Suns predraft article on their workout with Dickau

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The Suns selected Santa Clara point guard Steve Nash with the 15th overall selection in the 1996 NBA Draft.

Now six years later, the Suns could be hoping the player most often compared to Nash in this year’s draft class, Dan Dickau, might be available to them with their second selection in the first round.

Although the Suns appear set at the point guard position with Stephon Marbury for many years to come, Dickau has attracted the interest of the Suns for quite some time.

“I’ve always liked him,” Suns Senior Vice President of Player Personnel d*ck Van Arsdale said. “He’s small, but he’s actually close to 6-1 so I’m a little surprised with that. He’s a smart player, can shoot, great attitude and a team leader. I look for him to be drafted somewhere in the first round.”

The All-America Gonzaga product was joined by Notre Dame forward Ryan Humphrey, Central Connecticut State forward Corsley Edwards and Arkansas guard Brandon Dean -- a last minute replacement for Cincinnati guard Steve Logan, who had to cancel for personal reasons -- at Thursday’s pre-draft workout at America West Arena. The private workout was the Suns’ first since last week’s Chicago pre-draft camp.

Much like Nash, who played at Santa Clara, Dickau did not play at a Division I powerhouse (Gonzaga) and if his university sounds familiar, it should. Jazz point guard John Stockton was a 1984 first round pick out of that same Spokane, Washington school.

Dickau passing abilities are not Stockton-ish, but the Zag guard has a sweet shooting touch reminiscent of Nash.

“His style of game is similar,” agreed Dickau, who has already sought advice from both Nash and Stockton about playing in the NBA. “He likes to push the ball. He can shoot the ball pretty good. He’s pretty creative, but at the same time, he’s an All-Star and I’m just trying to get into the league. It’s one of those things that I think I will be a lot different than anybody else.”

If there’s a knock on Dickau, it’s his defense. At 170-pounds he could have problems matching up against some of the NBA’s bigger point guards like Jason Kidd, Baron Davis and Gary Payton, but Van Arsdale didn’t sound overly concerned.

“Let’s face it, most of the guys who come into the NBA don’t play very good defense,” he said. “There are few exceptions. You don’t look at him and say, ‘Here’s a super athlete.’ If he’s smart enough and just moves his feet, he’ll be okay. Just watching him today, he’ll work at it and he’ll be better than some of the defensive guards in this league.”