Phoenix Suns 2018 offseason plans Part 1: The Draft
By Adam Maynes
How will the Phoenix Suns plan to improve their roster this summer via the NBA Draft is part one of a three-part 2018 offseason series.
If the Suns get the number one pick, who should they take?
We do not yet know where the Phoenix Suns will draft in June, that answer will come on May 15. But the Suns are guaranteed a top-4 pick, with the best odds of all the lottery participants at landing the first overall pick – 25.0%.
There is no unquestioned favorite for who should be drafted first overall though with fans debating who the Suns should take if they were fortunate to receive chance to draft first.
The two players that fans publicly debate most are Arizona’s center DeAndre Ayton and Slovenia-born position-less guard/forward, Luka Doncic.
If Phoenix lands the first overall selection, it will be the first time in the franchise’s history that they’ll have the most coveted spot in the entire draft.
And let’s not ignore the importance of drafting number one – especially when there is no absolute, clear-cut selection to be made. The franchise openly tanked the 2017-18 season with the hope of landing the first overall pick and the chance to draft the best available player. Mess this up, and the entire season is for naught. 61 losses mean nothing. The franchise’s future hangs in the balance.
Get the pick right, and the clock might be ticking on the Suns finally being a championship team again.
But who would that pick be?
Phoenix Suns
That’s the rub. The consensus of the majority say Ayton. A center compared to Hall of Famers such as Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, and Patrick Ewing, he might be the generational big that Jerry Colangelo could never obtain, a dominant presence in the post who can score from the inside as well as drop a 3-point bomb or two creating an offensive balance between he and wings Devin Booker and Josh Jackson that Phoenix currently severely lacks.
Many fans though support the drafting of Doncic, a player in the Penny Hardaway and Ben Simmons mold. Tall (standing at about 6’7″), a fantastic passer with great range, Doncic could also open up the Suns’ offense in the traditional run-and-gun style Phoenix has instituted for the majority of their 5+ decades in the NBA. Grouping he with Devin Booker and Josh Jackson might create the best scoring backcourt in the league, almost entirely unarguable as all three players stand at at least 6’6″, nearly impossible to matchup against by backcourts with generally smaller guards.
If Phoenix lands the first overall pick, DeAndre Ayton is the likely selection as the combination of offensive balance and physical size in the front court he would bring to the roster would be unmatched by any other player in the draft. Phoenix currently lacks size and has almost zero offensive threat from their centers (especially with Alex Len leaving), and finding a competent point guard later in the draft, through free agency, or through trade, would be much easier than finding a center who could provide offensive balance.
That is not to say that if the Suns had the 2nd or 3rd pick and Doncic was available that they would pass on him. Obviously you would expect Ryan McDonough to take the best player available. Popular thought though says that Phoenix would go with the big over the guard to open the draft, should that be where they end up picking.