What if? Luka as a Wildcat...

[Hoop Head]

Thought this was interesting and would have definitely had a huge domino effect on the Suns organization, as well as Mavericks. Lots of questions as to when he'd come over, would he play with Ayton there and enter the draft at the same time?

I think we can all agree that Sarver would have been keen to add him, somehow, if he were a Wildcat alum.

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[Hoop Head]

Say he plays with Ayton and comes out the same time. No question Luka is the #1 pick, right? Does Ayton come out or develop a work ethic or desire to win? Do they want to team up in the pros? What this does to the 2018 draft is crazy though. It would throw everything off. Guys like Bagley may even go somewhere they can develop rather than ending up in NBA purgatory on a Kings team that somehow was worse than the Suns during our decade of descent.

 

[Phrazbit]

Say he plays with Ayton and comes out the same time. No question Luka is the #1 pick, right? Does Ayton come out or develop a work ethic or desire to win? Do they want to team up in the pros? What this does to the 2018 draft is crazy though. It would throw everything off. Guys like Bagley may even go somewhere they can develop rather than ending up in NBA purgatory on a Kings team that somehow was worse than the Suns during our decade of descent.

Hmm.... Maybe the fantasy of the Suns going hard and dumping future capital to draft Ayton AND Luka comes true? Sarver is a UofA guy, so that probably would have tickled him in the right places, and Luka would have been a dominant college player as a freshman, they probably make a deep run.

The "Suns draft Luka and Ayton" seems crazy now, but it was a legit conversational piece at the time, we had the top pick, the 10th pick and a bunch of draft capital to throw around... if anything, I think we could have outbid what the Mavs gave up to get him from Atlanta at #3.

Bagley however... I think was destined to be a bust. He was a good college player but a deficient guy at every aspect of NBA ball that matters... and his work ethic was worse than Ayton's.

I think Luka dominates in college and goes #1, he probably makes Ayton look even better and Ayton is the unquestioned #2... so it's hard to see us getting both, which would probably be a good thing.

Or, because it's Arizona sports we're talking about, Ayton and Luka bring out the worst in each other, both come off as petulant, spoiled turds, the Suns draft Bagley #1 and we remain in the cellar for another few years.

 

[TJ]

Who needs Luka when you have all 5’10” of Parker Jackson-Cartwright?

 

[Hoop Head]

I think Luka dominates in college and goes #1, he probably makes Ayton look even better and Ayton is the unquestioned #2... so it's hard to see us getting both, which would probably be a good thing.

This is one part I am having trouble with, of course including the benefit of hindsight. Even CP3 didn't make Ayton look great often. Ayton had some highlight plays but I really think he'd either elect to stay a year in college so he can build his stock without Luka or ends up a late lottery pick. Maybe we take him later in the draft.


BTW, we had the 15th or 16th pick, I don't recall which, but we traded that after the fact for Mikal, who went #10. We also had to include the fabled Miami pick from the Dragic deal in that. Rumors were hot we offering that for Shai also. Mikal wasn't on fans radar but was arguably the only guy McD, Sarver, and JJ all agreed on. So maybe we still do that. I just wanted to mention we didn't actually own the #10 pick, as you said.

 

[Phrazbit]

This is one part I am having trouble with, of course including the benefit of hindsight. Even CP3 didn't make Ayton look great often. Ayton had some highlight plays but I really think he'd either elect to stay a year in college so he can build his stock without Luka or ends up a late lottery pick. Maybe we take him later in the draft.


BTW, we had the 15th or 16th pick, I don't recall which, but we traded that after the fact for Mikal, who went #10. We also had to include the fabled Miami pick from the Dragic deal in that. Rumors were hot we offering that for Shai also. Mikal wasn't on fans radar but was arguably the only guy McD, Sarver, and JJ all agreed on. So maybe we still do that. I just wanted to mention we didn't actually own the #10 pick, as you said.

Ayton was unanimously considered a top 3 pick, despite playing out of position (because UofA stupidly was loyal to Ristic) and despite not having a distributor on the roster.

Offensively, I think Luka would have made Ayton look even better... I really have no doubt, Ayton did a lot of heavy lifting on that team, they really had no play makers, Luka is certainly a play maker.

A year in college almost certainly ups Luka's stock, gives the scouts a real field to compare him to, and I think playing with Luka improves Ayton's standing... I certainly don't see how it could hurt Ayton's stock.

Maybe they bring out the worst in a each other? They certainly both have flaws. I am certain that Ayton wasn't going to stick around, he is the apitamy of a "one and done" player.

I bet he spent less effort in class than I did on this post.

 

[TJ]

Ayton was unanimously considered a top 3 pick, despite playing out of position (because UofA stupidly was loyal to Ristic) and despite not having a distributor on the roster.

Offensively, I think Luka would have made Ayton look even better... I really have no doubt, Ayton did a lot of heavy lifting on that team, they really had no play makers, Luka is certainly a play maker.

A year in college almost certainly ups Luka's stock, gives the scouts a real field to compare him to, and I think playing with Luka improves Ayton's standing... I certainly don't see how it could hurt Ayton's stock.

Maybe they bring out the worst in a each other? They certainly both have flaws. I am certain that Ayton wasn't going to stick around, he is the apitamy of a "one and done" player.

I bet he spent less effort in class than I did on this post.

Hey don’t mess with my boy, Dusan! He’s the best Serbian center in basketball today!

In all honesty, Ristic was a solid player, but he probably should’ve been Ayton’s backup and not starting alongside him. That whole 17-18 roster composition was bizarre and more of a sum of parts, even with all of that talent (shoutout FBI). That team needed one more solid defender and another shooter. With Luka, we would’ve just won a bunch of games 95-89