The NBA draft is in the books and I have to write about it given it was the Phoenix Suns at the top spot of the draft for the first time ever. NBA Finals is not the only thing the Suns have never won before. They have never won the draft lottery either. This year, they won the lottery and we sure hope it was a precursor to bigger and better things to come. They got DeAndre Ayton with the first pick as expected and did some maneuvering at 16 to trade with Philly to get Mikal Bridges from them, who had drafted Bridges at 10. I like both players and Bridges is probably ready to contribute right away even more than Ayton. There are some questions about the trade and let's get to that in a bit. Overall, the Suns came out of this draft with a lot of hope for the future and thats all you can ask for on draft night. They also ended up drafting French point guard Elie Okobo at 31, which might end up being a great, under the radar move in the long run. At least thats what I am hoping. I am definitely excited for sure for the Suns' future.
The story of the draft night of course starts with the first pick. Despite hiring Luka Doncic's ex-coach to lead the next generation of the Suns, they never seemed to be interested in drafting Luka or anybody else at one. It was Ayton all the way and I like it. He is bit of a project, especially on the defensive end, and thats not that big a knock on a young one-and-done guy. What I like about him though is that he is a bug guy who merges traditional big-men skills with the new-age requirements. There is a theory that big men are increasingly becoming irrelevant in this 3-and-D era spearheaded by the current Champs Warriors. In the playoffs, there were several games where teams couldn't even play their franchise centers since they couldn't hit threes and they were not switchable on the small guards. Thats where the league is headed in terms of the style of play, but I also think these things go in circles.
There will soon be a need for franchise centers if Anthony Davis, Karl Anthony Towns, and Joel Embid blossom in to serious contenders, which may realistically happen. I want Ayton to be there to defend them if not join them in the pantheon of great big-men in the league. He has the size and strength to be that traditional center while also having the athleticism and shooting touch that teams covet in today's offense. He has a good mid-range shot and will probably expand to 3-point range in the NBA. The concern is defense. Both his shot blocking numbers, which is more representative of traditional center skills, and defending on switches, which is the new norm in the NBA, were suspect in college. There are some stats to show that shot blocking numbers don't usually improve in the NBA all that much for these young guys. I am not too worried about all that and I sure hope the 19 year-old kid only improves on that side of the ball like he should. As a Suns fan, how can you pass up on a stud center? We never could get a good center and I am totally excited we finally had a shot at one, thanks to the draft lottery and some serious tanking last season. On the flip side, I sure hope the Suns center-curse doesn't derail Ayton. That would be a disaster!
The most developed player in the draft of course is Luka Doncic. The Mavs did great to trade up to the third spot to nab him from Atlanta, who seem to have been really impressed with Trae Young. I would have taken Luka myself, but Atlanta's GM Travis Schlenk, who came from the Golden State Warriors, seems to be seeing some Stephen Curry potential in Young. He better be right for Atlanta's sake because I think Luka is going to be good either way. He might win the rookie of the year, though I hope players like Ayton, Young, and Michael Porter Jr. catch up to him in a year or two. Speaking of, the other main story of the draft was MPJ dropping in the draft due to injury concerns. Denver finally got him at 14 - pretty low for the best player coming out of high school last year, but a risky pick due to his back. Denver, with a near playoff team and a lot of young players, was in a good spot to roll the dice. They could survive his absence even in MPJ has to miss an entire year, which is something most lottery teams can't afford including your Phoenix Suns. Plus, they would be giddy and unstoppable if he indeed turns out to be the next Kevin Durant or Tracy McGrady in 4 years.
Last, but not the least, the trade. The Suns gave up Zhaire Smith and the 2021 unrestricted Miami pick for Mikal Bridges, who is much more of a finished product than Smith. It's always a bit of a red flag when GMs who are under pressure to show results to save their jobs mortgage the future for immediate results. This trade kind of fits that narrative, but Mikal might be worth it. To be fair to Suns GM Ryan McDonough, aren't we all as Suns fans ready for some results and improvement as well? Also, given that Devin Booker is entering his fourth year and contractual discussions sooner than later, it's not a bad idea to show some growth and get him a taste of the playoffs anyways. It's fascinating to trace the movement of these picks from back in 2012 when the Suns traded away Steve Nash and then Goran Dragic a few years later. This Bridges trade puts a bow on both those trades after many years. Folks like ESPN's Zach Lowe think it's bad management of assets, but I think it's OK. I will also be rooting for the Heat to be good in 2020 so that the 2021 pick is not too high for the Sixers. I have to say, it was brutal to see the Sixers trade Bridges away after drafting this local kid to be a co-worker with his mom, who works in the Sixers HR department. What a weird roller-coaster ride for that family.
The bottom-line for the Suns is, they can now develop a core of Booker, Josh Jackson, Ayton, and Bridges. That has some serious potential. For 2018, they may need to get a point guard via trade or free agency or hope Brandon Knight or Alfred Payton suddenly rediscovers their potential, which is unlikely. Equally unlikely is any dramatic growth from Marquese Chriss. The hope is, the rookies and Dragan Bender step up. We know Booker and JJ will be even better this year. The combination of these developments could put the Suns in the 40-win range, if not the 8th seed of the playoffs. That sounds like both a modest goal as well as a distant pipe- dream at the same time. As the saying goes, hope springs eternal and there is a lot of hope for the Suns and other teams coming out of the draft. One thing there wasn't much of on draft day was a lot of change in scenery for stars like Kawhi Leonard. There were a lot of trades, but none involving current stars. That only means more action in July during free agency, Sounds fun to me.
