WRG 2012 Mock Draft - #13 Phoenix Suns

This could be the end of an era for us. Steve Nash looks like he could leave in free agency after we selfishly refused to trade him. It's time to rebuild.

Luckily, we DO have another area of strength in our center position with Marcin Gortat and Robin Lopez. Last year's first round pick, Markieff Morris looks promising at forward, and we feel good about that. What we really need is a guard who can create his own shot and score. We've been missing a player like that since Jason Richardson was our SG.

We want...no, we need an explosive back court scorer. There are a couple guards here that get looks, but one in particular stands out. Do we take the guy with perhaps the most potential, but routinely disappeared at times last season? Do we take the guy who came off the bench for a collegiate powerhouse, but clashed with his coach at times? Do we take the guy with a basketball pedigree and a lot of hype, but didn't quite live up to his hype at times during his freshman season. All three of these choices have some sort of drawback, but they also have plenty of upside. We might as well pick one out of a hat, and that would be par for the course for our crappy owner. Luckily he doesn't make this pick and Kid Chocolate does.

With the 13th pick, the Phoenix Suns select Austin Rivers.

He's got balls.

What we liked about Austin Rivers a little more than the others is that he shows passion. Jeremy Lamb disappeared for half of last year at UConn, and Dion Waiters' attitude clashed with Jim Boeheim at times. Austin Rivers has the upbringing of learning from an NBA coach, and we think he has the most potential to also play a little PG eventually. Not to mention, he has the upside to be an elite scorer.

WRG Mock Draft: #14, Phoenix Suns

Excuse us if we are in an ornery mood, but the Suns are in a real jam right now.

We saw the window closing two years ago and we got rid of the pebble in our shoe that was Shawn Marion. Instead of taking back an expiring deal and some future picks, we felt we had one last good try in us and acquired Shaq and about $65M of his salary instead.

It didn't work. We have no regrets.

We then tried to transition into a more traditional style of play with a new coach last year. That alienated our players - and to head off a revolt, we had to back down and bring back our old, turbo-paced, stat-bloating system they loved so much.

So right now we have a lot of expensive players we don't want and can't afford, a group of young players playing a system we really don't want them to get comfortable with, and no idea who will be on our team when the season starts - never mind what our long-term identity will be.

So yeah, we are grumpy.

This situation calls for us to simplify, so here's what we're thinking.

Richardson, Barbosa, Dragic and Lopez are our core right now. We have the assets to add a few nice pieces. We believe that will include at least one All-Star quality player.

So we need a guy that can play up front in a high-tempo system, yet be able to adjust to a slower pace in the future. We like Dragic, but we could also use another point guard to potentially replace the cornerstone of our franchise - who may or may not be here, but either way is winding down his career.

So we go to the board, and we see some nice guards, but everyone we wanted this high is gone.

That's fine with us, because a big man with potential to grow is a more urgent need for us, and there is one remaining that we think - in time - can be a star.

And since we have no idea how everything will turn out, we can afford to be patient.

The Phoenix Suns select James Johnson, a big combo forward who is a great fit for us right now - and is versatile enough to grow with us no matter what we become.

♫ Out came the Suuuns and dried up all the rain... ♪

The Detroit Pistons are on the clock.