Did you miss Valley of the Suns Live! 2/19??

If you missed Valley of the Suns Live! the Weekly Edition for February 19, then you missed out on a GREAT conversation about who the Suns should select in this summer’s NBA Draft!

While a lot of fans are (rightfully) pessimistic about the Suns actually drafting at the top of the lottery, at the moment, Phoenix not only heads into the final stretch with the worst record in the league (tied with Atlanta, however with a loss to ATL in the head-to-head), but then with the 4th hardest remaining schedule in the NBA with three games left against Golden State, one against Houston, one against Boston, and two against Cleveland.

Should Phoenix land the first overall pick, it does seem that the consensus candidate for the Suns to select is DeAndre Ayton, center out of the University of Arizona. Not only is he dominating the NCAA averaging just under 20 points and just over 10 rebounds per game, but the kid already has a man’s body.

Phoenix Suns

While I wouldn’t expect Ayton to come into the league and dominate against seasoned vets, his presence on the Suns’ roster would be a huge step forward at the position immediately, and depending on subsequent moves, his youthful deficiencies could be covered up.

While Ayton is not a pipe dream – in fact he is at this moment an potential reality – there is a pipe dream that we discussed: finding a way to trade back into the top-5 to draft either Luka Doncic or Trae Young. Definitely more fantasy than anything, should Phoenix be able to pull off something like, they likely wouldn’t be able to make many more trades as most of their prime assets might be used to make such a dramatic leap in the draft.

That being said, the two players that fans would still like the Suns to target this summer is Aaron Gordon and Clint Capela. Both are restricted free agents, but if Phoenix is rolling with a couple more players on rookie contracts, and they are able to unload the contracts of Tyson Chandler and Jared Dudley (while potentially moving on from Brandon Knight and maybe out of necessity T.J. Warren – which I would personally hate) being able to steal players away in free agency while adding to the roster through the draft would set them in serious motion towards the playoffs, without killing themselves moving forward.

Next: Three former Suns among finalists for the Hall of Fame

Join us Monday’s nights at 6pm streaming live on Twitter, Periscope, and YouTube and be a part of the (growing) conversation!