Phx-Suns.Net

B-.

I wanted Ayton. Can see why you'd pay to get Bridges but at this time it looks like you gave up too much. Don't know much about Okobo.

A-. For me Bridges was best overall prospect in draft.

I'll give us a solid B+. I like Ayton's potential but still think Doncic has that special quality. My only issue with Ayton is that I think he'll need a good PG to get the most out of him, but that's on the organization to provide that. If he turns out to be a better defender as a pro, you won't hear much out of me.

Getting Mikal was a nice surprise because I think his skillset is much needed. He's labeled as a 3 and D guy but has intangibles you can't teach. He been coached up in one of the best college programs, has played in tons of big games and has that winner's mentality. Something tells me he'll be a better pro than Jackson, and I still really like Jackson. I like that they're just different players. Mikal is more of a traditional, fundamental SF even if he's solid and unspectacular. I wish he were a tad bigger so he could play some PF more effectively or guard some of the taller/longer SFs. I don't like that we gave up the Heat pick but that's not his fault.

Okobo I'm pretty optimistic about. No, he's not a traditional PG but even playing PG for this first time this year he still averaged 4.5apg - which isn't bad for Europe. I like that he's got that explosive first step getting to the basket and he can really shoot it. I don't mind that he's not a pure PG because I think we have enough willing passers and ballhandlers in Booker and Jackson. I also get the feeling Igor will want more of a movement, spread offense instead of 1 guy pounding the ball looking to get 8-10 assists per game. The more successful teams have 2-3-4 guys getting 4-5 apg anyway.

This was a very heavy SG/SF draft but we got some nice talent at PG, SF and C. The next challenge will be shaking things out at SF/PF, which I have almost no confidence in McD doing.

I’m grading it a B+
Ayton is a good solid pick at number one. I have a feeling he won’t end up being the best player on the draft but I can’t see him being less than a very good player - and potentially a great one.
I’m a little uneasy about giving up the Miami pick but get why MCD went all in with Bridges - you reckon he’s top 10 in a strong draft and fills needs (defense and shooting) . But again we’ve loaded up on players at a position/s where we already have players needing minutes. TJ probably needs to be traded before the season starts.
Okobo I think could be a steal.
All in we’re better off now than we were before the draft. It will be fascinating to see what our line up is on opening night.

A

This draft was a 4-course meal, it gave me everything I wanted and left me feeling satisfied. Ayton was my pick (though I would have been happy with Doncic). I'm thrilled with the Mikal trade. It's understandable why others would be upset about trading the Miami pick, but my guess is that pick falls in the 10-20 range. I think the perceived loss in value is overstated by many. It was really nice to see the Suns active on draft night, using the trade chips they had to better the team.

In the draft, teams often have to choose between best fit and best available. I think we did both of these things at the 1, 10, and 31.

ShelC wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 22, 2018 3:40 am

... The more successful teams have 2-3-4 guys getting 4-5 apg anyway.
...

You've been saying that for 15 years. Maybe you finally get your wish with Igor.

A

Ayton is supposed to be a scoring stud (fingers crossed), and you just can't expect them to pass on a guy with that size / agility / footwork. With the guys I really wanted available at 4 (JJJ) and 5 (Doncic via trade), there's a bitter little bitch inside my head that says we should have been able to make that happen. That would have taken a truely inspiring combination of imagination, skill, and luck, so I'm not going to be too bitter about missing the opportunity.

Mikal is one of my favorite players in the draft. He's going to be one of those guys whose value is greater than his fame. May not be an allstar, depending on how much he can tighten up his dribbling and handle the ball more. But that's OK, the team is going to be sooo much better with him on the court.

Okobo is a guy at a position of need AND he's got potential. Seems like a good pick here.

Brendan Haywood on NBA TV last night also said we won the draft.

Let me know when we get a real point guard.....

This was the franchise of Johnson, Kidd, Marbury and Nash. Now, it’s... :sigh:

On the other hand, this was also the franchise of West, Schleine, Thrown Rod, [CENSORED], The Two Jakes, and Kurt Thomas. It’s really nice to have DeAndre.

Remember when we had Kidd, KJ, and Nash at the same time? We played Rodney Rodgers at center a lot.

I would give B for the players we got. I'm firmly in the Doncic over Ayton camp since generating realiable offense is IMO the most valuable skill, but I can see the m̶u̶s̶c̶l̶e̶s̶ appeal of Ayton. It seems like Bridges is a guy any team needs and Okobo is a good fit for this team with solid upside. I like them.

I will lower the grade to C beacuse of the Miami pick. Smith is supposedly a very good prospect as well, I don't think it was worth giving the Miami pick without protection to upgrade him. Miami's future is very unpredictable. Even if that pick ends up in 10-20 range it could be very valuable. When a team is good it's usually without cap space or good picks which makes it hard to get better. If this team is (as we all hope) making big strides in the next few years, it's great having an unprotected pick from another team, just ask Boston.

And, that draft can be extremely deep if it's the first year HS kids can enter. It's like picking the best players from 2021 and 2022 drafts in one year. So yeah, not a fan of this move, even though Bridges sounds like a very good player. I think McD did it because without improvement he wouldn't be the one using the 2021 pick.

Now, before everyone blasts me for being a pessimistic naysayer or whatever (you can still do it later), I would just like to say that C to me is the average grade, not a "fire the front office" grade. It seems like for most of the other posters the average grade is B+/A-. Now to make it easier for you to blast me, I liked what Philly did the last draft, so it's very safe to ignore my opinion. I don't watch NCAA so my opinion of most of these players is second hand at best.

C for giving away a pick that MIGHT be valuable in 3 years.

TheOriginalOriginal wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 22, 2018 9:38 pm

C for giving away a pick that MIGHT be valuable in 3 years.

And for picking Ayton over Doncic. The pick will be valuable, you can debate how much and I gave my reasons why I think it has a lot of value. Just like the Lakers pick ended up having enough value for us to trade two other picks for it. In the end, nothing is certain, players picked MIGHT be good or not. It's just playing the odds.

As a teacher, I can tell you with much authority that C is not the "average" grade any more at later levels. That's why it's tough to use an A/B/C/D/F grading scheme to rate a draft. Really a person who gets a C is severely deficient in the subject matter at most any high school or college any more.

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 23, 2018 2:18 am

As a teacher, I can tell you with much authority that C is not the "average" grade any more at later levels. That's why it's tough to use an A/B/C/D/F grading scheme to rate a draft. Really a person who gets a C is severely deficient in the subject matter at most any high school or college any more.

Ok, another way to look at it is I lowered the grade once for taking Ayton over Doncic and another time for trading the pick unprotected.

DeAndre Ayton at #1 - A (Like what I've seen and heard so far)
Mykal Bridges at #10 - B+ (some reservations on not putting any conditions on the Miami pick)
Elie Okobo at #31 - A (he looks to be a very good value in the 2nd round)
George King at #59 - C (he's going to have an uphill battle making the team or getting a two-way contract)

C for missing on Doncic
A for Mikal
B for Okobo
Does any letter make difference for King?

That makes it a solid B overall.

by the way we should have pool here..

Not sure anyone cares about my rating since I'm not much of a draft expert, but here goes.

Ayton: A- Yes I would have preferred Doncic, but Deandre is a monster and will be at least an Amare level player for us. I'm o.k. with that. Especially if he can pull down 10 boards a night. That's all we ever wanted from Amare. 2 extra rebounds per game. If he can learn to defend at all I'll never say another word about the pick.

Bridges: A- I didn't pay a lot of attention to Bridges because I didn't think there was much of a chance at drafting him. I mean... he was clearly one of the best college players in the draft and was mocked in the 6-10 range pretty much all season. I think he's going to be a starter level player for several years. You can't ask for more. I'm tired of lamenting picks after we traded them away so I'm not as pissed about the pick as I was on draft night. Especially after diving into Bridges' film. He really is that good.

Okobo: A+ Love this pick! He's more polished than Dragic when he came over. Tight handle, great vision, very athletic, good shooter. I predict he will be a fan favorite by the end of the year. Could be the next great French PG. Check out the reddit thread I linked in another thread. Some good observations of his play from some game film earlier in the year.

Overall: A. We addressed every single team need we had. C, 3&D wing, PG. What more could you ask for?

I thought the Suns won the draft. I really liked a lot of players in this draft, thought it was particularly deep and with high end prospects at the top. I loved Doncic, but if he wasn't dropping to 4, I didn't think it would be possible for the Suns to get him too. With that said, I was in the Ayton camp, but fully admit I could be wrong.

I loved Mikal Bridges, but never thought he was going to be a possibility for the Suns so never put much time in on him. I really thought he may be better than Jackson, but felt the Suns were all in on Jackson to not consider it. Giving up the Miami pick was tough just because I saw it as better than the Milwaukee pick, but I thought this year was the year to start cashing in those future assets. Ultimately, I was ok with it as he will be a better player than anyone they could pick there.

I was seriously considering taking Okobo at 16, so getting him at 31 was a coup in my mind. He was the 3rd best pg prospect in this draft to me. I see great upside and a homerun pick in a spot you could take a chance on upside.

The King pick was perplexing to me. I don't know anything about him and just thought a better pick would have been Kosta Antekoumpo or Bonzi Colson there.