Suns draft Andrew Harrison 44th, trade him to Grizzlies for Jon Leuer
Unsurprisngly, the Phoenix Suns drafted a brother, a guard and a former Kentucky Wildcat when they selected Andrew Harrison 44th overall in Thursday's NBA draft.
All three of those descriptors made for easy zingers considering the team's affinity for them. But this time, it was nothing more than a brief asterisk.
Phoenix sent Harrison to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for 26-year-old backup forward Jon Leuer. This, after the team had reported interest in trading up to acquire another Wisconsin stretch forward product in Frank Kaminsky, who went ninth overall to the Charlotte Hornets.
Suns general manager Ryan McDonough did not discuss the trade when he met with the media, as the deal was not office at that time.
Phoenix has swung and missed at finding a capable stretch power forward since Channing Frye left in free agency last summer. The Suns drafted Wisconsin-Green Bay's Alec Brown last year, but he injured his shoulder and had tepid results in a return with the D-League Bakersfield Jam. They also signed Anthony Tolliver last summer only to trade him to the Detroit Pistons after he struggled to acclimate to the offense.
Leuer broke out two years ago with the Grizzlies, playing 13 minutes per game and hitting 47 percent of his three-point looks. The efficiency dropped off in 2014-15, when Leuer played 63 games (started six) and hit just 24 percent of his 3s. He averaged 4.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.