#18 - Phoenix Suns

Found on court-side.com, no credit listed.

What I’d Do:

Clint Capela – Switzerland

6’11” (7’4.5” wingspan), 222 lbs., 05/18/1994 (20 years old)

With the second of their three first round picks in this draft, the Phoenix Suns can afford to take a chance. I tried to address their roster situation and options going into the 2014 offseason with my post on #14, and will try to touch on the relevant points to their pick at #18.


The Suns already have eight players on guaranteed contracts next season, with Eric Bledsoe and P.J. Tucker entering restricted free agency. Drafting James Young and matching offers on both puts the team at 11 guaranteed spots, with non-guaranteed deals for Dionte Christmas, Shavlik Randolph, and Ishmael Smith at a little over $2 million combined. The roster crunch could limit their activity in free agency, where they have copious cap space to use on Bledsoe, Tucker, and/or a center to back-up Miles Plumlee. It could also limit their options with these last two first round picks.

In my earlier piece I identified Phoenix’s needs at wing, big man, and possibly point guard. James Young addresses the wing-need and supplies spot-up shooting with a lot of upside (third-youngest player in the draft). T.J. Warren and Shabazz Napier could both step in and help Phoenix next season in different ways and were real considerations at the #14 pick. If it wasn’t for the roster limit I think Phoenix would take one of them here at #18, and would have a tough decision between the two.

Napier might get the edge due to his ability to handle the ball and potentially replace Bledsoe if he gets maxed out, but T.J. Warren can score at will and could contribute more immediately than Young. I’m not sure where Warren fits in among the other forwards on the roster; though he offers paint scoring, he struggles shooting the 3 (a staple in the Hornacek offense). I mentioned previously that Phoenix doesn’t have many holes, for a team that was rebuilding as recently as an offseason ago, and can take more of a risk in drafting for upside with this pick.

Clint Capela offers plenty of upside at a long-term position of need for the Phoenix Suns, and his draft-and-stash ability could help their roster issues too. This Suns roster has some interesting pieces but lacks an athletic shot-blocker that can protect the rim and finish on the fast break. Plumlee has shown some of those tendencies but Capela has all of the physical skills, with a 7’4.5” wingspan and explosive leaping ability.

Even looking at his stats shows how raw Capela is as a prospect. According to DraftExpress, 31.2% of Capela’s offense came from cuts to the basket and 16.3% came from put-backs, with 84.9% of his total shot attempts coming in the paint (!). His reports from 2012 state that he “thinks he’s a small forward” and forces bad jumpers but he attempted just 0.3 jump shots per game (!!) this season in the LNB Pro A League (French professional league). He’s reportedly shown good touch around the basket and could be a factor as a roll-man eventually in the pick-and-roll.

The Phoenix Suns have been linked to Capela early in the Mock Draft process and Chad Ford has them going with Capela at #27 in his latest effort. He’s been a mid-to-late first rounder for a while now and was one of the top international names in the draft, along with Dario Saric, Jusuf Nurkic, and Kristaps Porzingis. Porzingis was a hot name that was supposedly rising on draft boards but he withdrew his name from the draft at the deadline, which could boost the draft stocks of his fellow foreigners.

Chris has Nurkic going to Boston at #17 as the second international player drafted (behind my Dario Saric pick at #10). All three of the prospects are draft-and-stash guys, which appeal to the teams with multiple first round picks that are capped-out and/or up against the roster limit. It’s no coincidence that the previous two teams that we have taking stash guys, Philadelphia and Boston, took them with their second picks. Phoenix is in a similar situation, except with a third pick at #27, and has the Chicago Bulls, making their second first round pick, drafting next at #19. I broke down the Bulls’s cap situation at #16 and they could absolutely trade the pick for a future asset or, more likely, draft-and-stash someone to conserve the cap space.

The next highest-ranked international prospect is Walter Tavares, who could go towards the end of the first round. Taking Capela at #18 guarantees Phoenix one of the top international and shot-blocking prospects in the draft and steals a potential pick from the Bulls at #19. The Suns can let Capela keep developing the rest of his game in the French league for another season or two, until he’s ready to make the leap to the NBA. By then the Suns should have more roster flexibility and can bring him over to battle for front-court minutes. Hopefully Capela will have added to his raw offensive game by then and can bring energy to both ends of the court.

What I Think They’ll Do:

There’s a great chance the Phoenix Suns trade this pick for a future first and use #27 on a draft-and-stash prospect (or vice versa), if only because of their limited number of roster spots. Phoenix was too solid overall last season to be able to hold and give playing time to three rookies, no matter how good this draft class may be..

There are still solid contributors available at #18 and there could be at #27 too. If Phoenix can make a 2-for-1 trade or don’t plan to re-sign Eric Bledsoe or P.J. Tucker in free agency, they could easily take Shabazz Napier or T.J. Warren here to add to their 2014-15 rotation. Rodney Hood is also one of the best players left on the board but might be too similar to James Young as a catch-and-shoot wing.

Otherwise I think they stash Clint Capela here and hope he develops in the French League and can come over next season or the year after. Phoenix simply doesn’t need the help next year from another rookie at #18 and still has plenty of cap room and trade options to improve the roster. If there’s a chance Capela develops even slightly into the Serge Ibaka-comparison then Phoenix could add a potential weapon down the road.

Crazy Draft Day Trade:

It’s getting tougher and tougher as we advance through the draft to find plausible trades in the late teens and twenties. So much depends at this point on which players slip and which teams are able to trade back into the later-first round. At this point, a team could trade up or buy into the first round for Shabazz, Warren, Hood or even Capela, who I doubt would last past Chicago at #19.

Phoenix would easily trade this pick for a quality player or future first round pick. If not they stash Clint Capela and try to trade #27 for future considerations.

UPDATE:  Channing Frye actually opted-out of the last year of his contract with the Suns for $6.8 million, giving Phoenix some more cap space and another roster spot. The Suns and Frye seem to have a good relationship, going back to the season he missed with his heart ailment, and I think they work on a longer deal that takes Frye through his mid-30’s and, probably, the end of his career. He played his college ball with the Arizona Wildcats and played for the Knicks and Trail Blazers before spending the last five years back in the desert. He’ll draw interest as a stretch-big who is a career 38.5% 3-point shooter and was a solid starter with Phoenix. They have the cap space to match any offer he presents to them, but it’s on him to decide where he wants to finish his career.

Potentially losing Frye could affect Phoenix’s drafting here at #18, as maybe they’d prefer to draft more shooting or another big man to cover themselves in case Frye doesn’t return. The bigs in this range don’t really help in that regard, as it’s too early for Mitch McGary and Kyle Anderson can’t really shoot, but maybe they fill the position with Jarnell Stokes and find shooting elsewhere. The names I listed above (Napier, Warren, Hood, maybe Tyler Ennis) would also be in the discussion here but I’m sticking with Capela and the patient-approach.