Phoenix Suns seek impact with No. 13 NBA draft pick

Robin Lopez is the only Suns' first-round pick since Steve Nash in 1996 to still be playing in Phoenix, and that is tenuous with trade talks involving him. Stoudemire, Barbosa and Shawn Marion were long-ago picks who had stellar Suns stints but are thriving elsewhere. Most of the other first-round picks were traded on or before draft night and turned out to be Luol Deng, Nate Robinson, Rajon Rondo, Rudy Fernandez and Serge Ibaka.

The Suns' front office of Lon Babby, Lance Blanks and John Treloar has a chance to make its first draft more impactful Thursday. When their 13th overall pick comes up Thursday, they would like to see Connecticut point guard Kemba Walker's perceived stock drop leave him on the board or have Texas 20-year-old power forward Tristan Thompson still in his green-room seat.

Kansas' Markieff Morris seems to be the Suns' big-man option after Thompson, but there are increasing indications that Phoenix could take Georgia Tech point guard Iman Shumpert, even possibly ahead of the big men on a team with front-line needs.

Treloar, the director of player personnel, visited Shumpert's family in suburban Chicago this weekend, although the Suns also had talked to Morris' family earlier.

A workout June 13 that drew attention for the other five lottery-range candidates, particularly BYU star Jimmer Fredette, was more about further analyzing Shumpert than anyone in the group.
 

The Suns indicated that they have no plans to trade Gortat by paying for him and center Garret Siler to work with Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon in Houston for the next week.

They are squeezing that work in before July 1, when the owners and players are on course for the NBA's first lockout since 1998. It would make Thursday's draft the last chance for teams to improve for perhaps months because there would be no July free agency.