Suns Draft Profile 2014: Josh Huestis

With all of these draft picks, does Josh Huestis fit the Suns draft class of 2014?

I think it would be a very interesting pick if the Suns went with Huestis which I would anticipate be in the second round. Huestis knows what kind of player he is at the next level. He would tell you he is a garbage points around the basket, shot blocking defensive specialist for whichever team brings him in. He is Stanford’s all-time leader in blocked shots with 190 over his four-year career. He is someone who spent most of his life playing in the post but as he keep reaching new levels of play, he is finding that the small forward position is where he will have to play to be successful. His length defensively could be great to have if you want to stop the likes of Lebron James or Kevin Durant but his development offensively at that position will ultimately dictate the success of his career. At best, he can be very similar to a Shawn Marion type of performer.

The Suns already have a player like this on their roster in Marcus Morris who is a power forward turned small forward at the next level. Morris has developed an outside jump shot and has increasingly improved his ball handling around the perimeter. Huestis will need to do the same. Just in talking with him, he will definitely bring a great deal of character to your basketball team as well.

Career Highlights: Huestis is a two-time all Pac-12 Defensive team selection and was All-Defensive Honorable Mention after his sophomore season. In his junior and senior seasons he averaged between 10.5 and 11 points and between eight and nine rebounds per game while shooting around 50% from the floor. He definitely put his defensive expertise on display as he held projected top-3 pick Andrew Wiggins to four points on 1-6 shooting in the Cardinal’s upset win over Kansas in round two of the 2014 NCAA Tournament.

Strengths: Length, defense, rebounding, shot blocking, scoring around the basket and leaping ability.