Paul Coro

azcentral sports

Casey Prather was a role player for three years at Florida before becoming a Wooden All-American as a senior.

Going undrafted would not necessarily seem to be the end of his NBA hopes either.

Prather and NBA veteran man big man Earl Barron have accepted invitations to join the Suns training camp on non-guaranteed contracts. The Suns have 13 guaranteed contracts without the Eric Bledsoe situation being resolved and can carry up to 15 players on the regular-season roster. Training camp opens in Flagstaff on Sept. 30.

Prather, 23, is a 6-foot-5, 200-pound shooting guard who has shown the ability to score as a long-range shooter and slasher while also defending well. He averaged 13.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.6 assist for Florida's Final Four team as a senior, shooting 40 percent from 3-point range.

Prather only played fewer than 10 minutes per game in his first two seasons at Florida and had only two starts as a junior before becoming an integral senior swingman known for athleticism and work ethic. Only Prather and Cincinnati's Sean Kilpatrick went undrafted after being named to the 10-man Wooden All-American team.

Prather played for Atlanta's NBA Summer League team, averaging 5.2 points and 2.2 rebounds with 40 percent shooting in 20 minutes per game.

While Prather would try to carve out a spot in the Suns' versatile wing area, Barron could offer some experience to the front line.

Barron, 33, played 12 games for the Suns over five weeks early in the 2010-11 season, starting six games while Robin Lopez was out injured. The 7-foot big man has logged 124 games for seven NBA teams over seven seasons. Last year, he was not invited to a NBA training camp and had brief stops in China and Lebanon.

The Suns' only true big men are Markieff Morris, Miles Plumlee, Alex Len and Shavlik Randolph, giving Barron a chance to help as a long, face-up power forward.