The Chinese young center star Zhou Qi, who is aspiring to play in the world's most popular professional basketball league reportedly, participated in the Phoenix Suns' pre-draft workout on Saturday at the Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Suns finished 14^th in the 15-team Western Conference while holding a win-loss record of 23-59.

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The six-time Pacific Division champions were eliminated from playoff contention for a 6th straight season making it the longest drought in franchise history. According to Azcentral, Phoenix has the draft right at Nos. 4, 13, 28 and 34. Qi could be an ideal draft-and-stash candidate to continue physical and basketball development overseas but it is still to be determined if he wants to come to the NBA immediately.

Zhou Qi hails from Xinxiang, Henan province of China. The Chinese basketball star jumped onto NBA teams' radars in 2011 when he scored 43 points and grabbed 19 rebounds in a game against South Korea at the Asia Under-16 Championships.

The 20-year-old towering 7-foot-2-inches tall center played two seasons for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Zhou helped the Flying Tigers reach the semifinal round in the recently concluded 2015-16 season of the league. He is averaging 15.8 points, 9.8 boards and 3.2 blocked shots per contest.

With Xinjiang, he teamed with former and current NBA players Andray Blatche, Andrew Goudelock and Bryce Cotton this season. He is skilled with either hand and protects the rim from the weak side, he has been the CBA blocks leader for two straight years (2015 and 2016).

He has represented China in several international basketball tournaments. He was part of the Chinese national team in the 2014 Asian Games that was held at Incheon, South Korea. Zhou also played for the national squad in the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship in their home soil in Changsha, China where they won the gold medal and an automatic slot for the incoming 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

TagsZhou Qi, NBA, cba, Xinjiang Flying tigers, phoenix suns