I know, I know. Most draft analysts love former Arizona Wildcat DeAndre Ayton as the Phoenix Suns first first pick, and all the others pick Euroleague legend and Igor Kokoskov’s former Slovenian National team star Luka Doncic. Howevet, Marvin Bagley III deserves to be a part of that debate.
Had the Phoenix Suns won the lottery in 2017, their would have been a Markell’s Fultz/Lonzo Ball debate, even though Jayson Tatum (who dunked on Lebron) ended up having a much better season than the two guards. The draft is clearly unpredictable, so filing it down to a debate between two guys is silly. DeAndre Ayton and Luka Doncic are NOT like Lebron James coming out of high school and shouldn’t be the only to guys considered for the Suns this year.
That said, why does Marvin Bagley deserve to be picked number one?
Athleticism
Bagley does not have Ayton’s size and strength, but don’t be tricked – Bagley is just as much of a freak athlete as the soon-to-be Arizona alum. Bagley is listed at 6’11” and 235 lbs., with a 7′ wingspan. While none of those numbers are terribly impressive, he is big enough to play center and hold his own down low. The reason Bagley is an elite athlete is because of his amazing footspeed and his vertical. Bagley is super quick and has a great first and second hop which make him a great rebounder.
If he can put on 15 pounds he will look like Anthony Davis, a guy with elite speed and strength.
If he doesn’t put on much weight he is like a quicker Chris Bosh or Kevin Garnett. Either way, Bagley has the strength to defend down low and the speed to blow by any big. Just like Anthony Davis or Amare Stoudemire, he’ll be too quick for most centers but too big and strong for forwards. Because of his quickness he doesn’t have the same risk defensively as Ayton or even Doncic, who both may struggle to stay in front of quicker NBA players.