Who would you pick if we (OGW-willing) landed #1?

[O_Gardino]

I actually think Doncic ends up playing a lot of SF and PF in the NBA. There's no way he has the foot speed to defend NBA PG's, but he does have the build to put on quite a bit of muscle. Just like the discussion about Bender playing SF when he was drafted. It's just very very rare that a guy can play tall at a position. Coaches would rather have a quick and skilled 5 than a slow but tall 3.

I think you can send out Booker / Jackson / Doncic and not worry much about who plays which position, but you probably end up with one taller guy and one quicker guy on the court with them.

[O_Gardino]

Or how about trading up for Porter jr. if Doncic is #1? This way you continue the switching everything 1-5 6'7" or taller lineup.

Porter Jr. could end up being the best player in the draft when it's all said and done. Of course, none of us have seen enough of him to know how good he is at this point.

[TOO]

KAT, Ayton, or Doncic? If all equal the #1 pick

I think I would take KAT. But the less years worries me a bit. That is the only thing making it not 100% for me.

KAT and Booker would be incredible offensively, we'd shore up some rebounding, yeah the money stinks, but it will all catch up that way eventually. We'd still stink defensively, but we'd also have 2 of the absolutely top best under the age of 25, throw Jackson in there, maybe we pursue a trade for a PG and I think we're rolling.

I pretty much know where this forum will land, but if you do a #1 for KAT trade, would you consider trading for Lonzo, as Magic says everyone is available?

Then you could have a Ball, Booker, Jackson, Chriss, KAT starting lineup. Or even pull a FA like George for 3/4. I just don't know what it would take to trade for Lonzo. His defense, passing, rebounding, and promise of an outside shot would be tempting with that crew.

I would still absolutely take a shot on Lonzo.

[Cap]

KAT, Ayton, or Doncic? If all equal the #1 pick

I think I would take KAT. But the less years worries me a bit. That is the only thing making it not 100% for me.

KAT and Booker would be incredible offensively, we'd shore up some rebounding, yeah the money stinks, but it will all catch up that way eventually. We'd still stink defensively, but we'd also have 2 of the absolutely top best under the age of 25, throw Jackson in there, maybe we pursue a trade for a PG and I think we're rolling.

I pretty much know where this forum will land, but if you do a #1 for KAT trade, would you consider trading for Lonzo, as Magic says everyone is available?

Then you could have a Ball, Booker, Jackson, Chriss, KAT starting lineup. Or even pull a FA like George for 3/4. I just don't know what it would take to trade for Lonzo. His defense, passing, rebounding, and promise of an outside shot would be tempting with that crew.

I would still absolutely take a shot on Lonzo.

Dude averaged 10/7/7 as a rookie. If he ever learns to shoot, look out!

Just for comparison, guys who have pulled that off over the last ten years: http://bkref.com/tiny/9PPPb

LeBron (7x), Westbrook (4x), Draymond Green (3x), James Harden, Ben Simmons, and Ball.

[specialsauce]

I wouldn’t want Ball for free. I can’t stand him. Don’t want to cheer for him.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Positions are mostly insignificant in today's NBA. I'm taking the skilled 6'8" guy almost every time.

What if there is a skilled 7'1" guy?

If they're skilled like AD or KG, absolutely. But I'm not convinced Ayton is or can be that skilled if that's what you're implying.

[In2ition]

I wouldn’t want Ball for free. I can’t stand him. Don’t want to cheer for him.

I can understand that. It was just a hypothetical and a long-shot. If it were to happen, you could just cheer for everyone else and sit on your hands whenever he did anything.

[O_Gardino]

Positions are mostly insignificant in today's NBA. I'm taking the skilled 6'8" guy almost every time.

What if there is a skilled 7'1" guy?

If they're skilled like AD or KG, absolutely. But I'm not convinced Ayton is or can be that skilled if that's what you're implying.

Just playing Ayton's Advocate. I agree with you, but folk who like Ayton believe him to be very skilled.

[UglyTruth]

I wouldn’t want Ball for free. I can’t stand him. Don’t want to cheer for him.

How do you feel about his father though?

[Superbone]

I wouldn’t want Ball for free. I can’t stand him. Don’t want to cheer for him.

How do you feel about his father though?

It would be a dream to have Lavar sitting on the sidelines for every game and yelling at the coaching staff for not playing his kid the right way. Also, every night listening to his interviews. Wait... did I say dream? I meant nightmare.

[INFORMER]

Everyone is clamouring for Doncic. The same guy that couldn't get past his European defender in the championship and finished 3 for 8 with 3 assists and 4 rebounds. Pretty ho hum numbers. On a #1 pick? Is this board going mad?

Anthony Davis went 1-10 in his championship game with Kentucky. Just saying.

[specialsauce]

I wouldn’t want Ball for free. I can’t stand him. Don’t want to cheer for him.

I can understand that. It was just a hypothetical and a long-shot. If it were to happen, you could just cheer for everyone else and sit on your hands whenever he did anything.

Sure, I’d cheer for him like I did Matt Barnes. I’d still hate him though !

[UglyTruth]

I wouldn’t want Ball for free. I can’t stand him. Don’t want to cheer for him.

How do you feel about his father though?

It would be a dream to have Lavar sitting on the sidelines for every game and yelling at the coaching staff for not playing his kid the right way. Also, every night listening to his interviews. Wait... did I say dream? I meant nightmare.

For me it would be a dream if we can have Lavar sitting right next to Sarver every game and Lavar just whines & complains to Sarver all game long.

Lavar frutrates and annoys Sarver so much he finally sells the team. Lavar then gets his statue built right outside Talking Stick Arena.

[Democritus]

The idea of Ball in Suns uni gave me nausea this morning. Thanks, guys.

[Cap]

I wouldn’t want Ball for free. I can’t stand him. Don’t want to cheer for him.

As it happens, most of the players who pulled off that statistical feat are rather unpleasant.

[Superbone]

I wouldn’t want Ball for free. I can’t stand him. Don’t want to cheer for him.

How do you feel about his father though?

It would be a dream to have Lavar sitting on the sidelines for every game and yelling at the coaching staff for not playing his kid the right way. Also, every night listening to his interviews. Wait... did I say dream? I meant nightmare.

For me it would be a dream if we can have Lavar sitting right next to Sarver every game and Lavar just whines & complains to Sarver all game long.

Lavar frutrates and annoys Sarver so much he finally sells the team. Lavar then gets his statue built right outside Talking Stick Arena.

I like your thinking. Playing the long con. But then Sarver sells the franchise to Lavar Ball. D'oh! The nightmare takes an unexpected turn for the worse!

[pickle]

Below are the scouting reports from ESPN and The Ringer, and I've formed most of my opinion based on reading rather than watching (I did catch Youtube highlights but honestly those are not that informative IMHO).

......

I've highlighted a few things on Ayton that really bother me about him. Again, referring back to my previous longish post, I'm afraid a guy who isn't 100% tuned in mentally is not a good fit for this franchise at the current time. I'd be much more comfortable with Doncic who hopefully is a little bit more impervious to negative organizational influences thanks to already having success at a high level and knowing how to win, despite not being an overwhelming physical specimen.

pickle, it's interesting that you bold the weaknesses of Ayton but don't bold a single weakness of Doncic. There's a bit of bias on the boards it feels like where people are heavily vested in Doncic as the perfect fit and next star and Ayton just a useless big.

I like how you ignored everything else I wrote and the specific disclaimer that I am highlighting things about Ayton that bother me, when I already made it clear that I preferred Doncic and was using the posts to explain why.

If you like Ayton, feel free to explain your reasons. I don't get why my post is proof of some sort of bias when I made a fairly concerted effort to explain my actual logic. Feel free to disagree with that logic but no thanks labeling.

[Hermen]

Everyone is clamouring for Doncic. The same guy that couldn't get past his European defender in the championship and finished 3 for 8 with 3 assists and 4 rebounds. Pretty ho hum numbers. On a #1 pick? Is this board going mad?

Anthony Davis went 1-10 in his championship game with Kentucky. Just saying.

Doncic didn't have an outstanding game (at least from the boxscore, I didn't watch it), but it was far from bad. For starters, he was fouled a lot and was 8/10 from the line for a total 15 points, he also had a steal and a block. Not special, but fine numbers for 28 minutes. Games in Europe are shorter (40 min), the pace is slower, and the stat counters not as liberal.

Edit: additionally, the court is smaller, 3-point line closer, no defensive 3-seconds, stricter traveling rules. And if you don't believe me here's Suns' legend Sonny Weems talking about it.

[youtube][/youtube]