Last night in the Draft Lottery, the Phoenix Suns received the 14th pick in the the upcoming June 25th NBA Draft. This was not a big surprise considering the Suns were the only team with a winning record in the lottery and only had a .5% chance of securing the coveted number one pick (AKA Blake Griffin). The Suns recent draft history could be described as terrible. Here is a breakdown of all the picks since 2002, when the Suns drafted Amare Stoudemire and Casey Jacobsen in the 1st round.

2008: In 2008, the Suns selected Robin Lopez with the 15th pick in the draft and also drafted Malik Hairston with the 48th pick. Robin Lopez is clearly a work in progress averaging 3.2 points per game and 2.0 rebounds per game in his rookie season playing behind Shaquille O’Neal. Malik Hairston was traded to the San Antonio Spurs with cash for Goran Dragic. Hairston played in 15 games for the Spurs last year averaging 3.3 points per game and 1.9 rebounds per game as a shooting guard. Notice how similar his stats are to Robin Lopez’s.

2007: In 2007 the Suns selected Rudy Fernandez with the 24th pick in the draft, Alando Tucker with the 29th pick and D.J Strawberry with the 59th pick. Fernandez was subsequently traded to Portland along with sharpshooter James Jones for cash considerations. Fernandez has blossomed into a solid player for the Trailblazers averaging 10.4 points per game in his first full season. Alando Tucker has been perpetually the 10th man on the Suns bench. I still believe he has an upside in the Suns future but needs to improve his outside shooting substantially. D.J. Strawberry, son of MLB great Daryl Strawberry, played in 33 games in his rookie season and was waived and claimed by the Houston Rockets.

2006: In 2006, the Suns drafted Rajon Rondo with the 21st pick and Sergio Rodriguez with the 27th pick. Rajon Rondo was traded to the Boston Celtics along with Brian Grant for The Cleveland Cavaliers 2007 1st round pick and you guessed it…cash considerations. That 2007 pick turned into Rudy Fernandez. So in sum, the Suns traded Rajon Rondo, Rudy Fernandez, Brian Grant, James Jones for …cash considerations. Rondo has obviously become a rising star who is mounting triple doubles reminiscent of Jason Kidd.  Sergio Rodriguez was traded to the Portland Trailblazers for….cash considerations. Rodriguez played in 80 games for the Trailblazers in 2008, serving primarily as a back-up PG for Steve Blake and Brandon Roy.

2005: The Suns drafted Nate “Kryptonite” Robinson with the 21st pick in the draft and Marcin Gortat with the 57th overall pick.  Robinson was  traded to the New York Knicks with Quentin Richardson for Kurt Thomas and the draft rights to second-round pick (54th overall) Dijon Thompson. Robinson was the 2006 and 2008 slam dunk contest champion and averaged 17.2 points per game in 2008, along with 4 assists and 4 rebounds per game. Marcin Gortat was traded to the Orlando Magic for that familiar phrase: cash considerations. Gortat is a 7 footer from Poland who serves as a backup for Dwight Howard and plays solid defense and rebounds. Dijon Thompson who the Suns acquired in the Robinson deal, injured his knee and was forced to have microfracture knee surgery in 2006. The former UCLA standout now plays for the Ukranian club: Azovmash Mariupol.

2004: In 2004, the Suns selected Luol Deng with the 7th overall pick in the draft. This was the Suns only pick in 2004. The Suns then proceeded to trade Deng to the Chicago Bulls for future conditional first-round draft pick, and the rights to Jackson Vroman (31st pick). The conditional draft pick the Suns received was Nate Robinson (see above). So for those keeping score that was Luol Deng, Nate Robinson and Quentin Richardson for Kurt Thomas and Dijon Thompson. Deng has progressed into a solid NBA player with the Chicago Bulls and has averaged 15.4 points and 6.3 rebounds. One has to wonder if his defense could have helped the Suns defeat the Spurs? Jackson Vroman ended up being part of a trade to the Hornets for Jim Jackson that season. Vroman currently is out of the NBA and plays in Iran for Saba Mehr.

2003: With the 17th overall pick in the draft the Suns selected Žarko Čabarkapa. He played in 49 games with Suns but was limited by injuries. He was traded to the Golden State Warriors in 2005 for 2 second round draft picks. He is now out of the NBA but playing in Montenegro. The Suns did make one solid move by acquiring the draft rights traded by Spurs to Phoenix Suns for conditional 1st-round pick (2005 #30 – David Lee).

So in summation this is what the Suns could have right now (with current roster subtractions of Goran Dragic, Leandro Barbosa and Cash Considerations):

PG: Starter Steve Nash     Backup: Rajon Rondo/Sergio Rodriguez

SG: Starter: Jason Richardson     Backup: Nate Robinson/Rudy Fernandez

SF: Starter: Luol Deng     Backup: Alando Tucker

PF: Starter: Amare Stoudemire     Backup: David Lee

Center: Starter: Shaquille O’Neal   Backup: Marcin Gortat/Robin Lopez.

If it wasn’t for those pesky cash considerations…..Stay tuned later this week for Part 2 where I breakdown who the Suns should actually take in this year’s draft.

Note: Former Sun Brian Grant was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, I wish him all of luck in the world while battling this disease. For more info on Parkinson’s disease click the link here.