Kings take Greek center Papagiannis after trading down

They’re both tremendous young players.

Because the trade was not finalized at the time of the No. 8 pick, the Kings selected Marquese Chriss for the Suns.

This included a couple of players National Basketball Association fans have heard of, like No. 1 pick Ben Simmons, who was born in Australia, and college standout Buddy Hield, who’s from the Bahamas and was taken No. 6 overall.

“It was really close between those two guys with the fourth pick”, general manager Ryan McDonough said.

The 7-foot-1 Bender, the youngest player in the draft, doesn’t turn 19 until November 17.

Phoenix sent its No. 13 and No. 28 picks as well as the rights to guard Bogdan Bogdanovic to Sacramento for Chriss, a 6-foot-9 forward who averaged 13.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks last season. “I like the coaching staff. Im willing to go down there and learn.”He said Phoenix coach Earl Watson has told him hes “willing to let me play through my mistakes.” Considered one of the more raw lottery prospects in this years draft, Chriss needed a team that would be patient with his development.“Me and him talked about it, ” Chriss said.

Ulis, meanwhile, becomes the eighth Suns player in their 20s, a group led by Eric Bledsoe, 26, Brandon Knight, 24, T.J Warren, 22, and Alex Len, 23. Chriss averaged 13.8 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 1.6 BPG at Washington a year ago. “Tough, tough guy to play against”.

To their credit, both Bender and Chriss are embracing their youth.

The two, who were formally introduced along with Ulis at a Friday afternoon press conference at Talking Stick Resort Arena, see their age as only a positive.

“It’s always for young guys that there’s a couple young guys on the team that are the same age”, Bender said in Brooklyn, New York, where the draft was centered. “You grow up and kind of mature together when you’re competing against each other every day”. I’m just not the biggest fan of Chriss as a player, especially with Bender already in the mix, so I can’t go much higher than B-.

“The Suns traded back into the top 10 to get their hands on Marquese Chriss, who will either develop into the next two-way stud or the second coming of Anthony Randolph”. The potential is there. The 7-foot-1 Papagiannis played 21 games last season in the Greek league for Panathinaikos, averaging 6.4 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. A member of Croatia’s junior national teams at various worldwide tournaments, Bender grew up idolizing Toni Kukoc, a fellow Croatian and three-time NBA Champion as a member of the Chicago Bulls after whom Bender modeled his game.

Chriss’ skill set is just as unique. He averaged 10.2 points, 1.9 assists and 1.7 rebounds in 68 games last season but shot just 30.6 percent from 3-point range, well below his 37.9 percent career average.

“I think I’m ready”, he said.

The Suns missed the playoffs for the sixth straight season, the longest such stretch in franchise history.

Instead, Boston, which owned the No. 3 pick entering Thursday night’s draft, left with Cal forward Jaylen Brown, forward Guerschon Yabusele, and Ante Zizic in the first round. We embrace that pressure, so to speak. We love it because we know for us good is the enemy of great and we want to be great.