National Basketball Association

Suns don't hit lottery, will draft 13th

Published May. 19, 2015 10:04 p.m. ET

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Of local interest during Tuesday's interruption of the 2015 NBA playoffs was the Suns' assistance in keeping a league-wide streak alive.

As the 13th seed in the NBA Draft Lottery in New York City, Phoenix finished with the 13th pick. This extended the run of teams entering at 13 and remaining there to 16 years.

A 13th seed hasn't moved up from that position since the Charlotte Hornets jumped to pick No. 3 in 1999.

The Suns began festivities with a 96.02 percent chance of staying where they were. Their only potential for movement was down to 14 (1.8 percent) or into the top three, where a 2.2 percent shot at reaching the top three included 0.60 percent odds for the first overall selection, 0.71 for the second and 0.87 for the third.

Center Alex Len -- the Suns' selection after falling from the fourth seed to the fifth pick in 2013 -- was the franchise's designated good-luck charm. He was joined by honorary front-office appointee Jared Ornoski, a junior at Phoenix Christian Prep who's battling Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Also of note, that Los Angeles Lakers pick -- the one acquired in the Steve Nash trade and protected through the top five before the Suns sent it to the Philadelphia 76ers in the three-team deal that brought Brandon Knight to Phoenix -- jumped from the fourth seed to the second pick.

This means the Suns didn't sacrifice the chance at drafting a top prospect in the Knight deal. It likely also means the Lakers will add Kentucky freshman Karl-Anthony Towns or Duke freshman Jahlil Okafor on draft night.

It also should be noted the 10th-seeded Miami Heat will stay at pick No. 10, postponing the conveyance of a pick still owed to the Philadelphia 76ers. With the Heat now giving their 2016 pick to Philly -- and league rules prohibiting a team from surrendering a first-round pick in successive years -- the first of two first-round picks Miami owes Phoenix in the Goran Dragic deal won't become Suns property until 2018, at the earliest.

When the draft arrives June 25 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the Minnesota Timberwolves will draft first and the Suns could have an interesting list of players to choose from.

At least until pre-draft workouts and carefully-crafted forms of subterfuge shake up the expected order, the Suns' potential selections could include college Player of the Year Frank Kaminsky (7-foot, Wisconsin), Arkansas power forward Bobby Portis, Kentucky shooting guard Devin Booker and Kansas swing man Kelly Oubre.

Other prospects that could be available at 13 include Wisconsin small forward Sam Dekker, Louisville power forward Montrezl Harrell, UCLA forward Kevon Looney and Murray State point guard Cameron Payne.

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