There is no blaming any prospect for looking a little dazed in the weeks leading up to the NBA Draft. They travel to a different city nearly every day, catch what sleep they can, then perform against other draft-hungry hopefuls in a small, workout setting in front of coaches and front office personnel.
On Friday, Wade Baldwin IV had even more reason to be frazzled after a stray elbow caught the former Vanderbilt guard in the head during two-on-two scrimmages. To his credit, Baldwin played through the initial pain and the considerable headache that followed.
For fellow prospect Dorain Finney-Smith, a forward out of Florida, Friday marked his third workout in four days. Upon hearing that, Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough could only reply with honesty and a laugh.
"Welcome to the NBA," he told the 23-year-old.
For all six of the young athletes at Talking Stick Resort Arena on Friday, this was just one day among many spent trying to impress teams that could spend a draft pick on their talent. The grind is real, a preview of sorts for college athletes preparing to go from 30 games a season to 82.
“Just fighting through the pain, fighting through burning legs and lungs...it can be a grueling process, and we certainly appreciate the guys for coming out and competing.”
— Ryan McDonough
Some of it can seem repetitive. Teams like to use their own medical staffs for measurements, drills and other physical assessments. Many of them have been done, at least in part, at the Draft Combine in Chicago. The Suns try to keep things as fresh as possible, one of the reasons they have a reputation for having one of the more physically demanding workouts in the league. St. Joseph's product Malcolm Brogdon admitted that Friday's workout was "probably the toughest I've had so far."
This is not lost on the Suns, who do not expect these draft hopefuls to be fresh during their respective workout circuits.
"I can only imagine flying around like they are for the first time and going into new cities where each workout is pretty intense and it can wear on their body a little bit more," said assistant general manager Pat Connelly. "It’s a new situation for them. It’s always taken into account."
The constant physical demand, however, does provide an unofficial test teams use for evaluation. Pushing through the fatigue is as good as, or even better than, going 20-for-25 on stand-still jumpers at the very start of the workout. Phoenix creates the opportunity to show resolve by saving the toughest part of the workout for last: a three-minute segment of end-to-end sprints. Each player has a Suns coach or training staff member not only keeping track of their sprint count, but also vocally encouraging them every step of the way.
Players who show maximum effort in that drill, despite having already gone through a full workout, are silently given extra points both as athletes and as people. If they are willing to go all in when coasting through would be far easier, that says something to the Suns about their character.
"We have them going at a pretty rapid pace, and the guys who aren't in shape fatigue easily," McDonough said. "Just fighting through the pain, fighting through burning legs and lungs...it can be a grueling process, and we certainly appreciate the guys for coming out and competing."