2018 Draft Grades

[Hoop Head]

Normally there are a lot of posts or articles about how the teams draft played out, who had the best draft, the worst, etc. I haven't seen much of that at all. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place. If anyone has seen any articles on draft grades though perhaps they could share links here. I know there are Insider articles also, if someone could post the Suns info here that would be vary much appreciate by those who don't subscribe to ESPN.

I'd give the Suns draft an A, maybe A-. I like what they did in the 1st round but I don't know enough about Okobo or King to grade it higher. They were good picks from what I can tell but I would have preferred Brunson at 31. I don't really care about 59. We missed out on Giannis' brother since Philly took him at 60. I could have seen him getting a decent contract if he went undrafted because a few teams might have been interested and he could have turned that into a guaranteed contract somewhere. Oh well.

 

[JCSunsfan]

A-. maybe they could have protected the Miami pick. But if it was unprotected or no deal, I make the deal. Should have taken Kostos with 59.

 

[Hoop Head]

A-. maybe they could have protected the Miami pick. But if it was unprotected or no deal, I make the deal. Should have taken Kostos with 59.

That is basically the best and most concise way to describe that trade. I think the only other reason people are little miffed is because DiVincenzo was still on the board as well and was viewed as a solid pick but the Suns didn't value him nearly as much as most fans did, or as much as they valued Bridges. I expect we'll see more of an answer to why that is when Summer League starts and the regular season starts also.

 

[Hoop Head]

Here's a good piece from the Ringer breaking down the Suns, Hawks, and Sixers drafts in more detail than their draft coverage did, calling these 3 teams the most interesting teams of the night. I like how they view things for the Suns. They're high on Okobe but a bit lower on Bridges than most seem to be, or their view is a bit different. They analyze the pick involved in that deal also.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/6/22/17494750/suns-hawks-sixers-2018-nba-draft

 

[Errntknght]

The trade for Bridges put the Suns on a different course - they were not about to draft Zhaire Smith, they were locked on Divencenzo - I'm sure everyone knew that. I didn't hate the idea but I wanted Zhaire because of his D. In Bridges we got even better defense - at least in the short run. Going thru the draft today, I realized that Philly could have picked SGA instead of Porter. Of course I'm not sure they'd have decided to deal him and I'm not sure McD would have made the trade, but that would have been a slightly better outcome, IMO - I'm assuming the trade was an off the cuff deal.

The main thing is that we added some defense to our backcourt, but I think SGA would have done that plus given us our PGOF.

 

[JCSunsfan]

The trade for Bridges put the Suns on a different course - they were not about to draft Zhaire Smith, they were locked on Divencenzo - I'm sure everyone knew that. I didn't hate the idea but I wanted Zhaire because of his D. In Bridges we got even better defense - at least in the short run. Going thru the draft today, I realized that Philly could have picked SGA instead of Porter. Of course I'm not sure they'd have decided to deal him and I'm not sure McD would have made the trade, but that would have been a slightly better outcome, IMO - I'm assuming the trade was an off the cuff deal.

The main thing is that we added some defense to our backcourt, but I think SGA would have done that plus given us our PGOF.

You would take SGA over Mikal? I wouldn't but that is interesting.

 

[Bufalay]

I don’t watch college b-ball so I’ll wait a few years to give a grade. That said I give the 2015 draft an A+.

 

[Errntknght]

You would take SGA over Mikal? I wouldn't but that is interesting.

Yes. Mainly because he's a better fit for our needs. Also, I have a preference for defensive strength at PG, especially next to Booker. Besides with SGA, McD wouldn't be talking about needing to pick up a PG in free agency. No one on the board has mentioned Okobo but me and I'm thinking McD is giving him about that amount of consideration. I don't know what Igor is thinking, but he'd like to start Okobo next fall I'd certainly go along with that. Heck, he can't be a worse PG than BK and he'll have a lot steeper learning curve. Ooops, a little off topic, there.

 

[Mainstreet]

Yes. Mainly because he's a better fit for our needs. Also, I have a preference for defensive strength at PG, especially next to Booker. Besides with SGA, McD wouldn't be talking about needing to pick up a PG in free agency. No one on the board has mentioned Okobo but me and I'm thinking McD is giving him about that amount of consideration. I don't know what Igor is thinking, but he'd like to start Okobo next fall I'd certainly go along with that. Heck, he can't be a worse PG than BK and he'll have a lot steeper learning curve. Ooops, a little off topic, there.

As I recall, others have mentioned Okobo as well. He is a little raw but he has tons of potential. However, I don't think he is ready to start.

 

[Hoop Head]

Yes. Mainly because he's a better fit for our needs. Also, I have a preference for defensive strength at PG, especially next to Booker. Besides with SGA, McD wouldn't be talking about needing to pick up a PG in free agency. No one on the board has mentioned Okobo but me and I'm thinking McD is giving him about that amount of consideration. I don't know what Igor is thinking, but he'd like to start Okobo next fall I'd certainly go along with that. Heck, he can't be a worse PG than BK and he'll have a lot steeper learning curve. Ooops, a little off topic, there.

Okobo has been mentioned and if you saw the press conference he got a fair bit of time there also. I wouldn't downplay his selection that much. It's certainly not the same sort of value as Ayton and Bridges though. Everybody seems to think he could be a starter down the line but now right now. At least that's how I've seen him mentioned here in various posts.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Thestepien.com review on Okobo is quite impressive. He compares similarly to Parker in France. He is a bit turnover prone though.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Okobo has definitely gotten attention here. I liked him and I know chap did as well.

 

[Errntknght]

He got more mention going into the draft than he has since we drafted him. If Igor is happy to start him, that's all I need to know.

 

[Phrazbit]

If the Giannis brother were not Giannis' brother he wouldn't have been drafted by anyone. As a 20 year old he was a borderline rotation player at DAYTON, he averaged 5 points and 3 boards a game. He is a non prospect.

I don't mind us not repeating, for like the 6th time, a waste of resources on someone who's merit comes from their last name. I don't care about the long shot odds, it happened so often that it became a joke, I want the joke to end.

Just did a little more searching. Kostas in high school averaged 12-7 as a senior.

This draft could have had 10 rounds and again, if not for his last name, he probably would not have been selected.

 

[Chaplin]

Okobo has definitely gotten attention here. I liked him and I know chap did as well.

Yeah I did. My final prediction I believe was Ayton, Smith and Okobo for our first 3 picks. I guess I was right!

I do like Bridges more than Smith. But I knew next to nothing about Mikal before we traded for him. Did we even work him out?

 

[ColdPickleNachos]

Yeah I did. My final prediction I believe was Ayton, Smith and Okobo for our first 3 picks. I guess I was right!

I do like Bridges more than Smith. But I knew next to nothing about Mikal before we traded for him. Did we even work him out?

If we worked him out, it wasn't made public.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

Yeah I did. My final prediction I believe was Ayton, Smith and Okobo for our first 3 picks. I guess I was right!

I do like Bridges more than Smith. But I knew next to nothing about Mikal before we traded for him. Did we even work him out?

I'm guessing since you figured he wasn't a target you didn't do any research on him? Because he has been regarded as a top 8 or so prospect for months.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Honestly. I looked at one video early on Okobo and discounted him. I did not like what I saw. The competition level was subpar and he really looked overrated. It is only now that I am looking closer and have been pleasantly surprised. Many think he could start in this league. I am intrigued anyway.

 

[Mainstreet]

Honestly. I looked at one video early on Okobo and discounted him. I did not like what I saw. The competition level was subpar and he really looked overrated. It is only now that I am looking closer and have been pleasantly surprised. Many think he could start in this league. I am intrigued anyway.

I think with time Okobo can be a starter. The question is, who starts until he is ready. McDonough is high on Knight so this might be a possibility. I really liked what I saw of Isaiah Canaan although he is likely a bench player if the Suns find room on their roster. He was a pleasant surprise.

 

[Carolinacacti]

Lord did the Suns not have Useless start some games? It's all down hill from here.

 

[Suns_fan69]

I think with time Okobo can be a starter. The question is, who starts until he is ready. McDonough is high on Knight so this might be a possibility. I really liked what I saw of Isaiah Canaan although he is likely a bench player if the Suns find room on their roster. He was a pleasant surprise.

I wasn't too hot on Canaan. He might be a better fit than Shaq because of his shooting alone, but Harrison, from my memory, seemed like he played better defense and looked to move the ball more than Canaan.

 

[Suns_fan69]

That being said, relying on either of those guys to provide meaningful minutes is not great.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I'm guessing since you figured he wasn't a target you didn't do any research on him? Because he has been regarded as a top 8 or so prospect for months.

He’s been clearly pegged at sixers pick at 10 for as long as I can remember. I can’t even recall a single mock that had him anywhere but 10. It was like the sixers called dibs on him.

 

[overseascardfan]

I was also on the Okobo train because of his athleticism and defensive potential at PG. It was either him or Carter for me at #31, funny how Carter & Brunson were the next 2 picks after Okobo.

Okobo only started playing PG just last year so he still has a lot of development ahead of him but this will be a great coaching project for Kokoskov who is known for player development. But no one can deny Okobo's got a great skill set right now to work with, he just needs to learn the PG position.

Kostos is a project, no doubt but at #59 I like his potential more than King's. I had no idea who King was but after watching clips he can shoot. Maybe he was picked because his 4 years of college experience is needed with all these youngsters on the roster.

 

[Mainstreet]

I wasn't too hot on Canaan. He might be a better fit than Shaq because of his shooting alone, but Harrison, from my memory, seemed like he played better defense and looked to move the ball more than Canaan.

Actually I liked Canaan before he got hurt. Shaq certainly plays tough defense. I guess it's all about getting the best fit. I'm not locked onto either.

May the best backup PGs win.