Suns notebook: USC’s Pruitt, Finnish guard to get 2nd looks

The Suns probably will invite Gabe Pruitt and Finland’s Petteri Koponen, among others, for second looks in preparation for next week’s NBA draft.

“Gabe Pruitt is someone who worked out well his first day,” Suns vice president David Griffin said of the USC point guard. Of Koponen, another point guard prospect, Griffin said, “He was really, really good here.”

The Suns may put together one more group of first-time prospects, but mostly they’re starting to zero in on players for second tryouts, he said.

“We like the guys we’ve had in quite a bit,” Griffin said. “And this is a really deep draft.”

The club has yet to decide whether they will try to package their Nos. 24 and 29 picks to move up in the draft.

NO JAMISON, NO KOBE

The Suns seemed to laugh off any idea they would make a Shawn Marion-for-Antawn Jamison deal or have any chance to make a deal for Kobe Bryant.

Asked about a report of the Suns trading Marion for Jamison, the Washington Wizards’ high-scoring small forward, Griffin said: “We never had a conversation with them, ever, about anything like that. Completely asinine.”

Asked about the chances of a deal for Bryant, Griffin said, “Zero.”

AMARÉ’S MISSION

Amaré Stoudemire, vowing to carry the Suns on his “broad shoulders”, worked out on his own again Tuesday.

“I’m on a mission,” he said. “Nothing is going to stop me.”

Stoudemire declined to specify that mission, saying only, “I’m working hard to reach all my goals.”

But he revealed the source of his inspiration.

“The last words my father told me was read Psalms 23 . . . (where) the sky is the limit.

“Those words are motivation for me. I’m not going to stop until I reach the sky.”

Stoudemire believes that for the Suns to win the title, “All it takes is for me to get better. This team is built around me. . . . It’s up to me to get better and take us over the hump . . . whether we get help or not. I’ve got broad shoulders.”

FOUR MORE PROSPECTS

The Suns worked out four players on Tuesday. They were:

• Mustafa Shakur, the longtime point guard at Arizona who averaged 11.9 points and a Pac-10 high 6.9 assists last season. Shakur thought his workout went well, particularly his shooting.

“That’s one thing I want to show, that I have the ability to make shots,” he said.

Though the Wildcats had a somewhat deliberate attack, “I don’t think it would be a big transition” to the NBA, he said.

• Chris Richard, a key reserve big man on Florida’s NCAA title team.

Richard was a former AAU teammate of Stoudemire in Florida. He was named Florida’s top high school player the year after Stoudemire won the award.

• Lee Humphrey, a 6-foot-2 shooting guard from Florida who hit 46 percent of his 3-pointers last season.

• Kyrylo Fesenko, a 20-year-old center from the Ukraine who is listed anywhere from 6-11 to 7-1 and is considered more of a half-court player.