Roundtable: Phoenix Suns 2018 draft review

Josh Patterson

DeAndre Ayton went number one overall as has been predicted for a couple weeks now.
He immediately fits into the Suns starting lineup at the center position and can immediately
provide offense to the team. The question for Ayton has always been about him motor; how
bad he wants it. This has been a dangerous red flag for previous prospects, but it’s not
something that can be judged before we see him on the court for the Suns.

However, there is no denying the fact that he is a gifted athletic specimen and a well-rounded offensive player. It seems like the only thing that could prevent Ayton from becoming a great player is himself.

The Dallas Mavericks move for Luka Doncic could be the steal of the draft. They moved up from 5, where they could have been stuck taking a prospect that isn’t necessarily a sure thing. Instead, they shipped a future first round pick to the Atlanta Hawks for the 3rd overall pick in the draft. Doncic is a proven professional at a very young age and will be able to immediately create at the NBA level. Also, in taking a player as good as Doncic, they aren’t actually giving up that much with a future first. Great overall move for the Mavs.

Trae Young for the Atlanta Hawks is a confusing pick. They previously shipped out Jeff
Teague in order to begin building around Dennis Schroder in the backcourt. Now that plan
seems to be in the dumpster, as a Young and Schroder backcourt would be too small to
compete on the defensive end. At least Young had some cool shoes on draft night to distract
from the horrible suit shorts.

Mo Bamba for the Orlando Magic is an interesting pick at number 6. I’ve previously
stated that I think there is a chance that Bamba is the best prospect in the draft, however the fit
may not be great here. Bamba comes into a situation where the frontcourt is crowded. Now,
most of these players in that crowded frontcourt are not in the long-term future of the Magic. However, it makes you wonder about how the long-term plan for the Magic is constructed.

Phoenix traded a 2021 unprotected first round pick and Zhaire Smith for Mikal
Bridges. I have no idea what the idea behind this trade was. As a team that is actively rebuilding
around a young core, mortgaging future assets for a marginally better prospect seems to be an
incredibly short-sighted view. Bridges was a solid three and D prospect but was not a pick that
would blow people away.

Yet the Suns decided to give up an UNPROTECTED Miami pick to move up 6 spots. Seeing that it was less costly for the Mavs to move from 5 to 3 it seems like a costly mistake. Whether or not you like this trade really comes down to how highly you value the Miami pick. I believe that Miami’s current situation, with Whiteside, Waiters, Olynyk and James Johnson signed through 2020-21 season lends itself to a team picking high in the lottery.

Therefore, I think giving up a future high lottery pick to move up to take a prospect that isn’t head and shoulders above what you would have gotten at 16 is a poor idea.

Michael Porter Jr. fell out of the top ten only a year after being the number prospect in all of high school basketball. Due to back injuries that kept him sidelined almost all of his freshman year at Missouri, he dropped all the way to the last team in the lottery, the Denver Nuggets.

I was never very big on Porter due to his seemingly delusional comparison of himself
to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant, somehow coming out favorably to both. I
personally would like my lottery pick to be slightly more grounded and there is a certain air
about Porter that seems to grate the people he’s around.

There were also mumblings from draft experts and people with intel from his time at Missouri claiming major locker room and character issues, with one ESPN expert Mike Schmitz being quoted saying “Yeah, the intel from his time at Missouri was very, very, poor.”

This coupled with his seemingly awful medical projection and his almost allergic reaction to trusting or passing to his teammates (posting a 36.5 usage rate over his two games in college, taking 29 shots with 1 assist) made him someone I was warry of touching within the lottery.

That being said, if the Suns had arrived at the 16th pick with him on the board, I think the discussion about drafting him would be warranted, mostly due to the potential value you could hit on that late in the draft. His pick at 14 will be an inflection point of this draft, the first 13 teams will either being kicking themselves or laughing at Denver’s expense.