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Bill Oram: 24 guys attending Jazz mini-camp. Brace yourselves: Dee Bost, Will Buford, Xavier Gibson, Drew Gordon, JaMychal Green, Rodney Green, Jorge Gutierrez, Marquez Haynes, Lazar Hayward, Cedric Jackson, Edwin Jackson, Rick Jackson, D.J. Kennedy, Travis Leslie, Rasid Mahalbasic, Toure Murry, Harouna Mutombo, Arinze Onuaku, Josh Owens, Chris Roberts, Henry Sims, Jermaine Taylor, Chris Wright and Luke Zeller.
Suns scouts have held a high interest in Len since before the past college season. “I think I have the biggest upside in this draft from the big guys,” Len said. “Maybe 10 years from now, I’ll be the best player in this draft.” The combine benefited Zeller, younger brother of ex-Suns player Luke Zeller. He did not show much improvement in his sophomore season or the shooting range that he needs to be an NBA face-up power forward. But Zeller measured 7 feet in shoes, although his wingspan is an inch shorter, and he had the best standing vertical leap (35 1/2 inches) and fastest lane agility drill time of all combine participants. His three-quarter court sprint was sixth fastest. “I have the ability to shoot,” Zeller said. “I didn’t show it as much this year. We needed more of a low-post player. We had so many outside shooters. I think I’ll be able to show more of that ability in individual workouts.”
Mark Deeks: Phoenix for some reason gave Luke Zeller $50,000 guaranteed to come to camp. If he "makes the roster," that's because he's free for 2 weeks.
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Paul Coro: The #Suns waived Ike Diogu & Solomon Jones. Luke Zeller & Diante Garrett likely will make the roster. Story to come on azcentral.com.
The most pressing decision comes in choosing a big man among local favorite Ike Diogu, another NBA veteran in Solomon Jones or rookie sharpshooter Luke Zeller. More than choosing which player performs best, the Suns likely will end up choosing which player's style suits them best.
Once relatively settled with 13 guaranteed contracts, the Suns likely will stage a battle for another roster spot in light of the expectation that Channing Frye's enlarged heart will sideline him for the season. The Suns have invited NBA veteran power forward/center Solomon Jones, power forward/center Luke Zeller, swingman Othyus Jeffers and point guard Diante Garrett to training camp, which opens Tuesday with the first of four consecutive two-a-day sessions at UC-San Diego. The camp, which is closed to the public, will conclude Saturday with an intrasquad scrimmage before the Suns return to Phoenix to prepare for their Oct. 10 preseason opener at Sacramento.
It seems as though the front runner to represent both Rivers and Zeller is Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports Management. Schwartz likely has a good relationship with Doc Rivers based on Schwartz's representation of Paul Pierce (a member of Doc's Celtics team), but more importantly, Austin Rivers' brother, Jeramiah Rivers is an Excel Sports Management client. Not only is Austin Rivers' brother an Excel client, but so is Tyler Zeller's elder brother, Luke. Both brothers have played overseas, and Excel's commission on the contracts is likely nothing to scoff at. However, it would be naive to think that Schwartz was not at least thinking about the prospect of signing Austin Rivers and Tyler Zeller when his company signed their older brothers. Jeremiah Rivers is currently playing for KK Mega Vizura in Serbia. Luke Zeller is currently playing for the Shiga Lakestars in Japan.
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The Spurs waived forward Gani Lawal on Thursday, dropping their roster to the maximum 15 well in advance of the Christmas Eve deadline for roster cuts. It doesn’t necessarily mean the Spurs are finished trimming, however. Lawal, a 6-foot-9 former Phoenix Suns draft pick attempting a comeback from a knee injury, played 20 minutes in Wednesday’s preseason finale against Houston and was active, but also shot just 1-of-6 from the field. Lawal’s departure after a 10-day audition leaves undrafted rookies Frank Hassell and Luke Zeller vying for the fifth big man role.
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