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I think the Suns didn’t get the memo as they drafted Blake Griffin’s brother who wasn’t that good in college. Griffin played in 129 games in four years at Oklahoma and he averaged 6.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. It’s hard to imagine Griffin developing into anything more than a backup if he even makes the Suns’ roster in 2009-2010.
The Phoenix Suns selected power forward Earl Clark with the 14th pick of the NBA Draft last night. Clark played in 104 games in 3 seasons at Louisville and he averaged 10.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game. The Suns thought they had a deal in place to move Amare Stoudemire to the Warriors but it appears that the deal fell through. It Stoudemire stays and returns to playing center, Clark would have a chance to start as a rookie. Regardless of what happens with the proposed trade the Suns will likely find some minutes for Clark in the 2009-2010 season.
The Suns have traded 37-year old center Shaquille O’Neal to the Cavaliers for 25-year old shooting guard Sasha Pavlovic, 34-year old PF/C Ben Wallace, a pick in the 2010 NBA Draft (2nd round, top 40 protected) and $500,000 bucks. O’Neal played in 75 games (all starts) for the Suns last season and he averaged 30.0 minutes, 17.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game. This move was essentially a salary dump for the Suns and little more.
Sasha Pavlovic has a nice open court game so he could help the Suns this season. He played in 66 games (12 starts) for the Cavs last season and he averaged 16.0 minutes, 4.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Pavlovic has now played in 381 games (127 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 17.3 minutes, 5.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. Ben Wallace might retire before he even puts on a Suns’ uniform. He played in 56 games (53 starts) for the Cavs last season and he averaged 23.5 minutes, 2.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.3 blocked shots per game. Wallace has now played in 903 games (785 starts) in his NBA career in which he has averaged 30.9 minutes, 6.2 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.1 blocked shots per game. Wallace is running out of gas but he’s still a good rebounder and defender when healthy.