Valley of the Suns
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They did it! They actually did it! Phoenix Suns to draft FIRST!

By Adam Maynes

LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 22: Fans get pumped up during the last seconds of the Phoenix Suns against the Golden State Warriors during NBA Summer League on July 22, 2013 at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada. 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 2013 NBAE (Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 22: Fans get pumped up during the last seconds of the Phoenix Suns against the Golden State Warriors during NBA Summer League on July 22, 2013 at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada. 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 2013 NBAE (Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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It took fifty years and 21 opportunities, but the Phoenix Suns are finally selecting first overall in the NBA Draft! How incredible do you feel?

That sound you made. You’ve never made it before, have you? Was it a screech? A yelp? A howl? A combination of them all?

When the fourth card was opened and you didn’t see the Phoenix Suns logo, your heart skipped a beat, didn’t it?

When the third card was opened and you didn’t see the Phoenix Suns logo, you stopped breathing didn’t you?

Phoenix Suns
Phoenix Suns /

Phoenix Suns

When the second card was opened and you didn’t see the Phoenix Suns logo, you made that sound, didn’t you? That sound that was a combination of however many years you have been a Suns fan, all the pent up anguish, resentment, lost hope and missed opportunities; all the disappointment of the years you really, truly  allowed yourself to believe that this was the Suns’ year, whether it was to win a title or land the first pick in the draft, only to have been let down causing you to refuse to ever feel full, honest, and unabashed hope again.

When the first card was opened and you saw  the Phoenix Suns logo…you couldn’t believe your eyes at first, could you? Even though you knew in your mind that there was no other logo that could possibly be there, you knew in your heart  that the league could still play some dirty trick, pulling an Oscar’s and say that the card was wrong and that the winner was actually somebody else.

But then there was no trick. The card was correct. The Phoenix Suns actually won the lottery!

That funny sound you made with the second card, then became a full on cheer. The kind of cheer that you have never made involving the Phoenix Suns before. The kind of cheer that might only be rivaled by your yelling when Luis Gonzalez lobbed a Mariano Rivera cutter over Derek Jeter’s head to win the 2001 World Series, or when Larry Fitzgerald burned past the Pittsburgh defense to score with 2:37 remaining in the 2008 Super Bowl.

It was a cheer to celebrate the Phoenix Suns, and the accomplishment of losing, that might actually lead to a lot of winning.

And damn, did it feel good.

By winning the Lottery, the Suns have actually finished first in something league-related, a feat that they have never done before. Obviously it’s being first of the losers,  but when winning the Lottery means that the Suns will have the opportunity to select the best prospect in a draft, especially one that is so highly regarded as a potential can’t miss center, that is a situation well worth not only being excited in the moment for, but being excited for the long-term as well.

The crazy thing too is that getting the first overall pick might not even be the biggest part of the summer.

Forget what the Suns’ record has been over the past few years, players around the league know that Phoenix’s core now includes Devin Booker, Josh Jackson, and DeAndre Ayton. They know that the main pieces of the roster are both young and will stay together for a while, but also good.  Star free agents and players on the verge of demanding a trade may very well look to the Suns as a possible destination to grow with and build a winning tradition for the next five or more years.

Suns fans now have hope. We have hope that the time where our favorite NBA franchise, the one we have all adored since childhood, might finally be turning a corner. Not only does the roster have two young potential stars – if not superstars – already, but a third one in DeAndre Ayton (I am presuming, but it seems like the safest of safe bets) on the way.

Next: Phoenix Suns 2018 Offseason Plans Part 3: Free Agency

And Suns fans have a right  to be hopeful. There is no reason to believe that this was some flukish happenstance and that winning the lottery won’t lead to winning on the court. This is a tremendous moment. Something to be proud of. It should be internalized; held onto; carried with you throughout the rest of the offseason, into next season, and even into seasons to come.

No one can take this away from us, and while it’s not a championship, it is something, and boy is it worth celebrating.

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