Phoenix Suns: 5 options for pick No. 32 in 2017 NBA Draft
3. Anzejs Pasecniks, C, Latvia
Is his name impossible to pronounce on the first try? Sure. But as a potential draft-and-stash selection, most casual Suns wouldn’t be learning it for another year or two anyway.
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The Suns already have a pair of seven-footers in Len and Bender, but stashing the 7’2″ Anzejs Pasecniks overseas and letting him develop wouldn’t be the worst idea, especially with Len being a restricted free agent and Bender still needing time to develop.
Despite his massive, lanky frame, Pasecniks is a fluid athlete who earns most of his buckets with Gran Canaria as a slippery rim-runner. However, even though his shot release needs to get a lot faster, it’s fairly effective in the midrange and shows enough promise as a potential stretch-5 down the road.
Pasecniks needs to get a lot stronger and will turn 22 years old this December, making him a bit rawer and scrawnier than you’d hope to see from a player his age. However, that’s the beauty of letting the Latvian develop overseas until his game is more NBA-ready.
His mobility could help him become an effective defender inside, and if McDonough wants insurance at center without bringing another youngster into the fold right away, this is a sensical option as long as he’s still available early in the second round.