One Center & One Wing Who Could Be PERFECT For the Phoenix Suns In the NBA Draft

One Center & One Wing Who Could Be PERFECT For the Phoenix Suns In the NBA Draft

Today on Locked on Phoenix Suns, the mock drafts are flying and we’re breaking down two players the Suns very well could have their eye on in less than a month at the NBA draft. Let’s go. You are Locked On Suns, your daily Phoenix Suns podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. your team every day. Welcome back into Locked On Suns. I’m Brendan Clean, a staff writer at a announcing and a credentialed Suns media member. Thank you for making Locked On Suns your first listen here on this Tuesday. Don’t forget Locked On Suns free and available on all platforms including YouTube. Just click that follow or subscribe button. Do what thousands of other Suns fans have already done. Become an everyday and get locked on to the Phoenix Suns right here each and every day. two draft deep dives and more KD uh trade talks from our locked on NBA mock draft. Joining me for all of it as always from the wonderful West Valley, my fellow Suns Credential media member, how are we feeling, Ben Garcia? Um I’ll be honest with you, feeling better. Like a couple hours ago, you’re like, “What are we going to do?” We decided we’re going to do some draft deep dives and I’m like, “All right, here we go.” Oh, that was I was actually having a little bit of fun reading a couple articles, watching some highlights, and I’m like, “Oo, this isn’t too hard. I could be an NBA scout. This is easy.” Yeah, Mr. The draft is a crapshoot and picks are worthless. Suddenly, you’re a scout. I I’m a little confused how I got there. Let’s get to Well, yeah, exactly. Let’s get to our first player, Yaxel Lendorg from UAB. Now, his name would make you think that he is a foreigner, somebody who is, you know, on grainy tape from some tiny league in a country you haven’t thought about before. But no, he is American and he is a for from New Jersey and of course went to UAB this past season. Started actually um that’s of course University of Alabama Birming Birmingham. He started at a junior college in Arizona, which is kind of a funny tidbit on him, but uh transferred of course a couple of different times. And the interesting thing here, Ben, as we talk about the 69 forward, fourth year, I’m not calling him a senior cuz he’s bounced around so much, but fourth year, uh, 22 years old already, but he has an offer on the table that I’ve seen reported as multi-million dollar in NIL deals to go to Michigan in the transfer portal. And that’s obviously a program that’s reestablished itself at the top of the pecking order. And that deadline is on June 15th. So that’s the headline for this guy. But I have to tell you that as a player, he checks a lot of the boxes of what I feel like Brian Gregory was talking about at his introductory press conference of the types of things he wants Suns players to be able to do in the image he wants to build this roster in. First off, I’m a big, this is so stupid. I’m a big name guy. So whenever I saw the name Yakel and get mocked to the Suns once or twice and in every which way I’m like, “All right, I got to check this guy out.” 69 senior, you mentioned it. Uh he played a couple of years at at uh uh Arizona Western in Yuma. So here’s the thing about about Yakel is immediately you’re like this guy’s only played two years of UAB ball. He had some issues with his grades in high school. Didn’t wasn’t able to get to a better college. ended up going to uh Arizona Western, then UAB. I mean, listen, man, I’ve done what is it, an hour and a half of of researching this guy, and I’m kind of an early candidate for the Ryan Dunn Award. Uh what I will be championing that as this year because, you know, man, I’m a sicko when it comes to NBA prospects. You throw a 69 wing at me, athletic wing at me, I’m going to jump all over it. And so what really so we you and I were looking at some some draft profiles and there was you know a guy who we’ll talk about a bit a little bit later a statistic that just pops out at you. There’s one player outside of Cooper Flag who led their team in uh in every major statistical category and it was Cooper Flag and Yexel Lindenborg. Also, in the last 20 years, only one division one player has had over the course of his entire career, same game or not, a game with 30 points, a game with 20 rebounds, a game with eight assists, a game with nine plus stocks, steals plus blocks, and a game with 40 minutes and zero turnovers. That is only Yexo Lindenborg. So, yeah, the Michigan stuff worries me that maybe he could go back, but I mean, you’re kind of looking at if that happens, then we just won’t then he’ll just be off the board. Sure. Sure. But they’re not going to draft him and then he leaves like a high school kid in the MLB draft or something. No, sure. It’s fine. He’ll be off the board before that. But what I’m just saying is is a 69 wing who could shoot the ball better than Ryan Dunn did last year and defensively was also the uh all the American athletic conference. I think that’s the name of that conference. Yep. Who he won the defensive player of the year award too. So clearly a twice but back to back on that back to there you go back to back. So early candidate for the Ryan Dunn award. Uh granted we’ve done this once but strong impression from him. What’ you think? So low volume on threes. So absolutely you know the percentages are nice to see. He was 35% on about 100 total attempts in the two seasons of division one that he played. You mentioned the stocks. the the percentages on that steel rate and block rate are are good. Um because like it’s kind of the opportunity that you do get when you play in one of these smaller conferences and smaller programs is a guy like this can end up being uh basically lead playmaker despite not really having the skill set where he would be doing any of that on a better team. And so it can kind of be a blessing and a curse. And that’s why you see players like this sometimes to de develop a more well-rounded skill set. And I would say he did this past season. He his usage went up and his turnover rate went down. He he is maturing as a guy who can have the ball in his hands and be trusted. But the part that honestly above all of that jumps out to me as a real illustration of his physical profile is that I look at the conference tournament games. All right. And he has a 74 wingspan. I should say too, just to put some numbers to that physical profile. The conference tournament of the AAC as well as the NIT tournament which UAB participated in this past season. Now, he’s playing more minutes because it’s tournament, you know, it’s it’s postseason basketball, so to speak. But the amount of rebounds and stocks that this dude was piling up when he got the chance and when the the the minutes were high, first conference tournament game, 20 rebounds, including seven on offense and nine stocks. Second conference tournament game, 13 rebounds, five on the offensive side, four stocks. You go to the NIT, 17 rebounds twice, five plus stocks twice. He just absolutely dominates games with his athleticism and his physical profile. And you look at him, he looks like he should play be playing tight end. Looks like he should be going in the fourth round of the NFL draft as a freaking, you know, ball ballcatching tight end. It’s it’s uh the tools are tanalyzing when you think about the fact that he already has gotten some reps to develop out his skill set and his offensive game on top of everything that’s there. And again, he feels like a guy the Suns would absolutely look at based on all that stuff. I don’t know where you go when it comes to like evaluating talent. Like I’ve been so scorned before by Dragon Bender, Mary’s Chris, like guys that didn’t pan out for the Suns. So, I try to find things that, you know, will translate and those are the types of things that you had mentioned that I like to look into. It’s one of the reasons why I’m so high on Walter Clayton Jr. because I watched him in the tournament run. He was the sole reason at times why Florida won that championship. And it’s the same thing with him where you look and see what he did when the brights were the when the lights were the brightest. I’m not so much worried about the shooting aspect. I don’t know if that’s going to contribute to the NBA. I do know that rebounds, uh, blocks, athleticism, he he almost averaged two blocks a game. Like I know it’s UAB, but still it’s hard to those types of things translate to the NBA more than just scoring does. So that’s what gets me interested in him. They do, but to be like, so let’s be realistic, right? Because on the Yahoo Sports draft board, uh, which is Kevin Oconor, he’s 23rd ranked. on the Ringers. Jay Kyle man, he is 20th. Not a lot of other people have big boards out right now, but those two guys are on top of stuff. So, we can’t just glaze a dude who’s going in the 20s. Obviously, there’s some issues, right? And so, what I’m just using a term people use. I just I hate the I hate that. I expect better from you than using the word glaze. All right. We can’t just pump up a guy who is who is in the 20s because obviously that would be silly. Otherwise, he’d be the second ranked prospect behind Cooper Flag if it was only positive. So, what you’re saying is is true, right? I think of this maybe from a Sun’s perspective, people listening, and even just for you and I to keep like a benchmark of how we’re thinking about Yak Lendorg as we bring him up more as the process goes along. He’s probably a more developed and higher skill level version of Ishwain. Wright. Is that fair to say? Ish had the physical uh strength. He could make a wideopen three if he really needed to, but that was inconsistent. And that basically was where the list ended with ish. And he was much older than this by the time we ever saw him. Although Lenderborg, we should say, is he’s going to be 23 when he starts in the NBA. He’s already about to turn 23. So really, we should say 23. But this guy has a little bit of playmaking to him, a little bit of um, you know, IQ as a defender to generate those blocks and steals and that bodess well for a higher floor and a higher ceiling in the NBA. But the stuff you’re saying, you know, is going to translate, physicality, athleticism, rebounding, those are things a center does. He’s not a center. He’s 6’8, 69. So, a wing who only defends and rebounds, those guys don’t play in the NBA anymore. So, the other stuff has to translate just like we said it has to with Ryan Dunn or this guy’s going to be overseas in three years. Like, that’s just how it goes. Yes. But here’s what makes Yakel more interesting than a guy like Ish Waynewright. We knew what Ish Waynewright was mostly coming out of the draft. I mean, listen, I didn’t hear Waywright when he came into the NBA. He was undrafted. He that’s why we didn’t see him until he was already 28 or whatever. Yeah. But I think there’s also a reason why he went undrafted. He wasn’t skilled enough to be in that. I think the reason why is falling is because he played at UAB and he had to spend two years one year two years at Yuma if I’m not mistaken where like you lose some of the tape and some people might just not want to take a flyer on a guy who played at UAB, put up good numbers, was athletic but still kind of raw because we don’t really know what he is. Maybe a player like this at a bigger school is more in the mid teens or even late lottery, but still not a top five, top 10 guy because of around his offensive game. So, I think it’s just the good and the bad, the pros and the cons. But if you’re talking about his shooting, which is the key swing skill for a lot of these types of players, because even when you say he led his team in in assists, like UAB maybe could have gotten the ball moving a little more. Four assists leading the team is not exactly, you know, the the the Papovic Spurs out there. Um, but his free throw shooting, he took a ton of free throws cuz he’s such a physical dude and got so many offensive boards and everything. He took 300 free throws in college and made 78%. and free throw shooting is the best indicator of three-point shooting if you’re looking at draft prospects coming out of college. So, that’s a good sign for his overall shooting ability and touch and just putting the ball in the basket with a with a jump shot is that he made his free throws. So, there’s a lot to like. Absolutely. A player I could see the Suns taking and somebody we will definitely talk much more about. I I just want to ask you really quickly, is this a guy that you think will be available when the Suns pick? I think that’s an an appropriate question to ask. Yeah, you might not know and I don’t know is a fine is a fine. Do you know how would we how would we guess that? I I Well, this is why I think he will be at least not at 29. I think he will be around where the Suns are at. And I’m and I say that I say give or take five picks because of his rawness. The fact that he had to go to UAB, the mention of like yeah, four assists a game. That’s not exactly what you had mentioned. You referenced the Papovic Spurs years ago. Like for all those reasons, teams that really need someone that can uh contribute to them as a star later on, like whatever other teams, the Bulls, whoever, like they might not want to take a risk on that guy. So, I do think he would fall to the Suns, whereas the next guy we talk about more time, more years in in NCAA where they’ve had enough, you know, and they could see the tools and be like, “Yeah, that guy might be able to do a little bit more for me than Yako would.” So, I think he will be give or take five spots where the Suns will be picking. I think that’s a good place for him to go. As of right now, I don’t really know. Next, Maxim Reo, the Stanford Center. We’ve talked about a ton already. Let’s dive deeper on a dude who, as Ben just said, the Suns will be lucky to even have a chance to get next. First, today’s show brought to you by Wayfair. the clutchest place to buy furniture, as I like to call it. The days are getting warmer and longer. People are spending more time outside, and it’s the perfect time to refresh your outdoor space. Whether you’re working with a big backyard or a small balcony, Wayfair has everything you need to make it feel more like you. Wayfair’s massive selection of outdoor essentials makes it easy to transform any space into your ideal summer setup. From comfy conversation sets to sleek dining tables and outdoor decor, they’ve got it all. and at prices that fit your budget. Here in Arizona, here in Phoenix, it’s swim time. It’s pool time. So, maybe there’s a little umbrella. Maybe there’s uh, you know, a Sha’s lounge chair to lay on. Maybe there’s uh, heck, I don’t know. Does Wayfair have like pool play stuff? I don’t know. May, maybe, maybe not. You got to check it all out. Make it feel more like you. Like they said, shop a huge selection of outdoor furniture online. And this summer, get outside with Wayfair. Head to wayfair.com right now. That’s wfir.com. Wayfair, every style, every home. All right, keeping the show rolling. Let’s talk about Maxim Reo, the Stanford 7footer, Ben, who is a senior, spent all four years up in Northern California. He’s also 22 because he made the board uh the big board for Kevin Oconor over at Yahoo. We have some comps for this one. I don’t think we set any comps for uh for Yaxle. I should have I should have looked because I actually think Jay Kyle man usually has some. Oh no, not in this case. Okay, so we didn’t miss anybody. The comps from KOC on Reo who he has 14th. So like you said, like this could be a guy where we’re just dreaming. That’s kind of why we got are getting him out of the way now because his stock might just explode. But he has Brooke Lopez and Rasheed Wallace. Those are very different players. So I’m a little I don’t understand that one at all. That doesn’t I I don’t understand. Which one feels more real to you because they’re very different. Brook Lopez. Okay, agreed. But even that I think it’s a little bit because they both went to Stanford if we’re being honest. I think KC is just like both tall white dudes that can spread the floor. Yeah. I mean, yeah, he also kind of looks like him. Yeah. But the thing, the funny one about that too is also that Brook Lopez didn’t spread the floor coming out of college. Which which Brook Lopez are we talking about? But now Brook Lopez is a good comp because he this year as a senior, Reo upped his three-point volume to nearly seven per 40 minutes, made 35% of them. A lot of those were off movement, off, you know, running and and using him almost like a Carl Anthony Towns or a player like that. And his block rate jumped up as well. The question for me with Ray No, Ben is that if the Suns even had a chance to get him. A lot of this you can look at and say, did he just dominate because he’s 71 and 22 years old going up against guys who were 5 in shorter than him and three years younger than him? That that would be the concern of of was this this statistical explosion that he had this this last year kind of a mirage because you should be killing people if you have that much of an advantage on them. Yeah. Did you see I listen part of re reading in some of the stuff was looking at his highlights. I want to see what he can do on the floor. Um a lot of UC Davis Northern Arizona um got teams that they were playing on there where it just didn’t look like the other team had a center that was within 4 in of him. I’m going to be honest with you, I wasn’t as wowed as I thought I would be. Now maybe my expectations were too high and I was thinking of Christophs Porzingis level of player. The lateral quickness worries me a little bit. He’s he seemed like had you had mentioned was able to get to the basket at will just because of how big he was. Uh a good floor spacer, but everything that I was kind of reading up outside of Rasheed Wallace and and and uh Brook Lopez was he’s kind of seen as a sneaky center, like a sneaky starting center, but most likely a backup in the NBA. Is that kind of the same feel you got outside of Rasheed Wallace and Brook Lopez? Well, those comps are always going to be guys who are, you know, good. They’re not going to pick bad players as a comp because then it’s like, why do it? Yeah. So, that Yeah, that feels farfetched. Like, if it’s a guy who’s going to go in the middle or back of the first round, then you’re comparing them to probably, you know, borderline Hall of Fame type players and yeah, it’s ridiculous. But I think I I don’t What makes you say backup? nothing he was doing. Now listen, the shooting the part some of this stuff that I was seeing when he was shooting the basketball, I was like, “Oh man, that’s kind of actually silky smooth.” But then you look at his the shooting and the the shooting and the size are the whole thing. That’s the whole reason. The shooting and the size, but it’s not but it’s not like the shooting is is otherworldly. He shot 34%. Not bad. Like it’s I What I’m What my point is that is like it’s not cat, you know what I mean? From the three-point land. It’s not one of those things. That’s why he’s not going first overall like captain. Exactly. But he But I still think he could be a starter. I know. I do think he could be a starter, but my the reason And then here’s kind of where my counterpoint comes. And I don’t want to become as just a glazer for 68 69 wings. And I I I honestly do feel like I’m in that boat a lot of the times. But another reason why I just don’t think it it works great with the Suns is like, is he most likely a starting center or a backup center in the NBA? That’s what I would ask you. What would you what would you think? Well, I think it depends on how much his other skills come around. Can he be a more consistent um rebounder? Can he be a more consistent rim protector? Can he really use his size and and physicality the the the He’s really developed even for 22 physically. Can he use that and actually make make an impact on the game with it? Or is the only way that his size comes into play is that he’s just tall and so he’ll get some rebounds and occasionally block some shots and when he takes a three, no one can block it because he’s over the top of everybody. If that’s the only way that his size really matters, then yeah, he is like a worse Porzingis, right? And that that probably isn’t like a great starter. Um, but yeah, he’s a high variance player for sure. You could see a version where he doesn’t even make it in the NBA at all because the other the physicality never comes around or you could see a version where he is basically, you know, older Brook Lopez in terms of how he impacts the game. I’m just watching highlights and those can be very deceptive. I don’t want people to think I’m grinding tape hours of it reading his pick and pop. I think they know. Yeah, I think we’re not stand well I I want that to be taken with a with a grain of salt when I give my opinion is because I didn’t see really any really much of any physicality. I I thought there were a couple of moments watching it where he would dunk the ball and I was like, damn. Okay. Kind of like to see that, but it almost felt like he was he was way more comfortable out on the out on the perimeter than he was down low or at least getting the ball down low. Didn’t think the handles were amazing. again, 7-1 guy. I’m not going to kill him for that. Didn’t love the lateral quickness at all. Especially, I didn’t think he was I didn’t think he was a stellar defensive performer. And that leads me to this. And the reason why I I’m not I’m not axing it all together. I’ve spent two hours on this, but what I would say is the Suns already kind of have a guy who can handle the backup role, the backup uh uh center role in Osoar. You wouldn’t be d if if you’re drafting this guy, it’s not because you think he’s going to be a backup. You think he’s gonna be a backup, but if you’re drafting him, you think he’s a starter, right? Or he has the potential to be. So, we don’t know what the Yeah, you wouldn’t take him probably. It sounds like as of right now, no, I wouldn’t I wouldn’t just for just from what we’ve seen right now, I would I wouldn’t take him. I don’t But I’m just saying like if the Suns drafted him, they would think he’s our starter of the future. They wouldn’t say he’s replacing Nick Richards as our backup. Just I was wrong. I listen, I was wrong about this when it came to Tammani Kamar. One of the reasons why I was okay with the Suns trading him because he’s a second round pick and I didn’t really know anything about him. But when I was watching him in the summer league, I was like, ah, lateral quickness isn’t great. It’s one of the first things I look at because everyone in the NBA is so damn fast and you got to be able to get out in the perimeter. If someone lays a pick on you, you got to get out in the guard that’s shooting a three. I just didn’t I didn’t see that in some in the very limited things that I’ve done homework that I’ve done on him. Again, that can change, but as of right now, no, he he’s not the top. He’s not going to be a switch pick. He’s not going to be like oh so out there on the perimeter. But all he would have to do is basically get to a point where as a pick and because Brook Lopez, if we’re using that comp, he’s not out there dancing around and he he’s a defensive player of the year candidate every season of his late prime. So, as long as you’re able to have the right fit, you know, not everybody gets Giannis next to them, but if you get a a good big team and all you have to basically do is protect the rim, that’s the type of I think situation that this guy would need. And then the offense has to come around. He can’t just be a jump shooting big man. That that’s not that’s not enough. Even Miles Turner can can run a pick and roll, catch the ball, and dunk it, right? even Porzingis can post up and and you know get somebody with a hook shot or whatever. You gota you got to diversify and fill out the game. And when you’re already this old, there’s not quite as much of a ceiling on you as there as if he was already doing this at 19. So all of that is again I I feel like 14 seeing him at 14 on KOC’s board feels crazy high to me personally. Um, and I it’s pretty again a pretty high variance player I think is a a good way to to think about this guy because again bouncing off the Ringer draft board. And Jay Kyle Man I think does a really good job. He’s not even on his top 33. So 14 from one guy, not even in the top 33 of the next guy. That shows you, I think, how wide the analysis is. But uh let’s get to our negotiations with Jackson Gatlin of Locked on Rockets. We said one last try to trade Kevin Durant in our locked on NBA mock draft. Houston, pick up your damn phone. And they did. Let’s talk about what came next. Next. And we’re closing out the show. We talked yesterday, Ben, about how we negotiated, played Mock GM, put on our Brian Gregory, uh, Mission Impossible style face suits, and negotiated with the Nuggets. Great movie. And we negotiated with the Heat and we got some better offers than we expected. And predictably, everybody laughed at us in the comments. I don’t know where that hobby came. What also, I don’t know why people don’t have much better to do than to just laugh it. We didn’t even come up with those deals. They’re making it seem like we we did that trade. It was people who covered the team and then they they told us we were there was someone in there saying that they were just helping us get clickbait. It’s like we have nothing else better to do. It’s like do they actually cover the team or they just want to make up a trade that’ll get give you something to talk about? I’m like what are we what are we doing? What are you talking about? And yet here you are clicking and hating anyway. So, it didn’t even work if that was unable button. It just made you more mad. But, uh, we talked about the Rockets and and here everyone can get a win on this one because Mr. Gatlin over there who who has covered the Rockets for a very long time and has hosted that show for a very long time, basically just said, “I quit.” Like, we could not come to a deal that made sense. Um, yeah. So, let’s talk about what we went over with him. All right, so he started out at Jaylen Green, Dylan Brooks, this year’s 10th overall pick from the Suns and uh the 2027 pick that the Suns owe them as well. And then I said the sticking point immediately became Jaylen Green, right? Like that that’s that’s the problem. So I said instead of Jaylen Green, how about Jabari Smith and Cam Whitmore? Because those two guys combined make the same as Jaylen Green. Now we’re talking pre- July 1st Jaylen Green where he’s still on his rookie contract. Um so that’s why that that math works. Uh and I just said, “Hey, remember Miamiy’s offering a secondyear lottery pick. Uh, Kow Wear, you got to we the best player that the Suns get back cannot be Jaylen Green who’s already about to make 30 plus million dollars and might not even be as good as Koware next season. Um, for all we know, I’m not saying that’s true, but you know, I’m negotiating here. Yeah. Then he responded. He said Jaylen Jabari Landale as filler took away this year’s pick and left the 2027 pick. I’m like, hold on. Jabari. Yeah, Jabari’s replacing the pick and no Dylan Brooks. What’s going on here? And I was like, “This one is worse than the first one.” And he said, “What picks is Miami sending?” I said, “Dyl, what did you say?” I said, “Good ones.” Like, none of your business. and he said I I said hey doesn’t the deal work with keeping Dylan Brooks Jabari and Cam who we had asked for and then send one of their other pieces Jock Landale or Jeff Green or there’s one other guy on their books that’s about to expire but if they traded him before July 1st then that could work like dump him somewhere else and I think it works and he said no the aprons get too messy it has to be so specific cuz the Rockets are almost at the first apron and blah blah blah and I said, “Okay, Fred Van Vleet.” He said, “No.” We said, “Is there a third team for Jaylen Green?” And he said he had already tried the Wizards. So, they don’t want Jaylen Green. You suggested the Magic. Yeah. He kind of ignored that and then he just he waited like, you know, close to an hour and he just texted us back, I don’t see it coming together after playing with the numbers, just take the Miami deal. So, what were your takeaways and thoughts from kind of playing that all out and again like pretending like we’re in the negotiating room on this thing? Yeah. Um, I was playing on Fansspo and trying to figure out a deal that works again. And this was the job that I was tasked with two and a half weeks ago. We were coming up with deals that were way worse than the offers that we’re getting, by the way, um, from actual people that cover the teams. And I just came to the same conclusion Jackson did. If he’s going to give up Brooks, like that’s not the heart of a deal. You and I aren’t scratching the itch because we got Dylan Brooks. We want Jabari Smith, too. It’s going to be It’s where I’ve come to the point where like I don’t think the Rockets are going to trade for Kevin Durant. I think it’s going to be someone else. So that it’s just too difficult, man. I understand is I think Green getting to a third team. Yes. Yes. And that could happen. Kind of like the thing with Dame being on the market a couple years ago where Hero was the sticking point and they were spending all summer trying to find a third team for Hero and it just never happened. I It’s It’s It’s way too difficult for the Rockets to do it. Not because they don’t have the assets. It’s like one of those weird scenarios where like they have the assets easily to make the trade happen, but the players that they didn’t think were going to be so valuable to their core, that being Dylan Brooks and Fred Van Fleet, who we kind of knew was going to be a really helpful to their core, but at the time Brooks’s contract looked like they were paying him way too much, four years 80 million. So, at this point, it just it seems like it’s going to be too difficult, man, because he tried to throw Jaylen Green at us and like that’s a non-starter. No one wants Jaylen Green. Yeah. Yeah, I don’t know if no one wants Jaylen Green because we’re talking about a third team potentially being able to take him. The Suns best player plays that position and already makes 50 plus million dollars. Jaylen Green and Devin Booker do not fit together is my bigger issue with taking back Jaylen Green. I don’t love Jaylen Green as a player, but maybe Brian Gregory does. I don’t know. It’s not like he’s talentless or tapped out as a player, but he already he he’s almost his best hope of a being an NBA player would be to be like Devin Booker and the Suns already have Deon Booker. So, it’s just it doesn’t it doesn’t add up. But it’s way too it’s way too much just allocate. I was just going to say it’s way too much allocated to that position where who’s going to handle the ball? Like I don’t want Jaylen Green being the point guard and I certainly don’t want Deon Booker to be the point guard anymore. I want him to have the ball in his hands, but Booker’s better, I think, and I think you would agree with this as well, playing more off ball than he is playing on the ball. Yeah. I I think everybody listening knows why Jaylen Green and Deon Booker don’t fit. I I think the the issue is too that Houston’s money is just in this weird spot where like again I I suggested Van Vleet, but it’s almost like Van Vleet makes too much money. He does because he’s already at 42. So almost anyone else on this whole roster that you add on alongside Van Vleet, you’re already over KD’s KD’s salary basically. Like Jabari Smith and Fred Van Vleet alone, just those two guys is already more than KD makes. And so that then you’re running into some similar problems. The just to run it through for people, the the Rockets are $7 million under the first apron before July 1st and 4.6 under it after July 1st. As far as the tax goes, they are 2.6 under the tax right now and after July 1, they’ll actually be over the tax. So their their margins are just so tiny and Van Vleet makes too much and then Dylan Brooks doesn’t make quite enough to be the main salary piece in a trade like that. Whereas you compare it to Miami, just for the sake of the other teams we’ve looked at in this little exercise, Ben, their books are perfect for a Durant trade because they have Wiggins who makes more than than Brooks does. They have Duncan Robinson as kind of a a middle tier player. They even have other guys who didn’t even come up when we were talking like Kyle Anderson or DaVon Mitchell who are at like seven, eight, nine million. they have this whole stack of of things, whereas the Rockets are just so young that it’s just hard to make the money part of it work. No matter how many different iterations you try, it’s it’s almost impossible. Too many topheavy guys, they have a they have a upper class and a lower class. They don’t have a middle class yet. Whereas Miami does have that right now, especially with Wiggins. Um, you mentioned like the the Fred Van Fleet thing. I was going to counter him because I thought it would work. Jabari Smith and Fred Van Fleet for Kevin Durant, but I want both the first round picks back if I’m just getting one player. Yeah. And then I’m taking back a massive salary. Not sure he would have went for it. But immediately it’s $2.5 million more than the Suns can take back. So it doesn’t work. The Suns can’t take back more than they give. So I just don’t think it’s going to happen with the Rockets, man. As unless the Rockets want to get creative, I don’t think it’s happen. The other part would be um the so like tech just to just to play it out. I think technically it it gets pretty close to working if you included Ryan Dunn and the Suns are I believe would be allowed to send him out because he’s on a a his minimum contract. I believe that that that would be allowed. Um although maybe not because it’s not an NBA minimum. I don’t know if they were able to buy out um Beal, you still keep that possibility open, but then you can’t use this year’s pick because you’re probably not buying Beal out until a little bit later into the summer. Um I I it’s hard to do this stuff. We don’t have all the cap sheets and everything, but I don’t know what changes if you’re able to buy out Martin and and meet me and get under just the second apron first. I don’t know if that really helps anything. it probably doesn’t change too too much, but then obviously buying be out, you’re probably under the first apron as well. So, yeah, this one makes so much obvious sense, but it’s just funny because it’s like, well, even if you’re like, it made me think this, Ben, like even if you’re talking about Devin Booker, who we know that the Rockets are batting their eyes at every chance that they get, the trade is just as hard to do. And they’ve been teasing about, oh, we got we got the Suns picks because we want to do a deal with them. How? How? It It’s like, well, you didn’t set up your books to be able to do a pick a trade with the Suns. So, well, I think they thought they did with Jaylen Green, and that went horribly, really quickly. I guess if the Suns were trading Devin Booker, maybe they would be more open to Jaylen Green. So, maybe that’s the master plan here. Well, but that’s not happening. Yeah, I know. Someone should have someone should have checked that plan a couple more times. I I don’t think it’s going to happen with Houston, man. And not because dumb people in the comment section want to say that this they don’t the Suns aren’t going to get anything back. It’s simple dollars and cents. They don’t have the middle class to make it happen. And honestly, I agree with Houston. I wouldn’t give up Fred Van Fleet, Dylan Brooks, Jabari Smith, and Jaylen Green. Like, that is too much when you don’t have to do that. But yeah, I don’t I I it gets really never say neverense. These people are paid good money to come up with these very complicated trades. I’m sure there is some way where you can make the trade machine say this deal works. I haven’t found one that makes sense, but I also don’t have the time on my hands to do a three, four, five team trade and and get into all that nonsense, especially with all of the Sun’s layers of cap problems that you can’t really do in the trade machines that are available to us whereas the teams can. So, I’m sure that there’s something in there, but it feels like a big long shot that they’re going to find something that h that actually works out. That’ll wrap us up. Hit follow or subscribe if you have not already. Back with more throughout the week, finalists in the head coaching search, more draft breakdowns, guests coming up. Keep it right here. We’ll talk to you tomorrow.

The NBA Draft is less than a month away and it’s time to start diving into prospects who make sense for the Phoenix Suns with the 29th pick.

Brendon Kleen and Ben Garcia break down Yaxel Lendeborg and Maxime Raynaud, two prospects who could fill big needs for the Suns. Then, a peek at our negotiations with Locked On Rockets over a Kevin Durant trade in our Locked On NBA Mock Draft.

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