The Suns with the 2018 #1 overall pick select....

[Mainstreet]

I am glad that someone finally mentioned that. Doncic is very strong. The first thing I noticed when I watched his first game was how strong he is. He doesn't look like it, but he is.

You could tell McDonough was impressed. He made two reference in that one paragraph about his size.

 

[TJ]

I'm starting to get a little tired hearing about Igor (in the media) and somehow we are supposed to draft Doncic now because of their bro-mance. Like we are going pass on a unicorn because of that?? It's like they are trying to create some drama...pfft...not buying it...at all.

Well, we kind of have to discuss it because of the obvious connection. There's not another team in the NBA with this situation. It all boils down to how much influence Igor will have in the War Room and/or Igor's desire to try and fit him in.

In the end, my prediction is the Suns choose Ayton because he's the superior prospect, has the Hillcrest/UofA connection (Sarver is an Arizona alum), and he really wants to be here. However, no one should be surprised if it ends up being Doncic.

 

[Raindog]

Actually this could be a lot of fun if you have a sick sense of humor. Yes, a few fans will go ballistic over the Doncic choice. But there will be a healthy contingent of Euro fans that will join the fray to carry the Luka torch. And a few of them will likely be in the Andrew class (major fanboi).

LOL! Yes, Andrew... I remember him well. Did he post here, too? I was mostly on Phx-Suns.net back then and he was well known and much celebrated there.

 

[Mainstreet]

LOL! Yes, Andrew... I remember him well. Did he post here, too? I was mostly on Phx-Suns.net back then and he was well known and much celebrated there.

If we are talking about the same Andrew, he posted here a lot. As I recall he was a Shaq fan.

 

[SweetD]

I am in for Ayton the only concern I have is his knee, you can tell towards the mid season once he started wearing the brace his explosion and mobility went down a notch. You can see in this video the difference when he was playing with and without the brace.

You can see at 8:11 he shoots a turn around and kinda double hops to not put as much pressure on the knee

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[Raindog]

If we are talking about the same Andrew, he posted here a lot. As I recall he was a Shaq fan.

He was - though "Shaq Groupie" or "Shaq Cult Member" might be a more accurate description. Started posting on Phx_Suns.net immediately after we acquired Shaq, and stopped the day after Shaq was traded, never to be heard from again.

 

[Mainstreet]

He was - though "Shaq Groupie" or "Shaq Cult Member" might be a more accurate description. Started posting on Phx_Suns.net immediately after we acquired Shaq, and stopped the day after Shaq was traded, never to be heard from again.

That's the one. He definitely was only here for Shaq it seems.

 

[AzStevenCal]

LOL! Yes, Andrew... I remember him well. Did he post here, too? I was mostly on Phx-Suns.net back then and he was well known and much celebrated there.

Yes, that Andrew and he frequented all the Shaq boards back then.

 

[BC867]

But if I had the power, I'd fire everyone in the front office for taking my advice over that of the professionals that have analyzed these guys inside and out.

Drafting to accommodate a draftee's connection with your new Head Coach cannot be overlooked as a factor . . . if it is in the best interest of the team.

Will whoever is making the decision think with his head or his heart?

It would be ignorant for that person to choose the latter. It should be about winning rather than accommodating.

And this talk about who Doncic would rather be drafted by. It should not be a factor.

 

[BC867]

Plus I want the excitement of watching a dominating big for a change. We're owed that after five years of Len frustration and that wuss Bender.

 

[elindholm]

Two more questions for those who are still stuck on this false choice:

1. Which will be more painful: To pick Ayton and later learn that it was the wrong choice, or to pick Doncic and later learn that it was the wrong choice?

2. Which is more likely: That Ayton turns out to be much better than Doncic, or that Doncic turns out to be much better than Ayton?

 

[BC867]

Okay... let me this real simple. Let's say you've always wanted to be THE top dog at an Employee Benefits Company. It's been your dream job for decades. Everything you've done to this point in your career has been to get that dream job and then you get a call from 1 of only 30 companies in the world that you'd want to work for... and they're looking at YOU to right the ship, but they are facing a MASSIVE decision... a decision that has a couple different options as far as ways to be successful. Are you telling me that you'd walk into that interview (mind you... it's the ONLY interview you've EVER gotten for that position) and when they asked you which way you'd go, you'd say:

"You know what? That's a good question. I haven't really thought about it all that much."

NO FREAKING WAY. Going into the biggest interview of your life, for one of the most prestigious jobs in the world and getting only ONE shot at it, I KNOW you would have prepped for not only what the company has done in the past but you would be able to talk the positives and negatives of every option on the table for the company moving forward.

Our lotto pick is A FRANCHISE DEFINING move. We stunk all year just to get it. To think a HC candidate would come in and wouldn't be versed on every scenario in the top 4, the strengths and weakness of the top tier players in the draft had and how they'd fit into his coaching philosophy makes zero sense.

So, yes... the moment his agent called him and said you have a shot at your dream job and the biggest decision facing that franchise was going to be the lottery, you'd HAVE to start looking into how to solve that problem because there's no WAY it doesn't come up in the interview.

Think of this another way... take The Batman Franchise with Chris Nolan. The franchise was in complete tatters after Batman And Robyn. WB hadn't made a Batman movie in 8 years after that disaster but it was time get it back up and running. So the studio executives reach out to young up and coming directors to get their pitches and ideas about who they could possibly see playing The Dark Knight. Chris Nolan's agent gets the call... WB wants to interview him!.

Now, up to Batman Begins, he had made Memento and Insomnia, right? Warner's loves his pitch for the world, how it'll function. Then they get to the most important question for any franchise. They've got a couple young actors who they really like... say Christian Bale, Jake Gyllenhaal and Josh Hartnett (all of whom were in the running). Who would be your number one pick for Batman? Do you think when asked that, Chris Nolan said... well, gee... I like Guy Pearce and worked with him but haven't given much thought to the others and haven't seen them in anything.

The draft is the biggest question the Suns franchise has faced since FA back in 2004. To think that a head coaching candidate wouldn't be prepared to talk all angles of it seems wildly unrealistic.

And AFTER he got the job, HIS DREAM, that he wouldn't spend every waking minute of his free time preparing for that dream seems even more unrealistic. Remember, coaches, head coaches or asst. eat, sleep and drink basketball. When finally faced with the ability to be captain of his ship, to think he wouldn't be prepping for that while simultaneously riding out his own job feels incredibly myopic.

There's no way you'd ever walk into an interview for your dream job and be unprepared to answer the biggest question facing the company you were interviewing for. You're smarter than that and I would hope our new coach was too.

Of course he knows what's going on. It's just that he wants his boy over the obvious choice so he "plays dumb". He can't come out and say it.

Generally, you hire a Head Coach and staff the team to fit his preferences. It is a valid philosophy.

It just doesn't fit the scenario for the Suns at this time, with a killer Center as everyone's #1 and, believe it or not, the Suns got #1 for the only time in 50 years. Who wudda thought?

 

[Raindog]

Two more questions for those who are still stuck on this false choice:

1. Which will be more painful: To pick Ayton and later learn that it was the wrong choice, or to pick Doncic and later learn that it was the wrong choice?

2. Which is more likely: That Ayton turns out to be much better than Doncic, or that Doncic turns out to be much better than Ayton?

To me this is simple :

1. Ayton is the obvious high reward choice. No regrets at all, even if he doesn't live up to expectations. To be honest, I still have no regrets about the Suns taking William Bedford in 1986 because they were at least swinging for the fences.

2. There is no question to me that short of injuries or some other freak occurrence, Ayton's statistical floor is Doncic's ceiling, and probably even higher. So this one is also a no-brainer.

 

[Hoop Head]

Of course he knows what's going on. It's just that he wants his boy over the obvious choice so he "plays dumb". He can't come out and say it.

Generally, you hire a Head Coach and staff the team to fit his preferences. It is a valid philosophy.

It just doesn't fit the scenario for the Suns at this time, with a killer Center as everyone's #1 and, believe it or not, the Suns got #1 for the only time in 50 years. Who wudda thought?

I don't think that's the case. He's not being asked about Ayton, he's being asked repeatedly about Doncic because he's basically the only NBA coach who has as history with him. Igor said during his introductory press conference that he coaches the guys that McD gets for him, that's pretty straight forward. He said he's familiar with Doncic since he coached him so he knows more about him than other prospects but that's no surprise either. The Suns have the ability to draft him, and it wouldn't have surprised anyone if the Suns picked 2 or 3 that they would take Doncic there but since they landed #1 the media is doing their job trying to get as much info as possible about Doncic and writing articles about why he's a contender for the #1 pick. Ayton is the favorite at #1 though and they can create more of a story asking him Doncic rather than Ayton because most see Ayton as the top prospect, asking Igor about Ayton may end the debate so he's not being asked about him. They don't get as many clicks on their webpage if they just concede that Ayton will go #1 so there's no story to be told. They'll ask Igor about Doncic because of his history and play up the "Doncic vs Ayton" scenario until the draft takes place.

Even when there is a clear cut favorite at #1 they'll prop up another player to keep people watching and reading their stories. They did it last year with Fultz vs Ball, Simmons vs Ingram, Okafor vs Towns vs Russell, Wiggins vs Parker vs Embiid, etc. They always try to create a story to keep people interested leading up to the draft, we've never been a part of that before since we've never had the #1 pick, and haven't #2 in 3 decades. It's also a bit unique that it's a foreign prospect vs college kid and both have ties to the Suns in some way. Our head coach having coached the European kid before and the college kid played collegiately at our owners alma mater and a state school in Arizona and he also played high school ball in Phoenix.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Two more questions for those who are still stuck on this false choice:

1. Which will be more painful: To pick Ayton and later learn that it was the wrong choice, or to pick Doncic and later learn that it was the wrong choice?

2. Which is more likely: That Ayton turns out to be much better than Doncic, or that Doncic turns out to be much better than Ayton?

Easy answers.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I don't think that's the case. He's not being asked about Ayton, he's being asked repeatedly about Doncic because he's basically the only NBA coach who has as history with him. Igor said during his introductory press conference that he coaches the guys that McD gets for him, that's pretty straight forward. He said he's familiar with Doncic since he coached him so he knows more about him than other prospects but that's no surprise either. The Suns have the ability to draft him, and it wouldn't have surprised anyone if the Suns picked 2 or 3 that they would take Doncic there but since they landed #1 the media is doing their job trying to get as much info as possible about Doncic and writing articles about why he's a contender for the #1 pick. Ayton is the favorite at #1 though and they can create more of a story asking him Doncic rather than Ayton because most see Ayton as the top prospect, asking Igor about Ayton may end the debate so he's not being asked about him. They don't get as many clicks on their webpage if they just concede that Ayton will go #1 so there's no story to be told. They'll ask Igor about Doncic because of his history and play up the "Doncic vs Ayton" scenario until the draft takes place.

Even when there is a clear cut favorite at #1 they'll prop up another player to keep people watching and reading their stories. They did it last year with Fultz vs Ball, Simmons vs Ingram, Okafor vs Towns vs Russell, Wiggins vs Parker vs Embiid, etc. They always try to create a story to keep people interested leading up to the draft, we've never been a part of that before since we've never had the #1 pick, and haven't #2 in 3 decades. It's also a bit unique that it's a foreign prospect vs college kid and both have ties to the Suns in some way. Our head coach having coached the European kid before and the college kid played collegiately at our owners alma mater and a state school in Arizona and he also played high school ball in Phoenix.

This is true. A draft where everyone is slotted perfectly does not make for good press. This will keep going until draft day. But we are still taking Ayton unless something really odd happens about health or something.

 

[Lefty]

A player the caliber of Ayton comes once in a long time for the Suns. Players like Doncic are not rare. Btw, I got a nice laugh when ESPN was showing how Doncic is comparable to Harden. Doncic taking a step forward and then backward before shooting was so mechanical while when Harden did it, it was so much smoother. Doncic doing a reverse layup did not even look smooth. I really don't see the wow factor from Doncic. It's more hype in my opinion.

 

[Mainstreet]

I didn't think Harden would be this good in the NBA and I watched him in college. Who is to say Doncic cannot get close. The remarkable thing about Harden though, he knew how to draw fouls even in college. This would be an interesting comparison point.

 

[devilalum]

McD said he’s open to trading #1 for a star.


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[pokerface]

McD said he’s open to trading #1 for a star.


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Part of me thinks it's stupid even if it's a stud we're getting back. I mean we could have Ayton 8 or 9 years. Plus he's on the same timeline with our core. Anyone we trade for would be a little bit older and on a much shorter contract.

 

[devilalum]

Part of me thinks it's stupid even if it's a stud we're getting back. I mean we could have Ayton 8 or 9 years. Plus he's on the same timeline with our core. Anyone we trade for would be a little bit older and on a much shorter contract.

I had the same thoughts. It is his job to consider all possibilities but it’s hard to imagine a trade for a star that makes since. Even if the Suns traded #1 for someone like Kawhi are they even a 50 win team?


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[Hoop Head]

I'm worried Doncic's ceiling is that of a taller Goran Dragic. He's a good lead guard but not a true Point Guard. He's a borderline All Star who won't lead your team anywhere and needs the ball to be effective. The more you take the ball from his hands the more he vanishes on the court. He's like Dragic when he was paired with Bledsoe, is what I'm gathering from everything that's been said. He's not a good defender but his size makes him better than Dragic on that end but having a few inches on your competition won't account for much when you're playing against the best athletes in the world in the NBA.

That could be a good player, definitely worth inquiring about mid to low lottery but not at the very top of the draft.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I'd trade our first straight up for KAT and consider it a steal. We hope and we believe Ayton will get there but KAT helps the timeline and is only 22 and a star already.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I'm worried Doncic's ceiling is that of a taller Goran Dragic.

I think his floor is 2012 Carmelo with a team first attitude.

 

[Mainstreet]

Towns has one more season on a rookie contract.

Maybe the Wolves want to check his value especially if he is unhappy. He will command the max and be worth it.