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Denzel Valentine, a 14th overall pick in 2016 by Chicago, was selected by the Valley team as well. He’s notably a Michigan State product like Suns owner Mat Ishbia.
Okafor is the biggest name, with 247 games of NBA experience that ended in 2020-21 with 27 games played for the Detroit Pistons. Suns and Mercury president Josh Bartelstein was in the Pistons’ front office during Okafor’s tenure there.
Knee injuries and then inconsistencies tanked his career after a promising rookie year with Philadelphia (17.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game).
Several of the players have experience as lead ball-handlers at the NBA level, including Maledon. That could be tapped into if the NBA squad likes what it’s seeing from its G League players who will play at nearby Mullett Arena in Tempe.
Mudiay has 302 games of experience in the NBA for the Nuggets, Knicks, Jazz and Kings and averaged 10.9 points and 3.8 assists per game. He last played two games in the NBA for Sacramento in 2021-22 and has since played in the G League (Iowa Wolves) and two teams in a Puerto Rican pro league.
Wigginton, 26, is a scoring point guard and played some with the Bucks in the past few years under new Phoenix Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer.
I’m good.Wally_West wrote: ↑Thu Jun 13, 2024 7:32 pmMercury got a fun squad this year. Now that Methstreams have WNBA games, I get to actually watch all their games this season.
Nurk is court side with Josh Bartelstein…
Stupid non-Suns fans officers, I say! They didn't recognize The Haboob?!
The G League isn’t just a place to give developmental prospects pro run in a similar system to a team’s NBA big brother. It’s a testing ground for basketball schemes, a place to find out-of-the-box coaches and, for individual players, a place to step back into the spotlight.
Look no further than point guard Isaiah Thomas using his time with the Salt Lake City Stars to stand out to the Phoenix Suns, who last year signed the long-time NBA veteran for the homestretch of the regular season and playoff run.
The G League’s Valley Suns on Thursday drafted a roster of players that includes former lottery picks as well as fringe NBA players still in their prime. Yes, as my Empire of the Suns podcast co-host Kellan Olson pointed out, that roster you’d think will be used to develop somebody or somebodies the Suns end up drafting or signing from the 2024 class.
But it could also come in handy to survive the bumps and bruises of the regular season. And hey, maybe you strike gold and find an NBA rotation player out of the group. The point is, you are giving yourself 14 in-house options that didn’t exist without having a G League squad that every other NBA team does.
So, yes, we’re here to take a look at what the expansion draft gave Phoenix from an NBA perspective...
As a sign of how broken my NBA brain has become, my first thought when seeing this was, "Ooh, this means (a) he's hanging out in Phoenix, so maybe he wants to come back; and (b) this trouble might lower his asking price, so maybe we get him on a minimum!"Cameron Payne was arrested in Scottsdale for allegedly refusing to ID himself and giving a false report to officers, per @TMZ_Sports
My Suns brain thought of the former but not the latter. And also that the officers were not Suns fans since they didn't recognize him.Mori Chu wrote: ↑Sun Jun 16, 2024 9:48 amAs a sign of how broken my NBA brain has become, my first thought when seeing this was, "Ooh, this means (a) he's hanging out in Phoenix, so maybe he wants to come back; and (b) this trouble might lower his asking price, so maybe we get him on a minimum!"Cameron Payne was arrested in Scottsdale for allegedly refusing to ID himself and giving a false report to officers, per @TMZ_Sports