2nd Pick
There was a time that I thought that the only way to get Luka Doncic was if the Suns were able to trade with the Sacramento Kings, and that made me happy. I figured that while the Kings would probably be the front runners to draft Doncic, Vlade Divac might be willing to accept anything, and therefore landing Luka was definitely possible.
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And then the rumors that Sacramento was heavily favoring Marvin Bagley III came out, and now, I’m wondering not only if the Kings would be willing to trade out of number two at all, but also if the Suns should take Luka if they were able to trade for the second overall pick, or if they should instead select Bagley here, which would be the only opportunity to do so other than first overall.
In this case, I think that if the Suns really thought that highly of any player in the draft other than Deandre Ayton, it would be Marvin Bagley, and if they were going to ay what it would cost to trade up to the second overall pick, they wouldn’t select Luka, but instead they would draft Bagley.
IN this case, I believe that much like with the Atlanta Hawks, if the Suns called the Sacramento Kings, Vlade would actually answer the phone “what do you want?” with puffs of smoke in between each word, with zero intention of moving out of his spot.
That being said, I also believe that Ryan McDonough might be able to offer Vlade a grandfather trade offer that could get it done, and I could see Vlade hanging up the phone while suddenly holding a wad of monopoly money laughing with a cigarette in his mouth.
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Randolph and Shumpert’s contracts are Sacramento’s two highest picks and are also both up after this season so the Kings aren’t really saving any money at all by moving them. In fact, they are gaining longterm contracts by acquiring Warren, Chriss, and Bender. Because of this, the Suns need to go pick heavy to make the deal done because after this season, they might have the best power forward from this draft on their team, but they will also have lost the contracts of Randolph, Shumpert, Chandler, and Dudley, all at once. Not only will they have Marvin Bagley, but also a ton of cap space in the summer of 2019.