If you haven’t heard yet, the Phoenix Suns will be selecting number one overall in Thursday’s NBA Draft. For the Phoenix Suns despite being one of the oldest teams in the league, 50 years, this will be their first time selecting number one overall. This is unfamiliar waters for the Suns, but with a veteran General Manager like Ryan Mcdonough – who always seems to ace the draft- the Phoenix Suns seem to have all they need to make the correct decision. So, who will be this year’s Chosen Sun?
The Favorite Pick:
Deandre Ayton: 7′ 1″ 260LBS Center, University of Arizona
Stats: 20.1 PPG, 11.6 RPG, 1.9 BPG
NBA Comparisons: Shawn Kemp, David Robinson
- It would be very tough for the Suns to pass up on a player with the capabilities of Ayton. The Former Wildcat’s abilities can be summed up in a single sentence. Experts claim that Deandre Ayton is “David Robinson with a jump shot”. The only knock on Ayton’s abilities is his defensive effort. However, this may be overblown, what many casual fans may not remember is Ayton played in a Wildcat defense that had 2, 7-foot players and Ayton wasn’t asked to be a defensive anchor. The Potential of Ayton is through the roof and his “bust potential” is very low. Not only is this the best pick but it’s the safest.
The Underdog Pick:
Luka Doncic: 6′ 6″ 220 LBS Guard, Real Madrid
Stats (All competitions): 14.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 4.6 APG
NBA Comparisons: Manu Ginobili
- LukaDoncic is the consciences number 2 player in the draft behind Ayton to most people. Doncic is a 19-year old Euroleague player that made a splash very quickly as the youngest player to ever win the MVP and lead his team to a championship title. Doncic is doing things that no NBA player has done overseas which makes him a hot commodity to many NBA teams. In my opinion, the biggest knock on Luka is his leadership and defensive abilities. There has been many reports that players don’t like playing with Luka overseas which can cause locker room trouble here in the NBA. Also, if you combine the backcourt of Devin Booker and Luka Doncic it’s clear that those two will give up a lot of easy buckets defensively. For those two reasons I have Doncic behind Ayton.
The Unpopular pick:
Marvin Bagley III: 6′ 11″ 235 LBS Forward, Duke University
Stats: Stats: 21.2 PPG, 11.3 RPG, 61.4% FG
NBA Comparisons: Amare Stoudemire, Chris Bosh
- The Arizona Native seems to be flying under the radar and for no good reason. He by far had the best NCAA Tournament out of all the top prospects and for some reason he isn’t getting the same amount of love as others. Marvin Bagley isn’t really a flashy pop-off-your-television-screen type athlete. Having said that, he does most everything exceptionally well including scoring and playmaking. The potential for a player like Marvin Bagley is through the roof. However, he’s not the most NBA ready prospect, which means wherever he gets drafted he probably won’t start right away, but with enough coaching the ceiling for Bagley could be the highest.
The Diamond in the Rough Pick:
Michael Porter Jr. 6′ 11″ 210 LBS Forward, Missouri University
Stats: 10.0 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 33% FG (3 Games)
NBA Comparisons: Harrison Barnes, Kevin Durant, Joe Johnson
- Michael Porter Jr. had an unusual one-and-done college experience where coming out of college he was one of the most coveted recruits but only played three games due to injury. Porter is one of my favorite players in the draft and although I know it’s very unlikely he would go number one to the Phoenix Suns the potential and scoring ability of Porter is undeniable. The single biggest question mark on Porter is his play, he only played 3 games in college therefore there’s not much film on him. And so it’s hard for an NBA General Manager to know what they have in him. Personally, I think MPJ will fall in this draft and whoever is lucky enough to have him fall into their collective laps will be likely very pleased with what they end up with.
The Phoenix Suns have a lot to consider when it comes to the draft, it’s time they got a good pick and were able to convert it to wins during the season. The Suns have to get this pick correct, and with their first overall pick ever in the NBA Draft I believe the Suns should draft Deandre Ayton. After all, with so much potential and based on the fact that he wants to be here Deandre would be very tough for the Suns to pass up. Tune in tomorrow on ESPN at 7pm EST to see who the chosen sun will be.
