wondered who the Phoenix Suns would take with the 13th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.
↵Jimmer Fredette was off the board, but a few surprises remained: San Diego State guard Kawhi Leonard and both Marcus Morris and Markieff Morris were available. Most experts predicted that Leonard and Marcus Morris would have been drafted by now, but that turned out to be misleading.
↵The Suns executive team is all on the same page when it came to drafting Markieff Morris. Instead of picking up another SF or a tweener, they added a solid power forward who can come off the bench, play good defense, and grab some rebounds. Phoenix isn't trying to reinvent the wheel in the weakest draft in recent history.
↵The Suns didn't have a power forward, period. Channing Frye is a small forward masquerading as a center masquerading as a power forward. While Frye should still get the majority of the minutes in the regular season, a combo of Robin Lopez and Markieff Morris is appealing if only for the fact that Hakim Warrick could play backup small forward now.
↵Here's how the Suns, barring any trades, work out as a unit.
↵Starting Lineup
PG - Steve Nash
SG - Jared Dudley
SF - Grant Hill
PF - Channing Frye
C - Marcin Gortat
Bench Unit
PG - Aaron Brooks
SG - Josh Childress
SF - Hakim Warrick
PF - Markieff Morris
C - Robin Lopez
Remember, they're not reinventing the wheel. They're building a mediocre basketball team that will allow Steve Nash and Grant Hill to ride into the sunset. What happens after that? No one is sure, and that is the scary part.