The Suns picked 22-year old, 6′10″, 245 pound power forward Markieff Morris with the 13th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. Morris played in 38 games for Kansas last year and he averaged 24.4 minutes, 13.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 blocked shots. He played in 109 games in his three years in college and he averaged 19.3 minutes, 8.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Morris will give the Suns some power along the front line, which is something they are in dire need of.

The Suns only have 1 pick in this Thursday’s NBA Draft and they need to make it count. The Suns have been pretty soft the last few years so I see them looking for a nasty power forward type who likes to rebound and play defense. I think that PF Bismarck Biyombo would be the perfect fit for the Suns. If he’s not there, then maybe they would pick Kenneth Faried out of Morehead State as he is a relentless rebounder despite size restrictions. One thing you can’t argue about with Faried is his heart as he goes all out, all of the time.

The Suns only have two free agents heading into this summer. PG Aaron Brooks is a restricted free agent and SF Grant Hill is a unrestricted free agent. Brooks is an interesting situation, the Suns probably want him to take over for Steve Nash in the near future. Maybe even next season if the Suns deal Nash. But some other team might view Brooks as a starting point guard and offer him a big contract. It will be interesting to see if the Suns match a big deal for Brooks. Grant Hill will probably return to the Suns on a 1-year deal, but it’s not for certain as another team might have an interest in bringing him in as he is still playing well.

29-year old SG/SF Mickael Pietrus has exercised his player option for the 2011-12 season to return to the Suns. Pietrus played in 38 games (4 starts) for the Suns last year and he averaged 18.1 minutes, 7.4 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. He played in 57 games (4 starts) overall for the Magic & Suns last year and he averaged 19.4 minutes, 7.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game on only 39.2% shooting from the floor. Pietrus has now played in 496 games (150 starts) in his first 8 years in the NBA and he is averaging 21.5 minutes, 8.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. He will try to provide offense off the bench for the Suns in 2011-12.

PF/C Alvan Adams spent his entire NBA career with the Phoenix Suns. Adams played in 988 games for the Suns and he averaged 27.5 minutes, 14.1 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Adams is the Suns’ all-time leader in games played (988), rebounds (6,937) and steals (1,289). He is also #3 in assists (4,012), #4 in blocked shots (808) and #2 in points (13,910) in Suns’ history. Adams was never really a dominating player, but he was a solid one for the Suns.

27-year old center Marcin Gortat was very solid for the Suns after coming over last year in a big deal with the Orlando Magic. Gortat played in 55 games (12 starts) for the Suns last year and he averaged 29.7 minutes, 13.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.3 blocked shots per game. He played in 80 games (14 starts) overall last year for the Magic & Suns and he averaged 25.4 minutes, 10.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 1.1 blocked shots. Gortat has now played in 230 games (17 starts) in his first four years in the NBA and he is averaging 17.2 points, 5.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. Finally out of Dwight Howard’s shadow in Orlando, Gortat will have his chance to shine with the Suns.

Shaquille O’Neal only played a year and a half with the Suns, but he was sure fun to watch. Shaq played in 103 games (all starts) for the Suns and he averaged 29.7 minutes, 16.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game. He has decided to retire from the NBA as the announcement came yesterday. O’Neal played in 1,207 games (1,197 starts) in his NBA career and he averaged 34.7 minutes, 23.7 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.3 blocked shots per game. O’Neal might not have been at his best (due to Father Time) with the Suns, but it was nice to see a sure fire Hall of Famer with a Suns’ jersey on for a while.