Suns can't get off 15th spot in draft

Armed with a fistful of first-round draft picks and Kurt Thomas' expiring contract last summer, the Suns worked feverishly to squeeze themselves into the lottery for a chance to draft players like Corey Brewer, Yi Jianlian or Joakim Noah.

No sale. The Suns were forced to stand pat and use their own picks to take Alando Tucker and D.J. Strawberry.

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The similar scenario could be playing out this year. The Suns have the No. 15 pick - the ultimate remnant of the Joe Johnson saga from the summer of 2005 - but attempts to either move up or add a second pick haven't yielded any fruit.

With their stockpile of picks now rationed, the Suns are dangling guard Leandro Barbosa and forward Boris Diaw as bait but not finding any takers from interested teams in front of them - the Los Angeles Clippers at No. 7, Charlotte at No. 9 and Portland at No. 13 - or behind them.

Chances that Diaw would remain a Sun were all but assured Wednesday when numerous sources reported Toronto will trade its No. 17 pick along with guard T.J. Ford and center Rasho Nesterovic to Indiana for six-time All-Star Jermaine O'Neal, a deal that can't be officially made until July 9 because of Ford's status as a base-year compensation player.

The Raptors were the main team with an interest in Diaw, but the Suns weren't interested in taking Ford back in any deal because of the three years and $25 million left on his contract.

The Blazers, who have shown some interest in Barbosa, were thought to be interested in trading out of their spot to get him. But sources said a proposed deal involving Phoenix never included their No. 13 pick and a proposal of Valley native Channing Frye, forward Martell Webster and a second-round pick was shot down by Portland. And after the Blazers acquired the No. 27 pick from New Orleans late Tuesday, Yahoo.com is reporting Portland is now targeting Texas guard D.J. Augustin and is talking seriously with New Jersey about the 10th overall pick. But Charlotte could trump those plans by taking Augustin with their ninth pick.

If Portland gets Augustin or trades out of the spot, the chances of Kansas shooting guard Brandon Rush being on the board for the Suns at No. 15 improves - especially since Indiana may be more inclined to take a big man at No. 13 (Stanford center Robin Lopez) after dealing O'Neal.

But Rush has turned the heads of many teams with great workouts in the last month. One of them was in Golden State as a 12-player mega-workout coordinated by the Suns. And while it afforded them a chance to see some players that had passed on visiting Phoenix, it also gave Rush a chance to wow other teams, which he did.

If Rush is gone before the Suns pick, players like Lopez, Ohio State center Kosta Koufos and Rush's Kansas teammate, guard Mario Chalmers figure to be high on the list of possibilities.

Sources said Phoenix's chances of picking up a second first-round pick behind their spot - between 16 and about 22 or 23 - have also dwindled as teams are leaning toward keeping picks and taking some of the project-type big men that figure to be available.