NBA Draft 2012: Did the Phoenix Suns Make a Promise to Draft Dion Waiters?

Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk recently said the Phoenix Suns "really love Dion Waiters." Interestingly, Waiters shut down all interviews and workouts at the NBA combine, raising the idea that a team made him a promise they would draft him.

The two teams being mentioned most as possible teams who made the promise are the Toronto Raptors and Phoenix Suns. Both teams could use a scorer on the wing and seem like good fits for Waiters.

The Suns are especially lacking at the shooting guard position and could use a player capable of creating his own shot consistently. The last shooting guard the Suns had to fit this role was Joe Johnson, who went on to get a bigger contract than one LeBron James two offseasons ago.

But would the Suns make him a promise considering players like Austin Rivers and Jeremy Lamb might be available? It certainly doesn't seem far-fetched that the team would do such a thing.

Waiters can be a prolific scoring guard and can even play a little point, providing versatility for the Suns. Waiters would have to battle with Jared Dudley for the starting shooting guard spot and would probably win the job. Dudley is much better suited to be a small forward and Waiters might be too valuable to sit.

As a side note, the supposed "promise" could raise interest from the teams below Phoenix. If I were on one of the teams drafting before the Suns, I would take a second look at Waiters and make sure he wasn't the best guy for my team.