Phoenix Suns 2018 offseason plans Part 1: The Draft

Who is in Ryan McDonough’s top-4?

So who exactly is in Ryan McDonough’s top-4?

The easy part to answer is – in no specific order – Ayton, Doncic, and Duke power forward Marvin Bagley III are most likely at the top of his draft board.

But if the (expected, right?) happens and Phoenix doesn’t get one of the best three picks and instead ends up slipping all the way to fourth overall, then who might McDonough seek to acquire at that spot?

Does he go with a player like Mohamed Bamba who many believe actually has the highest upside in the draft but might be in the “two years away from being two years away” camp akin to Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss? Bamba looks to not only eventually be a very good offensive player, but is already a tremendous defensive threat averaging a crazy 3.6bpg his freshman year at Texas. He might not make the biggest impact right away, but if he projects out to be the kind of player many believe he can be (NBADraft.net compares him to Rudy Gobert), then just as the other young Suns are beginning to hit their deep-playoff-run stride, he too will be entering his prime.

If for any reason McDonough doesn’t see Bamba projecting that high but does want a center, would he go with Jaren Jackson Jr., originally thought to be a more polished offensive player than Bamba, and a very capable defender himself. Jackson would not be able to start right away, but could very well begin to reach his prime at about the same pace as Bamba, anchoring the Suns’ front court for many years to come.

Although he had a lackluster final 11 games of the season with Oklahoma (when he averaged 21.8 points and 7.1 assists on 36.1% shooting from the field versus the 30.3 points and 9.5 assists on 45.2% shooting from the field (40.9% from 3) in his first 21 games), Trae Young still looks like he will be a serious offensive threat at the next level, and as a point guard, he would fill one of two gaping holes in the starting lineup (the other of course being at center).

While Young would be a reach from 1-3, he would be a legitimate option at 4th overall, a player who would generate a lot of excitement right off the bat and be a regular stat-sheet-filler from game one. Although small, his outside shooting would open up the court for others to drive, and as he is a very good passer, he would easily average 5+ assists immediately, with the opportunity to raise that number early on in his career.

Michael Porter Jr. too could be an option, although – even more so than Young – he would be a very dark horse as he only played five minutes in college, essentially taking a year off from high school to rehab from back surgery. Many pundits projected that he could be the number one pick had he not been injured, and thus even at number four he might be considered a value pick. But since he never had the opportunity to play against college talent, and he has had back surgery at such a young age, those flags are probably too numerous to ignore, likely knocking him out of the running at number four.