Building a ‘Dream’ Suns team with perfect NBA Draft picks
By Oliver Fox
No. 4 pick in 2017 Draft: Donovan Mitchell (G, Louisville) (13)
Original Pick: Josh Jackson (G/F, Kansas)
The suspicious circumstances of Jackson’s drafting may have done more for the Boston Celtics than anyone else, as Jackson reportedly cancelled his workout while Celtics representatives were in transit to Sacramento to see him. This reportedly did not endear him to Celtics GM Danny Ainge, who decided to pass on Jackson for Jayson Tatum, who turned out to be approximately a billion times better than Jackson.
However, even with our time traveling powers, we still cannot force the Celtics to take Jackson instead of Tatum, and so we are stuck with his Team USA teammate: combo guard Donovan Mitchell.
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This is a pretty solid consolation prize, as the undersized Louisville product is now one of the premier scorers in the league, and the prospect of uniting him and Murray, whose epic duel in the 2020 NBA Bubble captivated millions—including myself—was too awesome to turn down.
Mitchell is a true three-level scorer, whose blazing fast first step and inhuman ability to finish through contact complement his much improved outside shot. Once again, his defense is the only major concern, as his lack of real size creates serious issues against larger wing scorers.
But since our plan is to just outscore everyone anyway, Mitchell is the perfect pick, and maybe we should hire Mike D’Antoni as head coach just for good measure. Now we can really forget about defense.