Hello, My name is Earl: Suns take different approach with Clark

There was something missing from the summer and from Suns media day. Both lacked the overhyping of a Suns’ draft pick.

Remember last year how Robin Lopez was ready to be an NBA center and was sold as such to the fans? Instead of being ready to step in and provide rest for Shaq“>Shaq, he was used for mop up duty, which was appropriate with the hair and skill set he possesed last year.

How about Goran Dragic? This time last year he was viewed as the heir apparent to Steve Nash and the team rewarded him with first round money as a second round pick. Instead of being a second coming of Steve Nash he was another in the long line of overhyped foreign Suns’ prospects in his rookie year (see Maciej Lampe, Iakovos “Jake” Tsakalidis, Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Marko Milic, Stefano Rusconi and Miloš Babi?).

This year’s first round draft pick, Earl Clark, has been treated with much less fanfare. When I say much less fanfare I mean absolutely none. There has been more hype for the addition of free throw shooting into Lou Amundson’s game than there has of Clark’s presence. Instead of touting the prospect of Clark contributing this season, Kerr erred on the side of caution, or self-preservation, on draft night saying “He’s not beating out Jared Dudley or Louis Amundson. If he is, he’s going to be really good. We can bring him up the right way and we don’t have to have him play”.

Don’t need him to play? What a difference a year makes. The Suns front office goes from relying on two rookies to contribute on a team with championship aspirations to setting the bar so low that they don’t expect their first round pick to see much court time at all. It’s the fastest change in policy since the NBA decided to get rid of the synthetic ball.

Clark wasn’t a focal point at Suns media day and no long profile pieces have been penned about him in the last few months. As a matter of fact, the Suns second round pick Taylor Griffin, a guy who wasn’t even necessarily suppose to make the roster, has received as much if not more attention (most of it was because of who his brother is).

The most attention and publicity Clark got after the draft, he created for himself. In an interview with InsideHoops.com, Clark said he expects to be an NBA All-Star in five years.

“Five years down the road I expect to be an All-Star in this league. I know I’m capable of it. It’s just hard work and determination… If I put my mind to it and I really work hard, the sky’s the limit.”

You’ve got to like his confidence. Too bad it sounds like it will take an All-Star effort in year one for him to see the court.

Maybe it’s a case of Steve Kerr learning his lesson from last year’s rookie class and not hyping an unknown. Or maybe they truly don’t intend to play him this season. Either way, there aren’t many expectations at all of the twenty-one year old forward and that’s a good thing. Just ask Robin Lopez and Goran Dragic.

Subscribe to your favorite Phoenix team or sport or Follow us on Twitter.