Poll: Who should the Suns take at #4?

[Superbone]

I wonder who would have taken Chriss if we hadn't? Wouldn't it be funny if he had still been there at #13 without the trade?

There's no way and the Suns knew that.

[O_Gardino]

I'm still on the fence about the trade for Chriss.

I fully support trading up for someone that could become a star. But I will have to wait and see with Chriss. I watched a ton of highlight videos again last night, and he doesn't really look like a much better prospect than Skal. Statistically, the difference is that Chriss played until he fouled out and Skal was pulled if he was having a bad game. And Chriss isn't really making Basketball Plays, he's just so much bigger and more athletic that he gets dunk. His rebounds are all from jumping over guys even though he's out of position. I certainly felt that Chriss handles interviews much better than Skal. Here's hoping he can learn basketball.

[Split T]

I'm still on the fence about the trade for Chriss.

I fully support trading up for someone that could become a star. But I will have to wait and see with Chriss. I watched a ton of highlight videos again last night, and he doesn't really look like a much better prospect than Skal. Statistically, the difference is that Chriss played until he fouled out and Skal was pulled if he was having a bad game. And Chriss isn't really making Basketball Plays, he's just so much bigger and more athletic that he gets dunk. His rebounds are all from jumping over guys even though he's out of position. I certainly felt that Chriss handles interviews much better than Skal. Here's hoping he can learn basketball.

Hmm, i dont see this at all. Skal got taken out of games because he was terrible, Chriss was a much better college basketball player than skal.

In general, the skal love and Chriss hate is perplexing to me. Skal is intriguing because potentially he's a rim protector/floor spacer. Chriss brings those same skills only he actually was good enough to stay on the floor in college. Chriss is also over a year younger.

Chris per 40 was

22.1 pts 8.6 reb 2.6 blk 1.5 stl 1.2 ast 3.3 to 6.5 fouls .530/.350/.685

Skal

16.7 pts 8.0 reb 4.2 blk 0.6 stl 0.8 ast 2.2 to 7.6 fouls .516/.000/.661

So skal was actually a worse rebounder and fouled more than Chriss. He's a better shot blocker and that's it.

[Cap]

I'm still on the fence about the trade for Chriss.

We moved up a tier in the draft at the cost of Bogdan and basically two second-rounders. Not a huge price to pay. (Just as a value comparison, we gave up two second-rounders for two months of Brandan Wright.)

In hindsight it will be judged a bad trade if Chriss turns out to be a bad draft pick, but if he turns out to be a good pick the price we paid for the pick is reasonable.

[O_Gardino]

I'm still on the fence about the trade for Chriss.

I fully support trading up for someone that could become a star. But I will have to wait and see with Chriss. I watched a ton of highlight videos again last night, and he doesn't really look like a much better prospect than Skal. Statistically, the difference is that Chriss played until he fouled out and Skal was pulled if he was having a bad game. And Chriss isn't really making Basketball Plays, he's just so much bigger and more athletic that he gets dunk. His rebounds are all from jumping over guys even though he's out of position. I certainly felt that Chriss handles interviews much better than Skal. Here's hoping he can learn basketball.

Hmm, i dont see this at all. Skal got taken out of games because he was terrible, Chriss was a much better college basketball player than skal.

In general, the skal love and Chriss hate is perplexing to me. Skal is intriguing because potentially he's a rim protector/floor spacer. Chriss brings those same skills only he actually was good enough to stay on the floor in college. Chriss is also over a year younger.

Chris per 40 was

22.1 pts 8.6 reb 2.6 blk 1.5 stl 1.2 ast 3.3 to 6.5 fouls .530/.350/.685

Skal

16.7 pts 8.0 reb 4.2 blk 0.6 stl 0.8 ast 2.2 to 7.6 fouls .516/.000/.661

So skal was actually a worse rebounder and fouled more than Chriss. He's a better shot blocker and that's it.

It's not Skal love. I'm saying that the difference between the guy taken #8 and the guy taken #28 was incremental. I'm not convinced we "moved up a tier" in Cap's terms. I hope so! The Suns staff obviously thinks so, and they've seen a lot more than me. I'm just trying to talk myself into Chriss and not seeing much besides leaping ability. I hope he works out for us, but I still think he is a huge gamble.

[carey]

I feel the same. I haven't commented on Chriss really because I have no idea what he is yet. We will know a little something after Summer League.

[virtual9mm]

I feel the same. I haven't commented on Chriss really because I have no idea what he is yet. We will know a little something after Summer League.

I'm going to spend the $5 to watch the games

[Split T]

I'm still on the fence about the trade for Chriss.

I fully support trading up for someone that could become a star. But I will have to wait and see with Chriss. I watched a ton of highlight videos again last night, and he doesn't really look like a much better prospect than Skal. Statistically, the difference is that Chriss played until he fouled out and Skal was pulled if he was having a bad game. And Chriss isn't really making Basketball Plays, he's just so much bigger and more athletic that he gets dunk. His rebounds are all from jumping over guys even though he's out of position. I certainly felt that Chriss handles interviews much better than Skal. Here's hoping he can learn basketball.

Hmm, i dont see this at all. Skal got taken out of games because he was terrible, Chriss was a much better college basketball player than skal.

In general, the skal love and Chriss hate is perplexing to me. Skal is intriguing because potentially he's a rim protector/floor spacer. Chriss brings those same skills only he actually was good enough to stay on the floor in college. Chriss is also over a year younger.

Chris per 40 was

22.1 pts 8.6 reb 2.6 blk 1.5 stl 1.2 ast 3.3 to 6.5 fouls .530/.350/.685

Skal

16.7 pts 8.0 reb 4.2 blk 0.6 stl 0.8 ast 2.2 to 7.6 fouls .516/.000/.661

So skal was actually a worse rebounder and fouled more than Chriss. He's a better shot blocker and that's it.

It's not Skal love. I'm saying that the difference between the guy taken #8 and the guy taken #28 was incremental. I'm not convinced we "moved up a tier" in Cap's terms. I hope so! The Suns staff obviously thinks so, and they've seen a lot more than me. I'm just trying to talk myself into Chriss and not seeing much besides leaping ability. I hope he works out for us, but I still think he is a huge gamble.

Skal love comment wasn't necessarily for you, just more in general. I haven't seen much criticism of him on this board. Even saw a decent amount of support for him at #13 and even #4. Maybe it's because we weren't connected to skal in rumors like we were to Chriss.

As for Chriss, he's more than just an athlete. He's a good shooter and has the ability to put the ball on the floor a little. His post skills are also intriguing. He's quick in the post and has nice touch. I think he's probably not strong enough yet to be a big post threat in the NBA, but he can get there.
He is pretty strictly just a finisher right now though. He's not creating for other teammates, but that doesn't mean he can't be a great player. Neither amare or Marion were creators either.

Also, I don't think skal to Chriss is an incremental step. It's a pretty big one, but that's just my opinion.

[carey]

I'm going to spend the $5 to watch the games

I probably will too. I'm a sucker for hope. It's why I keep doing League Pass every year even though I know better.

[virtual9mm]

Well said. About the same here.

[virtual9mm]

I just spent some time looking at Chriss highlights. Offensively, he looks a lot like a young Marion (i.e. before he got undercut and stopped driving into traffic), who either takes the jumper or drives all the way in. Indeed, his defining asset may be the speed of his second jump. I expect him to do a lot of cleaning up on the offensive glass, although he could very well suck on the defensive glass.

He definitely has more power than Marion, but not quite like a young Amare, who could dunk in traffic with ease.

[INFORMER]

Skal love comment wasn't necessarily for you, just more in general. I haven't seen much criticism of him on this board. Even saw a decent amount of support for him at #13 and even #4. Maybe it's because we weren't connected to skal in rumors like we were to Chriss.

As for Chriss, he's more than just an athlete. He's a good shooter and has the ability to put the ball on the floor a little. His post skills are also intriguing. He's quick in the post and has nice touch. I think he's probably not strong enough yet to be a big post threat in the NBA, but he can get there.
He is pretty strictly just a finisher right now though. He's not creating for other teammates, but that doesn't mean he can't be a great player. Neither amare or Marion were creators either.

Also, I don't think skal to Chriss is an incremental step. It's a pretty big one, but that's just my opinion.

I think "Skal love" is a bit strong. I don't think anyone loves him as a prospect. I was considering for 4 and 13, but by no means was I or am I dogmatic about it. There is no way around it: he had a terrible year at Kentucky. He would have been a big gamble. And if someone wants to say it would be foolish to draft him, I couldn't disagree. At the midpoint of the collegiate season, I thought he was a terrible prospect too.

BUT, I did have a change of heart. Kentucky has a way of undermining prospects' potential. And I started to think that possibly, Skal is better than what he showed in his single season there. I started to think that he was more the played he showed at the Nike Hoop Summit. But of course, I could be wrong.

Regardless, this really isn't a "WHY DIDN'T RYAN DRAFT SKAL!" issue; I don't think anyone feels like that. Ultimately, I would have preferred to pass on Chriss and Skal, at least in the top 20.

[INFORMER]

Ultimately, the draft was a crushing disappointment for me. We went in with so much leverage, so much potential to really do some good, and it feels like we came away with nothing. I think we sunk a huge investment in two prospects that will be mediocre players at best. People write off my F grade as melodrama, but it's really how I feel and I'll elaborate on why.

When I saw the Bender pick, I wasn't surprised, but I was disappointed, but I thought to myself "well at least they didn't go with Chriss." I thought, "Ok, they wasted one pick but at least we have 13, 28, and 34, so this night could still be a success." Sigh, if only I knew what was coming next.

This decision means 2-3 years of waiting for something that will probably never happen. And in the mean time, will overlook prospects in future drafts because we have misplaced hope in these two mediocre prospects. That kills me.

This was a big draft. Some take solace in that, if it is a miss, it will be the end of Ryan. That doesn't comfort me one bit because it doesn't change the fact that we would have wasted considerable assets and years for nothing. That is devastating. And I'm tired of throwing away seasons. We've thrown away seasons on the Morris Twins, Eric Bledsoe, etc. Enough is enough.

[Cap]

Kentucky has a way of undermining prospects' potential.

???

Guys like Bledoe, Knight, Booker and Goodwin achieve nothing at Kentucky, but once freed of their Wildcat shackles they just win, win, win.

[INFORMER]

Wins? All I'm referring to is production.

[pickle]

All your Kentucky guards are belong to us.

All your Kentucky big men are belong to Sacramento.

I think Cap was being sarcastic btw.

[Split T]

Skal love comment wasn't necessarily for you, just more in general. I haven't seen much criticism of him on this board. Even saw a decent amount of support for him at #13 and even #4. Maybe it's because we weren't connected to skal in rumors like we were to Chriss.

As for Chriss, he's more than just an athlete. He's a good shooter and has the ability to put the ball on the floor a little. His post skills are also intriguing. He's quick in the post and has nice touch. I think he's probably not strong enough yet to be a big post threat in the NBA, but he can get there.
He is pretty strictly just a finisher right now though. He's not creating for other teammates, but that doesn't mean he can't be a great player. Neither amare or Marion were creators either.

Also, I don't think skal to Chriss is an incremental step. It's a pretty big one, but that's just my opinion.

I think "Skal love" is a bit strong. I don't think anyone loves him as a prospect. I was considering for 4 and 13, but by no means was I or am I dogmatic about it. There is no way around it: he had a terrible year at Kentucky. He would have been a big gamble. And if someone wants to say it would be foolish to draft him, I couldn't disagree. At the midpoint of the collegiate season, I thought he was a terrible prospect too.

BUT, I did have a change of heart. Kentucky has a way of undermining prospects' potential. And I started to think that possibly, Skal is better than what he showed in his single season there. I started to think that he was more the played he showed at the Nike Hoop Summit. But of course, I could be wrong.

Regardless, this really isn't a "WHY DIDN'T RYAN DRAFT SKAL!" issue; I don't think anyone feels like that. Ultimately, I would have preferred to pass on Chriss and Skal, at least in the top 20.

I think that's fair, love was probably a strong word. I got the impression that some people were willing to excuse skal's deficiencies but not Chriss. I was probably a bit defensive because I have been fairly vocal about my Chriss support. I appreciate your explanation on skal as a prospect.

[pickle]

How does Chriss compare to McDyess?

The draft is always a bit of a crap shoot and it's not easy to discern a real difference between Chriss and Skal at this point, so I can't say I was thrilled with the trade (of course at the time the trade was made, we probably couldn't know that Skal would slip that far) as things turned out. I just wonder, what could we have picked up at the 13th slot that could have helped us? As I mentioned in the 13th pick poll thread, I would not have minded taking a chance with the two long pgs in this draft, Baldwin and Murray, or with Valentine. And we'd still have Bogdan.

I appease myself by saying we got two #4 picks and consolidated our assets so we can have minutes available for all our players. Hopefully this stops us from chasing crazy free agents and spending the cap space we have just for the sake of doing so, and we can develop our young players and not chase the playoffs.

[Superbone]

My stone cold prediction right now is that Chriss will be a significantly better pro than Skal. Let's revisit in two years.

[Split T]

My stone cold prediction right now is that Chriss will be a significantly better pro than Skal. Let's revisit in two years.

I agree.