It’s common for professional sports executives to promise that the players they just drafted were the ones they wanted the most. They swear!
Assuming the Phoenix Suns’ edited behind-the-scenes video of the 2024 NBA Draft is truly chronological, they provide evidence that they got the two players they were after, rookies Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro.
NBA Draft 2024: Insights into the War Room
🎥 Take a look behind the scenes of the Suns draft pic.twitter.com/Hihgu1CXbB
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) 26 August 2024
The video takes place in the Phoenix war room, where the Suns are trading the 22nd pick for the 28th pick and other second-round picks. They want Dunn, a wing from Virginia who can improve the roster’s athleticism and defensive capabilities.
And they get greedy, trading down in hopes of getting him after all. They moved down six spots and accepted the Denver Nuggets’ first-round pick, the 56th overall pick, plus 2026 and 2031 second-round picks in exchange.
Phoenix selected Dunn late in the first round. Their war room was led by owner Mat Ishbia, CEO Josh Barstelstein and vice president of basketball operations and general manager James Jones.
“We can take Dunn and wait and see what happens tomorrow. Maybe Oso will still be there at 36, 37, we can get him and our second man,” Ishbia says off camera. “Those are our two favorites, Dunn and Oso.”
The Suns attacked it just like that.
“We were basically on the phone with every team every two to three minutes as the picks came in,” Jones said after the draft.
In a standalone deal prior to signing Ighodaro, the Suns secured the 51st pick for a second-round pick in 2028 and then bundled him with the 56th pick to send him to the New York Knicks, who helped Phoenix move up to No. 40.
There they brought Ighodaro from Marquette.
“We didn’t think he would live to be 56,” Bartelstein said.
