2019 Draft Discussion - Suns with 6th pick!

[AtheJ415]

For those not understanding just how good Zion is (like arguably greatest season in NCAA history good):

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He's the only one shooting 70%.

[GoodBehavior]

Well the board had Doncic #1 for much of last year until we got the #1 pick and then a number of people flipped to Ayton...maybe it was the Gambo effect. But this board ended up getting who the majority wanted at the time of the draft.

I was part of that flip-floppy group, against my better judgement. I was distracted by the daydream of dunks and dominance.

It will come, Ayton is not a bust. Doncic is head and shoulders above everyone right now but 2018 will be remembered as a really good class. It would be an easier pill to swallow if we weren't so damn bad.

Luka struggled down the stretch and ayton was unbelievable against USC and UCLA. He was fantastic overall in the second half of the year at ASU. That was a big part of why pundits/fans switch to the ayton camp. Had that not been the case, I doubt ayton would have gone first.

No one and I mean no one expect Luka to shoot this well, as arookie. It's probably the biggest surprise out of the draft so far.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

I was part of that flip-floppy group, against my better judgement. I was distracted by the daydream of dunks and dominance.

It will come, Ayton is not a bust. Doncic is head and shoulders above everyone right now but 2018 will be remembered as a really good class. It would be an easier pill to swallow if we weren't so damn bad.

Luka struggled down the stretch and ayton was unbelievable against USC and UCLA. He was fantastic overall in the second half of the year at ASU. That was a big part of why pundits/fans switch to the ayton camp. Had that not been the case, I doubt ayton would have gone first.

No one and I mean no one expect Luka to shoot this well, as arookie. It's probably the biggest surprise out of the draft so far.

I preferred Ayton and I'm not very surprised. There was plenty good reason to believe he'd be a killer from day 1, considering that he was a killer from day 1 in Europe.

[bwgood77]

I was part of that flip-floppy group, against my better judgement. I was distracted by the daydream of dunks and dominance.

It will come, Ayton is not a bust. Doncic is head and shoulders above everyone right now but 2018 will be remembered as a really good class. It would be an easier pill to swallow if we weren't so damn bad.

Luka struggled down the stretch and ayton was unbelievable against USC and UCLA. He was fantastic overall in the second half of the year at ASU. That was a big part of why pundits/fans switch to the ayton camp. Had that not been the case, I doubt ayton would have gone first.

No one and I mean no one expect Luka to shoot this well, as arookie. It's probably the biggest surprise out of the draft so far.

I thought he'd shoot better...maybe not this good. I thought the bigger floor with more space and better shooters around him defenders had to respect would help him. Lack of space on smaller court hurt him. Plus his fg plummeted near the end of a very very long season without much of a break between two seasons because of eurocup. He was VERY good from 2 and the line so I figured his 3pt% would translate very well. He was always a big shot maker too.

The Phx media and most of the fans were for Ayton in a lopsided way the whole year though...I mean Ayton was like 90%...Bagley might have had more votes than Doncic.

It was just these forums that had Doncic in the lead early for quite a while..or it would tie and fluctuate a bit..then Ayton emerged after we won.

Ayton looked good in the game after the allegation and PAC 12 tourney..but then bad in the NCAA tourney. Doncic just had the NBA type game...of today...reminded me a bit of Harden with a little bit of some other players like Bird/LeBron. Obviously those are premier players but those are who we usually use...I mean Ayton compared to Robinson, Hakeem, etc.

[GoodBehavior]

It will come, Ayton is not a bust. Doncic is head and shoulders above everyone right now but 2018 will be remembered as a really good class. It would be an easier pill to swallow if we weren't so damn bad.

Luka struggled down the stretch and ayton was unbelievable against USC and UCLA. He was fantastic overall in the second half of the year at ASU. That was a big part of why pundits/fans switch to the ayton camp. Had that not been the case, I doubt ayton would have gone first.

No one and I mean no one expect Luka to shoot this well, as arookie. It's probably the biggest surprise out of the draft so far.

I thought he'd shoot better...maybe not this good. I thought the bigger floor with more space and better shooters around him defenders had to respect would help him. Lack of space on smaller court hurt him. Plus his fg plummeted near the end of a very very long season without much of a break between two seasons because of eurocup. He was VERY good from 2 and the line so I figured his 3pt% would translate very well. He was always a big shot maker too.

The Phx media and most of the fans were for Ayton in a lopsided way the whole year though...I mean Ayton was like 90%...Bagley might have had more votes than Doncic.

It was just these forums that had Doncic in the lead early for quite a while..or it would tie and fluctuate a bit..then Ayton emerged after we won.

Ayton looked good in the game after the allegation and PAC 12 tourney..but then bad in the NCAA tourney. Doncic just had the NBA type game...of today...reminded me a bit of Harden with a little bit of some other players like Bird/LeBron. Obviously those are premier players but those are who we usually use...I mean Ayton compared to Robinson, Hakeem, etc.

IIRC, Luka had trouble getting to the rim against defenders in the second half of that season. And that's when people really started questioning his athletic abilities. Not that they didn't question it before, but it intensified and snowballed into ridiculous hater mentality. That along with ayton's two monster games I think really tipped the scale. Before those two games, him and bagley were neck and neck. His national media exposure ballooned after that and he became the "consensus."

Luka's shooting is elite, not just good. That's has been shocking to me. I don't think any pro-Luka fan, pre-draft thought he was going to be this good. The handle, the vision, the body control, the maturity ... all that was largely expected, but the shooting is almost effortless with him. Those step-back 3s are eye popping for someone so young. There's maybe 5 guys in the entire league who is proficient in them. If people thought he was going to be this good of a shooter, I doubt anyone would have taken ayton. That's why I am not so hard on people picking ayton or Bagley, pre-draft.

[AtheJ415]

I was always fine with either Luka or Ayton on Phx. Luka's been better than anybody expected, but it doesn't surprise me he would win ROY. He was supposed to be the best short-term prospect, and possibly the best long-term. I will never understand anybody taking Bagley over him though. Ayton sure, because he has the best physical tools you could hope for. He's a rare, rare athlete to go along with his skill level which is really polished relative to amount of time playing the game. Young had fans (I had him 3rd personally behind just the Ayton/Luka group), and I can see the argument for him if you think he could have a Curry impact, because there is an argument for a Curry type being more valuable than the playmaking forward. But Bagley--dude is a tweener big with no defensive clue and his main strength is nearly the least valuable thing you can do on the court. He's not a terrible prospect or anything, but in this draft class I cannot understand how he would ever be 2nd. I was shocked we brought him in for a workout. I had him like 8th IIRC, behind at least the 3 above, JJ, Bamba, Bridges.

It's somewhat interesting that Ayton actually had better numbers through the 1st quarter of the season. Doncic just really turned it up after that and now his overall numbers are well ahead of everyone.

[bwgood77]

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[bwgood77]

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[TheLogician]

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Zion, Reddish, and Tre Jones all average 2+ steals/game. Only one looks like a star to me.

[bwgood77]

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Zion, Reddish, and Tre Jones all average 2+ steals/game. Only one looks like a star to me.

I always had a pretty good feeling about Reddish, and he was the first to commit to Duke. Then of course the two bigger names have, and he's been overshadowed. He ends up standing at the 3 pt line shooting 3s (10 per 36 at about 35%)

But he averages the most steals. I thought he'd be a good passer and he may be but again, those others have the ball in their hand more.

And he has the longest wingspan. Not a guy we need with Bridges though....he may end up being the better player given he is already a great 3D guy as a true freshman, but again, we don't really need him.

[TheLogician]

Read on Twitter

Zion, Reddish, and Tre Jones all average 2+ steals/game. Only one looks like a star to me.

I always had a pretty good feeling about Reddish, and he was the first to commit to Duke. Then of course the two bigger names have, and he's been overshadowed. He ends up standing at the 3 pt line shooting 3s (10 per 36 at about 35%)

But he averages the most steals. I thought he'd be a good passer and he may be but again, those others have the ball in their hand more.

And he has the longest wingspan. Not a guy we need with Bridges though....he may end up being the better player given he is already a great 3D guy as a true freshman, but again, we don't really need him.

Reddish is more raw than I thought he'd be. I still like the upside but definitely not a good fit for the Suns.

[thamadkant]

Knowing Suns luck Zion is out of range... Since Suns will get pick 4 or 5

Don't think his draft is deep at all

[lilfishi22]

Knowing Suns luck Zion is out of range... Since Suns will get pick 4 or 5

Don't think his draft is deep at all

It isn't. It seems like most players in the 3-5 range would probably go after #10 in a good draft. It's super top heavy

[bwgood77]

Knowing Suns luck Zion is out of range... Since Suns will get pick 4 or 5

Don't think his draft is deep at all

It isn't. It seems like most players in the 3-5 range would probably go after #10 in a good draft. It's super top heavy

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[WeekapaugGroove]

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Zion, Reddish, and Tre Jones all average 2+ steals/game. Only one looks like a star to me.

I always had a pretty good feeling about Reddish, and he was the first to commit to Duke. Then of course the two bigger names have, and he's been overshadowed. He ends up standing at the 3 pt line shooting 3s (10 per 36 at about 35%)

But he averages the most steals. I thought he'd be a good passer and he may be but again, those others have the ball in their hand more.

And he has the longest wingspan. Not a guy we need with Bridges though....he may end up being the better player given he is already a great 3D guy as a true freshman, but again, we don't really need him.

I'd actually be fine drafting Reddish and moving on from all of Jackson, Warren, and Oubre. In some ways he feels like the safest guy in this draft after Zion. It's easy to see how he could fit in as a 3 and D guy at the minimum and I think there's upside to be more than that.

[Bogyo]

Zion, Reddish, and Tre Jones all average 2+ steals/game. Only one looks like a star to me.

I always had a pretty good feeling about Reddish, and he was the first to commit to Duke. Then of course the two bigger names have, and he's been overshadowed. He ends up standing at the 3 pt line shooting 3s (10 per 36 at about 35%)

But he averages the most steals. I thought he'd be a good passer and he may be but again, those others have the ball in their hand more.

And he has the longest wingspan. Not a guy we need with Bridges though....he may end up being the better player given he is already a great 3D guy as a true freshman, but again, we don't really need him.

I'd actually be fine drafting Reddish and moving on from all of Jackson, Warren, and Oubre. In some ways he feels like the safest guy in this draft after Zion. It's easy to see how he could fit in as a 3 and D guy at the minimum and I think there's upside to be more than that.

Not my preferred way, but I could see that happening if we got something NICE (Gordon + Orlandos 2nd from CLE?) for JJ+TJ and let Oubre go. That way we could still get our PG in the offseason, even if we had to overpay a bit in the FA market, start Book and Bridges in the wings and draft Reddish or Barrett or Culver or Langford. Fill out the wing rotation with a vet - there are tons of adequate ones on the FA market for that small role (Green/MKG/Tyreke/Aminu/Matthews/Luc/Bazemore/Ross/Temple/Crabbe/ Chandler/ KCP), trade our 2nds and the Mil pick for Brandon Clarke and call it a day.

Brogdon (or Rubio or whoever)/Melton/Okobo
Book/Green/Reddish
Bridges/Reddish/Green
Gordon/Clarke
Ayton/Holmes

[Blonde]

My current top 6:
Zion

Barrett

Morant
Reddish
Garland
Hunter

[Funky Tut]

For those not understanding just how good Zion is (like arguably greatest season in NCAA history good):

Read on Twitter

He's the only one shooting 70%.

Which means a big market team like NY will get him.

[AtheJ415]

Zion is the clear #1, but I really think #2 for us has to be Morant at this point. His only real weakness is 3 point shooting (turnovers are also high, but that's because he has the ball so much). His projected NBA 3 point shooting isn't terrible though (35.6%) due to his FT shooting's 80% mark. His vision is the best in the class, he's an athletic freak, and I realize he is playing against weak competition, but a ton of current NBA guards played worse against similar competition (Lillard, for instance). He has a 7' wingspan and ought to be able to guard 3 spots as a result.

I get some think he's a bad fit next to Booker, but that's if we have Booker as the primary initiator. I think Booker should be in that role some of the time, but not all of the time, and I don't buy that Morant NEEDS the ball to be impactful. He's athletic enough to be a threat cutting to the hoop and if his 3 point shooting hits at least 33% he would have to be guarded even if you just stuck him in the corner when Book ran the offense. Booker is certainly impactful off the ball in a traditional 2 spot coming off screens.

If we fall later than that, I like the 2 way wings (Culver, Hunter), and of course there's Barrett and Reddish, but I have a bad feeling Barrett is going to end up an inefficient chucker. I just would have some issue fitting even more wings onto this team barring a trade or barring going full point Book for the next 5 years.

All of that to say, if we can get Zion that's the best bet. Morant should be 2nd, and we can still have the cap space to sign a 4 or a 1. If we did a 1 though it probably would mean moving one of our current PGs between Melton and Okobo.

[bwgood77]

He can guard 3 spots? Doesn't he weigh like 170? Maybe I need to watch him some and see how special his defense is.