Valley of the Suns 2018 Mock Draft 1.0

Oh the painful pick that should have been the Suns’…this hurts. They could make it more painful by drafting Sexton, but I think they’ll probably decide Simmons is a more than adequate option as the primary ball handler and instead look for better pieces to compliment him. Bridges checks all the boxes Philadelphia needs. A spot up shooter, versatile defender, he is an ideal role player on this team over the long-term. And for the rest of his career Suns fans will say, “and we could have had Bridges” even though this pick isn’t as good as many thought it would be at this point.

I can just feel the overwhelming desire for the Knicks to draft Sexton…they just traded for Emmanuel Mudiay, they drafted Frank Ntilikina last year, but these are the Knicks and they just love to do crazy things like that. I can’t bring myself to do it here, so let’s go for something more sane, like bringing in Miles Bridges. Bridges is a load inside, yet has enough skill to handle the ball.  A little like Larry Johnson used to do for the Knicks. He’d be a nice piece sitting between Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr. They might be tempted to go for Mikal Bridges instead, but Miles brings more of the versatility that they need on this roster…but then again, it’s the Knicks…so just watch…

The Bulls are putting together a nice young core and Robin Lopez is not a part of that future. The Bulls need someone who can do the dirty work that Lauri Markkanen doesn’t. Enter the next Al Horford who can do a little bit of everything. He’s explosive, he grinds, and he can hit a jumper. He’s also arguably the smartest player in this draft. Having Noah Vonleh, Bobby Portis, Lauri Markkanen, and Carter is the kind of group you can build around in the east.

Cleveland is a great fit for Jackson Jr. Kevin Love is an elite player but somewhat strange fit alongside LeBron. Jackson would be much more Chris Bosh-esque in his style which better seems to fit what LeBron likes to do. I don’t see a scenario where LeBron leaves Cleveland now that they’ve surrounded him with a young core do this pick would potentially allow them to deal Love for another young big who might be a better fit or to move Thompson in a package for an elite center. Bringing Jackson to Cleveland would allow him to operate under the radar where he seems to thrive.

When Zach Randolph went on the decline, Memphis followed. You can make the case that the team has a top-3 point guard in Conley, and Gasol is clearly still an elite center. But they miss that third option who can be ball dominate and get points. Bagley is the perfect fit for them. The Phoenix native might also actually be best suited to eventually pencil in as Gasol’s replacement, although in the interim, he could help form the next three-headed monster that makes them a tough team to beat. They shouldn’t overthink this pick. They’ve got a system that worked well for years, they have a chance put the pieces back in place, so they should do it.