Oh, you want a point guard? Yes, I'm talking to you, the guy who's been pissed about this ever since Cam Payne got cut from his salary by the San Antonio Spurs 11 months ago.
Your response is probably echoing Hannibal Buress': if you're right, why are we booing you? Because in many ways, that's what you've always done.
Well, the No. 1 thing a point guard can bring to the Suns' roster is to activate ball movement. We saw that last year. The prophecy came true when opposing defenses were forced to rotate and the Suns kept at it. The offense just wasn't as good as it should have been because they completely lacked the flow and rhythm to do it consistently.
A floor general to command that would also help. So if you look at just those two areas in the 2024 NBA Draft, there's an argument to be made that Spain's Juan Nunez is the guy. He's definitely outside the first round on almost every board and is typically seen in the 40s. But the 20-year-old is second to none when you focus solely on playmaking.
He's probably the best pure passer in the draft. Look at the different ways he can kick the ball to the weak-side corner.
Juan Nunez has established himself as one of the most exciting passers in Europe, a skilled 6'4″ pick-and-roll operator who uses both ends of the court, has a lively dribble and pass, reads the game and breaks down defenses with surgical precision. pic.twitter.com/BSVBCKGRXs
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) January 30, 2024
His 6-foot-5 frame allows him to find the right angles, and his rhythm in knowing when to explode out of the pick-and-roll is really good given his experience level.
More footage of Juan Nunez, who may be the best pick-and-roll player in this year's draft class. His ability to read ball screens on both ends of the court with pocket passes, skips and lobs is intriguing in a PNR-heavy NBA. https://t.co/FF6M1PugSr pic.twitter.com/WXDw36Qmcv
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) January 30, 2024
Nunez has played in three different tournaments for Germany's Ratiopharm Ulm this season, averaging 9.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.7 steals while shooting 47% from the field and making poorer 3-point shots (31.9%) and free throws (60.7%).
Despite being aggressive when attacking defenses as a playmaker, he just can't seem to find that mindset as a scorer. Overpassing is an issue.
One of my concerns about Juan Nunez in the NBA is whether he can overpass. In fact, he still struggles to balance passing and scoring. He's improving (especially his willingness to pull up from deep), but I'm not sure how badly teams want a traditional point guard. pic.twitter.com/a5bTDD4TaJ
— Wilco (@wilkomcv) June 10, 2024
And that's where our fun stops. Athletic Sam Veceny begins his paragraph on Nunez’s weaknesses with four points:
“Nunez is not an explosive athlete.”
“How will Nunes score in the NBA?”
“Nunez has very little of a mid-range game to use as a counter.”
“I'm concerned about his on-ball defense.”
That way, you can be sure of getting a lead guard in the second round who is young, athletic, and can handle the job of a lead guard extremely well given his age.
Nunez is worth taking up because of what he does well and what the Suns need — if he had more opportunities to succeed defensively or was more effective offensively, he'd be a top point guard candidate at No. 22 — but at the end of the day, there are too many red flags preventing Nunez from earning his full respectability.
