Phoenix Suns

The Suns were awarded the fifth pick in the June 27 draft in Tuesday night's NBA draft lottery. The Suns entered the lottery with the fourth-best odds of moving into the top three but will pick at No. 5, their highest draft slot since taking Armen Gilliam at No. 2 in 1987 when David Robinson went first.

New York City. The Big Apple. The concrete jungle. Also, the place I finally got to tell one of the Suns’ greatest nemesis of the last two decades just how much he’s hurt me and the rest of the Phoenix faithful. Let me take a step back though. This entire trip to New York City has become an exercise in luck (and also an exercise physically with all the walking you have to do). Since my arrival yesterday, I’ve wandered the city in hopes of finding signs that tonight could be a special night for the Suns franchise. Within minutes of walking into Times Square, mere feet from the studio the entire draft lottery will take place at, I found a pair of new Charles Barkley shoes. And if they weren’t $235 I’d be wearing them with my suit as we speak. Coincidence? Quite possibly. But these were shoes that I hadn’t found in any Valley area store over the last week while actively looking for them. If that wasn’t sign enough, when I looked up, the window of the ABC studio had lottery ball graphics in it and staring me straight in the face, above the men dressed as Ironman, Spiderman and Teletubbies, was the Suns logo. Okay, so that one is kind of a stretch seeing as every team, including ones not in the lottery, were represented in the graphic. But, I’ll take what I can get and it is not bad for my first hour in the city. This morning, I decided it was time to have a little fun. So I packed up a stuffed Suns Gorilla doll in my jacket and went to the top of the Empire State Building. Outside of getting some very strange looks while posing the stuffed animal as if it were King Kong, the trip was a success. It was fun to get the pictures, but it was also fun to feel like the Suns, or at least a member of their staff, was on top of the world. With any luck, it’ll be the first of two times I get to have that feeling today. While walking back to the hotel to get ready for the night’s big event, I noticed a crowd around a national book chain that will go unmentioned unless they would like to sponsor this column. (Then I’ll mention them as many times as they like.) It was an eclectic mix of older people with Knicks gear, middle age men in Michael Jordan red and black jerseys and young kids in sideways Lakers hats and Kobe Bryant purple and gold jerseys. Like any halfway tortured Suns fan would do, I of course walked right over to find out why this gathering of people wearing names, colors and numbers that from, time to time, have haunted the collective dreams of Valley fans were hanging out in the same city as me. It turns out that legendary coach and part time Suns killer, Phil Jackson was signing his new book. I took it as a sign. A chance to exorcise a two-decade old grudge I had held inside that I had never let out, so I got in line. It’s not that I have anything against Phil. As a matter of fact, his outside the box leadership tactics have intrigued me for years the way you enjoy pop music that you’re not supposed to like. It’s just that his guidance has led to two of the more crushing playoff series defeats in the franchise’s history, the 1993 NBA Finals and the 2009 Western Conference Finals. Like the path we’ve all walked as Suns fans, the journey was long — luckily not 45 years long but long enough. As I got up to the table I handed Phil the book he had recently written with a picture of the 11 championship rings — including the one from 1993 — adhered to the front. He took a look up and saw my polo with the Suns logo and cracked a smile. Almost as if he was acknowledging his success against the franchise and what I was there to say. As he looked up I smiled and said, “as a Suns fan you killed me in 1993, but thanks for signing the book anyways.” Sure, it wasn’t a moment he’ll likely ever remember and it was far from the kind of speech we grew up seeing characters in John Hughes films give when they were in search of redemption or vindication, but somewhere deep inside, the 10-year-old version of me smiled and finally

When the Suns spent last year’s lottery pick on Kendall Marshall, many thought he would — at worst — be the backup point guard to Steve Nash or, later on, Goran Dragic. Instead Marshall... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

The question of who will be picking first in the June 27 NBA draft will be answered on Tuesday in a ceremony that will air at 5:25 p.m. on ESPN. The more pressing question is who needs it the most. NBA combine: Breakdown, analysis of participants | Star power?: Underclassmen in June's draft

Tonight, the Phoenix Suns try to get lucky and move up in the draft for the first time since 1987. There are two ways to move up - via the lottery system, or via trade. The Suns have benefited from the lottery system only once (1987, Armen Gilliam) and have rarely drafted higher than their record-based slot. The Suns did acquire Atlanta's future #1 pick in 2005, which finally conveyed to Phoenix in 2008 as 15th overall (Robin Lopez). But they have never made a draft-day trade to move up to get a player they liked. The Suns also acquired the Lakers' 1995 #1 pick in 1994 for Ced Ceballos, which became Michael Finley. Other than those three times, the Suns stayed right where they were to take the best player. Lottery Odds The Suns have the 4th-highest chance to move up to the top-3 pick tonight - nearly 33% overall. Their chance to get #1 overall: 11.9% Chance for #2: 12.2% Chance for #3: 13.3% Lon Babby will represent the Suns tonight in the lotto room. "My grandson (Josh) is playing on a T-Ball team at age 4 so he's got a little baseball card. I got him to sign it for me so he wrote his name on it. I'll have it in my pocket," Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby said to Arizonasports.com. "I don't know if he's good luck, but I always like having his picture with me, anyway. That will be my good luck charm." So, no personal superstitions? "I didn't say that. Everybody is superstitious," he said. "I used to have a lucky pair of pants that I wore for every exam in college. The trouble is they don't fit anymore. "The other thing is," Babby continued, "I'm going to stay as close as I can to (Orlando Magic senior vice president) Pat Williams because he's won it four times (with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1986 and the Magic in 1992, 1994 and 2004). I'm going to see if I can touch him a couple of times just to get some good luck." Trade, trade away On the opposite end of the move-up spectrum, the Suns have traded away at least one first round pick a whopping ELEVEN times (1990, 1991, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012) in the last 26 years, since Gilliam was drafted in 1987. The 2008 and 2012 picks were "second" picks, later in the first round. But still. Gulp. Since the draft lottery came to fruition in time for the 1985 draft, the Suns have been bad enough to get ping pong balls ten times, including this year (1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1999, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013). Never the bride While the Suns have never drafted #1 overall in their existence, twice the Suns have drafted as high as #2 overall. The first time, they lost out on Lew Alcindor on a coin flip (settling for Neal Walk at #2 overall). The second time, the Suns moved up to second overall in the 1987 lottery. The Suns lost out on David Robinson, instead taking Armen Gilliam #2 overall in 1987. Highest pick since 1988 guaranteed No matter what happens tonight, the Suns will draft no worse than 7th overall. This guarantees the Suns their highest selection since Tim Perry in 1988 - 25 years ago. Other top-7 picks - besides Walk and Gilliam - include Corky Calhoun (4th, 1972), John Shumate (4th, 1974), Alvan Adams (4th, 1975), Walter Davis (5th, 1978), William Bedford (6th, 1986), Tim Perry (7th, 1988). Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire were both drafted 9th overall, while Ed Pinckney was drafted 10th in 1985. Logistics The lottery drama begins at 5:30pm AZ Time on ESPN, with picks revealed in inverse order. Start paying attention immediately. The Suns begin in 4th position overall. If a later team jumps ahead of the Suns, then the Suns will drop to as low as 7th unless they too win a higher spot.

Time: Tuesday, May 21, 5:30 p.m. PST TV: ESPN Finally, the Phoenix Suns have found themselves not only in the lottery, but in a good position to win it. The NBA Draft Lottery kicks off at 5:30 p.m.... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Players from the 1992-93 season provide a personal update on what they are doing today: -- Charles Barkley: I want to be a GM. I'm going to get that. I'm not going to campaign for it. I've got three years left on my TV deal. I'll do three more years, and then I'm done. If everything goes perfect, I'll get a GM job before then, but I'm not in a rush. They (Turner broadcasting) have done some things for me. I like going out on the road and doing the games. That gave me a lot of energy this year. I really enjoyed doing that.

The Suns were not very good with basketballs this year so now they get to take their crack at ping-pong balls. The projected prizes in this draft, albeit no sure things, come in the top three spots. That makes having the fourth-best draft lottery odds a bad fit for the drawing (5:25 tonight on ESPN).

The easy part of life is understanding it backward. Richard Dumas complicated it by living life backward. Two decades ago, Dumas found the kind of wealth and results on his job that others can only chase for most of their careers. He was a rising NBA star with a shot so soft and springs to loft. The prototypical small forward averaged 16 points as a Suns rookie and resuscitated championship hopes in Game 5 of the 1993 NBA Finals with a dazzling 25-point game against Scottie Pippen to postpone Chicago's coronation.

While many of us have been reminiscing about the 1992-93 Suns NBA Finals season lately, another story has quietly unfolded almost 2,000 miles away in Toronto. Reportedly, Tim Leiweke, the incoming CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which includes among its holdings the Toronto Raptors of the NBA, will replace the team's President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo, possibly with Colangelo's former assistant Masai Ujuri of the Denver Nuggets.