Valley of the Suns
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The Phoenix Suns should trade their first pick

By Andrew Clark

MIAMI, FL - MARCH 5: Hassan Whiteside #21 of the Miami Heat reacts to a play against the Phoenix Suns on March 5, 2018 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - MARCH 5: Hassan Whiteside #21 of the Miami Heat reacts to a play against the Phoenix Suns on March 5, 2018 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Phoenix Suns have officially clinched the best odds of landing the first overall pick.  If the ping pong balls endow Phoenix with the chance to draft DeAndre Ayton, it might actually make more sense for the Suns to trade the pick.

MIAMI, FL – MARCH 5: Hassan Whiteside #21 of the Miami Heat reacts to a play against the Phoenix Suns on March 5, 2018 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL – MARCH 5: Hassan Whiteside #21 of the Miami Heat reacts to a play against the Phoenix Suns on March 5, 2018 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images) /

I know this very suggestion is heretical, but stick with me:

History Supports the Notion:

There have only been seven instances in the 71 years of NBA history where the first overall pick was traded after the draft order was set.  While the jury is still out on some of these trades, it certainly appears that, in six of the seven instances, the team trading away the top overall pick won the trade.

The allure of the top pick is often worth more than the pick itself.

For those interested, here are the previous occasions:

Ayton is a Risk

In case you missed the glaring memo, the NBA is a guard’s league. Even elite players like Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, and Karl-Anthony Towns are struggling to keep their teams competitive while their production puts them in the conversation for top-five players in the league.

That’s not to put the team’s struggles on them, but it is to say that the value of the 3-pointer is higher than ever which seems to be a trend that isn’t going away. Even versatile bigs don’t seem to have as much value as combo guards and forwards.

Add to the discussion the fact that Ayton plays suspect defense and you have a lot of risk baked into a single player. Put in place a likely long time horizon before he’s an elite player and you likely have a situation in Phoenix that isn’t ideal.

Should the Suns land the top pick, General Manager Ryan McDonough will receive offers. He needs to cultivate as many as possible, pit other GM’s against each other, and pull the trigger on the one that will best suit the Suns moving forward.

Here are a few possibilities:

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