The more I think about it the more I wish we could have gotten the #1 pick another year.
Not me. I have totally bought into the hype on both Ayton and Doncic. Two of the best prospects to come along in years.
Would you rather have Ayton and Bender or Simmons and Bamba?
I'm really excited about the Ayton era, I just could have been excited about the Bamba era or the Bagley era as well. Simmons/Ingram(though Brown has proven to be in the upper tier) was just way above the rest of that class and I don't think Ayton/Doncic are that far ahead of Bagley/Bamba/JJJ/Porter.
So not a knock on Ayton/Doncic but just a testament to how deep I think the top of this draft is.
The more I think about it the more I wish we could have gotten the #1 pick another year.
Not me. I have totally bought into the hype on both Ayton and Doncic. Two of the best prospects to come along in years.
Would you rather have Ayton and Bender or Simmons and Bamba?
I'm really excited about the Ayton era, I just could have been excited about the Bamba era or the Bagley era as well. Simmons/Ingram(though Brown has proven to be in the upper tier) was just way above the rest of that class and I don't think Ayton/Doncic are that far ahead of Bagley/Bamba/JJJ/Porter.
So not a knock on Ayton/Doncic but just a testament to how deep I think the top of this draft is.
OK, you make a good point. The drop off from 1 to 4 in ’16 was huge.
Come on, that’s an extreme comparison. Bender wouldn’t even be drafted in the first round in many drafts retrospectively.
Yeah, in retrospect we should have taken... Jamal Murray? Big deal.
There simply weren’t any good options at 4. Whether or not we ended up with the best of that bad lot means little.
I mean that is true, it was a horrible draft. I meant that whole draft was an aberration.
Other players recently to be drafted #4 overall include Josh Jackson and Kristaps Porzingis.
That's kinda my point. I wish we had landed the #1 pick in a crappy draft where there was an elite talent and then a bunch of meh.
I'm excited to have the #1 pick, but then I read articles on Bamba and realize he'd be a really nice player to have as well. So the #1 pick is great, I just don't think it was that important to get it. We'd have been fine landing at 3 or 4.
I think that having the 1st in a draft full of difference makers still allows you to potentially pick the best of all them. While having it in a year with mediocre talent just puts you in position not to waste it. Taking the top5 picks of the last three years, I’m not sure that any PROSPECT would have been mocked higher that Ayton and Doncic except for KAT and maybe Simmons, (that happens to be past years’ versions of Ayton and Doncic) and of course some of them like Bender wouldn’t even be sniffing the lottery this year. Every year articles and declarations are written to make people feel better about almost every prospect, that’s what Coach Miller and Gambo are doing with Ayton, and a lot of “Meet Luka” pieces are trying to pull off.
I emphasize “prospect” because of course “known Embiid” is a very tempting proposition even with his health issues, but those same issues prevent him for being Nº 1 overall on his own draft, so “prospect Embiid” wasn’t so much of a sure thing, and therefore very likely would be considered after Ayton, the same could be said with Porzingis (general thinking was a big surprise to go that high), and of course for any player below Nº5.
“Prospect Wiggins” in the other hand, was highly regarded, but I htink it was a byproduct of the mediocre year he declared, this year he would be a side note. So we have the upper hand in a year where there are two players above all the last five classes’ prospects but two. Non other name would be so clearly above, so I’m very happy to have the 1st overall, maybe Nº2 would make feel as well.
I think that having the 1st in a draft full of difference makers still allows you to potentially pick the best of all them. While having it in a year with mediocre talent just puts you in position not to waste it. Taking the top5 picks of the last three years, I’m not sure that any PROSPECT would have been mocked higher that Ayton and Doncic except for KAT and maybe Simmons, (that happens to be past years’ versions of Ayton and Doncic) and of course some of them like Bender wouldn’t even be sniffing the lottery this year. Every year articles and declarations are written to make people feel better about almost every prospect, that’s what Coach Miller and Gambo are doing with Ayton, and a lot of “Meet Luka” pieces are trying to pull off.
I emphasize “prospect” because of course “known Embiid” is a very tempting proposition even with his health issues, but those same issues prevent him for being Nº 1 overall on his own draft, so “prospect Embiid” wasn’t so much of a sure thing, and therefore very likely would be considered after Ayton, the same could be said with Porzingis (general thinking was a big surprise to go that high), and of course for any player below Nº5.
“Prospect Wiggins” in the other hand, was highly regarded, but I htink it was a byproduct of the mediocre year he declared, this year he would be a side note. So we have the upper hand in a year where there are two players above all the last five classes’ prospects but two. Non other name would be so clearly above, so I’m very happy to have the 1st overall, maybe Nº2 would make feel as well.
I agree with all that and I'm not complaining about having the 1st pick. I'm just saying if we we're going to have two 4th picks and one 1st pick, I'd take 1st in 2016 and 4th in 17 and 18
“Prospect Wiggins” in the other hand, was highly regarded, but I htink it was a byproduct of the mediocre year he declared, this year he would be a side note.
I don't think that's even remotely true. Both Wiggins and Parker were big time prospects coming out of HS; that entire freshman class was highly regarded. Wiggins would be certainly be a top prospect in this draft.
Ya that 2014 draft was also lauded as the best draft in a long time leading up to the draft. Wiggins and Parker were looked at as franchise level guys and had he been healthy, Embiid would have gone ahead of them.
I agree with all that and I'm not complaining about having the 1st pick.
There is nothing wrong with having the number one pick; it just stinks when you have feel you have to draft DeAndre Ayton.
Ya, and he might be the right pick, I don't know, but Bamba at #5 could also end up being the right pick. Ayton, and to a lesser extent, Doncic, have separated themselves as the top two guys in most people's eyes, but I don't necessarily think there's that much of a gap between them and the next 3-4 guys.
I didn’t mean sidenote as in the entire draft, but within the Top 5 comparison I did all along. I agree that he would be a lottery prospect, but compared to the top, he wouldn’t be in the same sentence as Ayton and Doncic, neither one step below, so I think he easily could fall out of the top 5. Sexton, the Bridges brothers are top prospects, but sides notes in a draft where everybody is looking at Ayton, Doncic, Bagley, Bamba, even Trae Young (hyped prospect). Wiggins would be over them as well, fighting with Trae Young and Parker for the 7th/8th spot, so, going from 1st overall to 8th is kind of a notorious drop for a highly regarded prospect just by surround him with a better pool talent.
Wiggins would not be fighting for draft position with a prospect that only played like 4 college games. Wiggins would be a lock to go in the top 5 and probably would be picked by Sacramento at 2 or by Atlanta at 3. He would easily be rated higher than Bamba and Jackson.
Wiggins would not be fighting for draft position with a prospect that only played like 4 college games. Wiggins would be a lock to go in the top 5 and probably would be picked by Sacramento at 2 or by Atlanta at 3. He would easily be rated higher than Bamba and Jackson.
To be honest, you have the better opinion here. Still not so sure about top 3, neither teams easily taking him over Bagley, but you know better.
Ya Wiggins would probably be an even better prospect if he was entering this draft. He was seen as a surefire elite defender and at 6'8 had great size and elite elite athleticism. Jaylen Brown has been very successful and Wiggins would have been seen as a bigger, more athletic Jaylen. He'd be in the conversation at the top. Remember big, athletic wings are all the rage right now.
Wiggins would not be fighting for draft position with a prospect that only played like 4 college games. Wiggins would be a lock to go in the top 5 and probably would be picked by Sacramento at 2 or by Atlanta at 3. He would easily be rated higher than Bamba and Jackson.
To be honest, you have the better opinion here. Still not so sure about top 3, neither teams easily taking him over Bagley, but you know better.
Yeah, I could see Bagley going before him, but I don't think he would have slipped out of the top 5. I think his floor would have been Dallas.
Ya that 2014 draft was also lauded as the best draft in a long time leading up to the draft. Wiggins and Parker were looked at as franchise level guys and had he been healthy, Embiid would have gone ahead of them.
That's part of why I'm so suspicious of this draft. None f these guys is a sure super star. It's up to the Suns to figure out who is going to grow the most in Phoenix.
The league needs heroes, villains... and clowns. -- Aztec Sunsfan
