Valley of the Suns Mock Draft 2.0

The Magic are a dysfunctional organization that leaves me with little faith they’ll do anything rational. Their intense and irrational dislike of Elfrid Payton leads me to believe they’ll take a long look at Dennis Smith or Frank Nitilikina. That said, I just can’t fathom a scenario, absent a trade, in which taking a second point guard makes more sense than an upgrade over Terrance Ross. No one helped themselves more in March than did Tatum. He has people making heretical claims about the second coming of Grant Hill. It’s not true, but he is an excellent player. This is a reach selection for him, but it’s the Magic and they’re unencumbered by such things.  VoTS Full Preview

The Lakers suffering gets compounded in this scenario because not only do they get bounced out of the top-three, but the ghost of MCW bounces them out of the lottery altogether. That’s a burn so bad it feels warm and comforting in the Valley of the Suns…until you remember this pick could have been Phoenix’s…but I digress.

If the Sixers already have a lineup with Ball, Simmons, Saric, and Embiid the only thing they’re missing is another elite shooter. They could make the ultimate tall team by drafting Markkanen and slide Simmons to SG and Saric to SF. While that seems awesome to watch, I think the Sixers would more likely go get the best possible shooter and that’s Monk. Monk on this lineup would feast and give Embiid the spacing he needs to dominate. This is probably the only way Monk ends up in the top-five, but it’s a win-win situation for him and the team here.  VoTS Full Preview

The statistical probabilities of all three teams getting the pick they deserve aren’t pretty. Someone is going to go home from the lottery disappointed and because we are a Suns blog, we’re expecting that to be the Lakers who get brutally leaped over by the team most likely to steal a spot – the 76ers.

If you’ve watch Dario Saric play the last month or so you know the Sixers are sitting on absurdly talented players at SF, PF, and C with Simmons, Saric, and Embiid. What they desperately need is the ability to spread the floor and distribute the ball. Along comes the most perfect player possible for them in Lonzo Ball. Is he a defensive liability? No doubt. Will they care? Nope. Set Ball out there and let him catch and shoot or drive and dish and this team is going to win a silly amount of games. VoTS Full (and regrettable) Preview

If you see a large white male running for his life, don’t worry. That’s just me jumping off the Ball bandwagon and running as fast as I can. As much as I have enjoyed watching Lonzo Ball play and have advocated for him to be the Suns selection, his performance in the tournament scared me off. He was good, not great, on offense, but he was a turnstile on defense. The thought of Lonzo Ball and Devin Booker playing on the same team is what my offensive dreams and defensive nightmares are made out of. It’s just a terrible idea.

Josh Jackson was as impressive all tournament long as he was during the regular season. He was solid on both ends of the court, was more assertive from deep than expected, and generally showed the well rounded game that makes him a better selection than Ball. With T.J. Warren playing so well, the value of this pick is a little dubious but the Suns should take the best player on the board regardless of position and after seeing players under the refining bright lights of the tournament, there’s no doubt that Josh Jackson is a better all-around player than any other option here. VoTS Full Preview

No one is going to lose more than the Brooklyn Nets and so we’ll assume the Boston Celtics get thus rewarded with the top pick. With the top pick in the 2017 NBA draft, Markelle Fultz will make Danny Ainge blush with an unapologetic man crush. A two-way player with elite potential whose biggest pre-draft knock is that he’s so good he looks bored on the court is something Boston can’t pass up even if they are already overloaded at guard. Danny will find a way to get good value back for Marcus Smart and/or IT. It’s good to be Danny Ainge.  VoTS Full Preview