The Draft (Postseason Edition): 1/16/31/59 (NEW POLL)

[LukasBMW]

I'm saying Ayton, Trae, or Trade.

If we get stuck with 4 then hopefully some dumb ass team takes Doncic 1-3 so we at least get Bagley.

Bamba is too limited to take that high.
Porter is too much of a medical risk.

[ATTL]

Would Jabari Parker be a good comp for Bagley?

Kind of. Parker was more polished from the perimeter coming out but Bagley is a more 'springy' athlete and a far superior rebounder. I think they both suffer from the same problem of not knowing what to do on defense (still a HUGE problem for Parker today).

I think poor mans melo is a better comp for jabari. I remember people making fun of parkers weight going into the draft. Weight issues as a ball player is a big red flag. I think bagley has shown more work ethic than jabari.

[AtheJ415]

I still think our best offseason scenario would be trading back into this draft. Get one of Doncic or Ayton then get back in for Young, Bamba, Porter, or Bridges. Will cost a lot but I would be okay with that given the upside.

[TheLogician]

I'm saying Ayton, Trae, or Trade.

If we get stuck with 4 then hopefully some dumb ass team takes Doncic 1-3 so we at least get Bagley.

Bamba is too limited to take that high.
Porter is too much of a medical risk.

+1, although if our trainers and doctors think Porter will be fine long term I'd consider taking him top 4.

For those saying bigs are irrelevant in today's NBA, watch Embiid in this series and tell me you'd still take Doncic over Ayton.

[AtheJ415]

I'll just say this re-Ayton. I think people are looking at today's game and penalizing him for not being an ideal fit. He does have a great jumper, and I do personally think he will hit the 3 ball at a decent clip within a few years. But I think people are underestimating his ability to bully people down low, hit jumpers at a high clip, and finish over the top of everyone, while remaining nimble enough to run with smaller guys. It is really rare. I will never understand the Okafor comparisons. And I don't think he's even comparable to Bagley offensively because right now Bagley is a glorified Kenneth Faried. People are assuming he isn't a fit due to things he hasn't done yet (like hit 3s), while taking that as proof that he CAN'T do that. I think his raw skills point to that not being the case.

You keep mentioning people here being too hard on him. I don't really think that's the case. He's clearly most everyone's 1 or 2 and many who might have him 2 he is right there at 1.

I think he will be able to hit the 3 at a reasonable rate. He already shoots 34% and 73% from the line. While not great, it is much better than like Bagley and Bamba. But for a C his offense is ahead of everyone's and his rebounding too...his size and length and ability to tip back to himself will all be useful in the NBA where Bagley's motor being nice, the lack of length could hurt him with rebounding.

Shot blocking he obviously is much better than Bagley even if it's not his greatest strength (at least in relation to other elite top big men in past drafts..he still has an ok block rate). The main thing he will need to improve on his rotating to the rim and not getting out of position and his awareness overall on team defense. The extremely low steal rate though is a concern given that is usually a prime defensive indicator. But at least he has the size, length and tools and should be a plus offensively, solid rebounder, and hopefully at least a passable defender to start. But offensively there shouldn't be too much question that he should be good.

People have been mentioning Bamba being a defensive guy who can hit the 3. I think Ayton is probably a bit more equipped to do that right now. And of course he wants to play 4.

He's not everyone's 1 or 2 though. The article I was responding to was written by somebody who has him like 5th or 6th overall.
Many are comparing him to Jalil Okafor and some prefer Bagley here in this thread alone. Bagley has shown to be a great athlete with a great motor but not much else.

I think Ayton will be a star and is the safest bet to do so because I think his current skill set and athleticism will allow him to be that no matter what. Doncic is also pretty safe imo due to skill, and same with Young, but Ayton has the skill and athleticism where I feel he will for sure be a top 3 player at his position at some point in his career.

[AtheJ415]

I'm saying Ayton, Trae, or Trade.

If we get stuck with 4 then hopefully some dumb ass team takes Doncic 1-3 so we at least get Bagley.

Bamba is too limited to take that high.
Porter is too much of a medical risk.

+1, although if our trainers and doctors think Porter will be fine long term I'd consider taking him top 4.

For those saying bigs are irrelevant in today's NBA, watch Embiid and tell me you'd still take Doncic over Ayton.

-1. There is no reason to say Porter is too big a medical risk. That is up to our trainers to decide. We have really good ones--one of the few thing our org does at an elite level. If they remove him from the board due to medical concerns okay, but I take Porter over Bagley all day personally.

[TheLogician]

I'm saying Ayton, Trae, or Trade.

If we get stuck with 4 then hopefully some dumb ass team takes Doncic 1-3 so we at least get Bagley.

Bamba is too limited to take that high.
Porter is too much of a medical risk.

+1, although if our trainers and doctors think Porter will be fine long term I'd consider taking him top 4.

For those saying bigs are irrelevant in today's NBA, watch Embiid and tell me you'd still take Doncic over Ayton.

-1. There is no reason to say Porter is too big a medical risk. That is up to our trainers to decide. We have really good ones--one of the few thing our org does at an elite level. If they remove him from the board due to medical concerns okay, but I take Porter over Bagley all day personally.

LOL, you are a knob.

[Kerrsed]

I still think our best offseason scenario would be trading back into this draft. Get one of Doncic or Ayton then get back in for Young, Bamba, Porter, or Bridges. Will cost a lot but I would be okay with that given the upside.

I'd give up the farm to get #2 or #3 (After we get #1 with our own pick).

Give up our pick next year, along with all other teams future 1sts that we own as well.

[bwgood77]

I'll just say this re-Ayton. I think people are looking at today's game and penalizing him for not being an ideal fit. He does have a great jumper, and I do personally think he will hit the 3 ball at a decent clip within a few years. But I think people are underestimating his ability to bully people down low, hit jumpers at a high clip, and finish over the top of everyone, while remaining nimble enough to run with smaller guys. It is really rare. I will never understand the Okafor comparisons. And I don't think he's even comparable to Bagley offensively because right now Bagley is a glorified Kenneth Faried. People are assuming he isn't a fit due to things he hasn't done yet (like hit 3s), while taking that as proof that he CAN'T do that. I think his raw skills point to that not being the case.

You keep mentioning people here being too hard on him. I don't really think that's the case. He's clearly most everyone's 1 or 2 and many who might have him 2 he is right there at 1.

I think he will be able to hit the 3 at a reasonable rate. He already shoots 34% and 73% from the line. While not great, it is much better than like Bagley and Bamba. But for a C his offense is ahead of everyone's and his rebounding too...his size and length and ability to tip back to himself will all be useful in the NBA where Bagley's motor being nice, the lack of length could hurt him with rebounding.

Shot blocking he obviously is much better than Bagley even if it's not his greatest strength (at least in relation to other elite top big men in past drafts..he still has an ok block rate). The main thing he will need to improve on his rotating to the rim and not getting out of position and his awareness overall on team defense. The extremely low steal rate though is a concern given that is usually a prime defensive indicator. But at least he has the size, length and tools and should be a plus offensively, solid rebounder, and hopefully at least a passable defender to start. But offensively there shouldn't be too much question that he should be good.

People have been mentioning Bamba being a defensive guy who can hit the 3. I think Ayton is probably a bit more equipped to do that right now. And of course he wants to play 4.

He's not everyone's 1 or 2 though. The article I was responding to was written by somebody who has him like 5th or 6th overall.
Many are comparing him to Jalil Okafor and some prefer Bagley here in this thread alone. Bagley has shown to be a great athlete with a great motor but not much else.

I think Ayton will be a star and is the safest bet to do so because I think his current skill set and athleticism will allow him to be that no matter what. Doncic is also pretty safe imo due to skill, and same with Young, but Ayton has the skill and athleticism where I feel he will for sure be a top 3 player at his position at some point in his career.

Yeah, I wasn't talking about outside of this board. I had pointed out that the guy who wrote the article had him 6th and Bagley 7th, and I know a number of people on the draft forum don't have him top 2.

I haven't see too many people here who don't, at least the ones who posted in the big board thread. I think there are maybe 1-2 or maybe 3 people who have posted that might have Doncic/Trae 1 and 2. Oh and I guess one other who has Bagley/Trae 1/2...and maybe Doncic 3.

But none of the people I'm referring to have posted in the thread since the article was posted.

[bwgood77]

I'm saying Ayton, Trae, or Trade.

If we get stuck with 4 then hopefully some dumb ass team takes Doncic 1-3 so we at least get Bagley.

Bamba is too limited to take that high.
Porter is too much of a medical risk.

+1, although if our trainers and doctors think Porter will be fine long term I'd consider taking him top 4.

For those saying bigs are irrelevant in today's NBA, watch Embiid in this series and tell me you'd still take Doncic over Ayton.

I think many or most of those who have Doncic over Ayton would have Ayton #1 if they thought he'd be anything like Embiid. He may be like him offensively. You can't just assume a guy that was a questionable defender in college will be a legit DPOY candidate big.

I get the arguments that he has the tools to become potentially an adequate defender or maybe even a good one, but you saying that would be like someone saying "Anyone who wants Ayton over Doncic, watch Harden and tell me you'd rather have Ayton over Doncic."

[bwgood77]

+1, although if our trainers and doctors think Porter will be fine long term I'd consider taking him top 4.

For those saying bigs are irrelevant in today's NBA, watch Embiid and tell me you'd still take Doncic over Ayton.

-1. There is no reason to say Porter is too big a medical risk. That is up to our trainers to decide. We have really good ones--one of the few thing our org does at an elite level. If they remove him from the board due to medical concerns okay, but I take Porter over Bagley all day personally.

LOL, you are a knob.

No need for personal insults.

[BobbieL]

I still think our best offseason scenario would be trading back into this draft. Get one of Doncic or Ayton then get back in for Young, Bamba, Porter, or Bridges. Will cost a lot but I would be okay with that given the upside.

I'd give up the farm to get #2 or #3 (After we get #1 with our own pick).

Give up our pick next year, along with all other teams future 1sts that we own as well.

I actually do not think this is the best use of those assets.

This team cannot get YOUNGER to me. Unless we are trading up to draft Olajuwon (Ayton) and Jordan (Doncic) - I mean those types of transcendant players -- I would rather use assets to get the right veteran to build out this roster.

Ayton, Doncic or Young, Booker, Jackson, Chriss Bender is a 25 win team next year

[ATTL]

I still think our best offseason scenario would be trading back into this draft. Get one of Doncic or Ayton then get back in for Young, Bamba, Porter, or Bridges. Will cost a lot but I would be okay with that given the upside.

I'd give up the farm to get #2 or #3 (After we get #1 with our own pick).

Give up our pick next year, along with all other teams future 1sts that we own as well.

I actually do not think this is the best use of those assets.

This team cannot get YOUNGER to me. Unless we are trading up to draft Olajuwon (Ayton) and Jordan (Doncic) - I mean those types of transcendant players -- I would rather use assets to get the right veteran to build out this roster.

Ayton, Doncic or Young, Booker, Jackson, Chriss Bender is a 25 win team next year

Personally, I'd rather trade up using next year's pick as bait than draft a 2019 rookie. I dont think we'll have a bottom 5 team next year and i don't like how 2019 is shaping up.

We can trade back into the top 7 and sign key veterans to move the needle.

[BobbieL]

I'd give up the farm to get #2 or #3 (After we get #1 with our own pick).

Give up our pick next year, along with all other teams future 1sts that we own as well.

I actually do not think this is the best use of those assets.

This team cannot get YOUNGER to me. Unless we are trading up to draft Olajuwon (Ayton) and Jordan (Doncic) - I mean those types of transcendant players -- I would rather use assets to get the right veteran to build out this roster.

Ayton, Doncic or Young, Booker, Jackson, Chriss Bender is a 25 win team next year

Personally, I'd rather trade up using next year's pick as bait than draft a 2019 rookie. I dont think we'll have a bottom 5 team next year and i don't like how 2019 is shaping up.

We can trade back into the top 7 and sign key veterans to move the needle.

I think a lot would depend on who the player is: if the Suns draft Ayton, than another "big" like Wendell Carter not needed. I understand next years draft is weaker - but if you know that - so do those teams in the top 10. It might be better to have a top 10 to 12 pick this year than pickin Anthony Bennett, Nerlen Noel, Alex Len and Ben Mclemore "next year".

[Sunzgunz]

I still think our best offseason scenario would be trading back into this draft. Get one of Doncic or Ayton then get back in for Young, Bamba, Porter, or Bridges. Will cost a lot but I would be okay with that given the upside.

I'd give up the farm to get #2 or #3 (After we get #1 with our own pick).

Give up our pick next year, along with all other teams future 1sts that we own as well.

I actually do not think this is the best use of those assets.

This team cannot get YOUNGER to me. Unless we are trading up to draft Olajuwon (Ayton) and Jordan (Doncic) - I mean those types of transcendant players -- I would rather use assets to get the right veteran to build out this roster.

Ayton, Doncic or Young, Booker, Jackson, Chriss Bender is a 25 win team next year

Plus 25, right?

[BobbieL]

I'd give up the farm to get #2 or #3 (After we get #1 with our own pick).

Give up our pick next year, along with all other teams future 1sts that we own as well.

I actually do not think this is the best use of those assets.

This team cannot get YOUNGER to me. Unless we are trading up to draft Olajuwon (Ayton) and Jordan (Doncic) - I mean those types of transcendant players -- I would rather use assets to get the right veteran to build out this roster.

Ayton, Doncic or Young, Booker, Jackson, Chriss Bender is a 25 win team next year

Plus 25, right?

maybe - but the Suns need to get some veteran mature players. look at the play-offs, these teams are 5-7 years older - two more 19 year olds will make it tough. again, unless these players are like Earvin Johnson or tim Duncan.

[TheLogician]

I'm saying Ayton, Trae, or Trade.

If we get stuck with 4 then hopefully some dumb ass team takes Doncic 1-3 so we at least get Bagley.

Bamba is too limited to take that high.
Porter is too much of a medical risk.

+1, although if our trainers and doctors think Porter will be fine long term I'd consider taking him top 4.

For those saying bigs are irrelevant in today's NBA, watch Embiid in this series and tell me you'd still take Doncic over Ayton.

I think many or most of those who have Doncic over Ayton would have Ayton #1 if they thought he'd be anything like Embiid. He may be like him offensively. You can't just assume a guy that was a questionable defender in college will be a legit DPOY candidate big.

I get the arguments that he has the tools to become potentially an adequate defender or maybe even a good one, but you saying that would be like someone saying "Anyone who wants Ayton over Doncic, watch Harden and tell me you'd rather have Ayton over Doncic."

Embiid was unproven on offense at Kansas. He mostly just dunked lobs. Yet now he is a two-way player. Same potential for Ayton.

[thamadkant]

Wins come when you add veterans who know how to play the game and implement strategy. Young players or rookies are dependent on their skills rather than strategy.


Hence getting a good coach is hand in hand with getting good role playing veterans.

[bwgood77]

+1, although if our trainers and doctors think Porter will be fine long term I'd consider taking him top 4.

For those saying bigs are irrelevant in today's NBA, watch Embiid in this series and tell me you'd still take Doncic over Ayton.

I think many or most of those who have Doncic over Ayton would have Ayton #1 if they thought he'd be anything like Embiid. He may be like him offensively. You can't just assume a guy that was a questionable defender in college will be a legit DPOY candidate big.

I get the arguments that he has the tools to become potentially an adequate defender or maybe even a good one, but you saying that would be like someone saying "Anyone who wants Ayton over Doncic, watch Harden and tell me you'd rather have Ayton over Doncic."

Embiid was unproven on offense at Kansas. He mostly just dunked lobs. Yet now he is a two-way player. Same potential for Ayton.

Sure, I'd like to assume whoever we draft will reach one of their comp who is among the best players in the league. Those who don't want Durant, watch Porter and tell me you'd rather have _____________. For those who don't want Trae, watch Curry and tell me you'd rather have __________.

I mean that'd be great if these guys all end up superstars. But projecting one guy to be one to take him over another when people seem to compare all these guys to various league superstars is a stretch.

I mean I have those guys as pretty much a toss up, and it would be certainly hard to pass on Ayton at 1, and I have no say in the matter, so if our choice is one of Ayton/Doncic at 1/2 I'll be happy.

[Sunzgunz]

I actually do not think this is the best use of those assets.

This team cannot get YOUNGER to me. Unless we are trading up to draft Olajuwon (Ayton) and Jordan (Doncic) - I mean those types of transcendant players -- I would rather use assets to get the right veteran to build out this roster.

Ayton, Doncic or Young, Booker, Jackson, Chriss Bender is a 25 win team next year

Plus 25, right?

maybe - but the Suns need to get some veteran mature players. look at the play-offs, these teams are 5-7 years older - two more 19 year olds will make it tough. again, unless these players are like Earvin Johnson or tim Duncan.

Gotcha! My only concern is that our track record as of late means we probably wont get meaningful free agents and i think teams will purposely lopside trades based on recent actions and desperation. We probably have to restore vua the draft 1st. Hopefully im way off.

I do think this team would have won atleast 25 games had we not been tanking. Factor in another year of development for these youngins, and JJ's play as off late. Then u include 2 likely impactful players like Ayton and Doncic (based on your scenario) i think we push .500; a 40 win season and just short of the playoffs.