This draft only has two truly elite players. Zion and the self-proclaimed “point god” named Ja. If the Suns are fortunate enough to grab Morant anywhere in this draft, there will be rejoicing in the valley for the next decade. Rumors have it that James Jones even favors Ja over Zion, which might be heretical in most circles, but makes a lot of basketball sense given who the Suns currently have on the roster. Someone who can immediately feed the ball to Booker and Ayton without giving you the brick laying skills of a Ricky Rubio would be a welcome sight. Add in Morant’s potential as an elite defensive player and this is the only true target the Suns should have coming into the draft.
Barrett is a really good player. He’s not nearly as good as Ja Morant, but Ja doesn’t make a lick of sense playing for Cleveland which just got a really good rookie year out of Collin Sexton. Giving Sexton someone who can actually knock down open jumpers will give Cleveland the back court of the future.
If the Knicks manage to land Zion, it’ll be the happiest that Madison Square Garden has been since they picked a guy named Patrick Ewing out of Georgetown. If they can leverage this pick into adding Durant and Irving, suddenly the Knicks are fun again. The Knicks have a level of dysfunction that keep the Suns looking sane, but adding the most dynamic rookie in the last 20 years to the league’s most dynamic stage just makes too much sense and it would be a hue draw to free agents. You almost want to wish for it to work out this way.