The Luka Doncic is Great, Woe is Us thread

[Superbone]

I don’t think Igor was our first choice at head coach. We wanted Bud or Fizdale. And I remember an interview with Ryan McD before we knew we had the #1 pick and while he didn’t mention any names, it was clear he thought Ayton was head and shoulders above the rest. Then his reaction at the draft lottery tells me he was Ayton all the way. Igor was obviously team Luka...unclear where James and Sarcee were.

Yep, McD was at the top of team Ayton for sure.

[Superbone]

I don’t think Igor was our first choice at head coach. We wanted Bud or Fizdale. And I remember an interview with Ryan McD before we knew we had the #1 pick and while he didn’t mention any names, it was clear he thought Ayton was head and shoulders above the rest. Then his reaction at the draft lottery tells me he was Ayton all the way. Igor was obviously team Luka...unclear where James and Sarcee were.

Coaching-wise, I'm really glad it worked out the way it did. Bud would have been great but Monty is just the perfect coach for this particular team.

[Superbone]

If you couldn't tell Luka was a special player during the draft, not sure what to tell ya. I thought he was almost intentionally talked down during the draft with the national/college media hyping its own.

And I honestly can't believe McD would hire Igor and then decide not to take Luka.

Actually...I guess I can believe it.

Don't misunderstand me (english is not my native language). I was in camp Luka.
When comparing with Rubio, I was talking about his floor.
There were serious concern about his speed, his athleticism and how his game would translate in the NBA.
Would he be the next Zarko or the greatest Euro of all time? (I didn't follow the NBA during the Petrovic days).
And as I am a "hope for the best, prepare for the worst" guy, I could understand those concerns.
Just as I could understand why people would choose Ayton over him. That's what I was talking about (at least trying )

That we hired Kokoskov and didn't draft Luka... well... I'm good at empathy, but I have my limits

Dude. Don't ever apologize for your English. You communicate as well as anybody here.

[Superbone]

I personally was 50/50 at the time of the draft. I did compare Doncic to Bird but still couldn't have imagined that he'd be this good, this quickly.

[Mori Chu]

Dude. Don't ever apologize for your English. You communicate as well as anybody here.

Agreed; rhylek, your English is great, and your posts are easy to understand.

[Split T]

I waffled back and forth, ultimately settled on Ayton. Thought it would be hard for us to be wrong though...which was why I was in favor of trading back. I would have been good with Ayton/Doncic/Bagley/JJJ

[Indy]

I distinctly remember being disappointed when we drafted Ayton. I was watching with my son (9 years old at the time and just a casual NBA fan right now), and when we announced, he looked at me and said "what's wrong?" I hadn't said anything, but he could tell with the way I looked that I wasn't happy. I told him I had hoped they took a chance on a guy that could be perfect for our team, but went with the "safer" pick and that usually costs teams in the end. He had no idea what I meant, because again, he was 9. I quickly got behind the pick and told him that I hope Ayton turns out to be the best player ever. Even got an Ayton jersey and got it signed in person.

[Split T]

Did the Suns announce they were taking Ayton before the draft? I remember it being pretty locked in that we were taking Ayton. I remember reports that Ayton was hanging out with our players as if we had already drafted him.

[Split T]

I'd be super curious to hear what James Jones wanted to do during that draft. Jones has made some good moves this offseason, but in retrospect I worry that some of them were accidents, such as getting the much better Rubio after stupidly going after Terry Rozier first. Imagine how awful this team would be with Scary Terry jacking up jumpers left and right?

For the record, Rozier is shooting 41% from 3. He’s obviously a much different pg than rubio, but he’s not having a bad year.

[ShelC]

If you couldn't tell Luka was a special player during the draft, not sure what to tell ya. I thought he was almost intentionally talked down during the draft with the national/college media hyping its own.

And I honestly can't believe McD would hire Igor and then decide not to take Luka.

Actually...I guess I can believe it.

Don't misunderstand me (english is not my native language). I was in camp Luka.
When comparing with Rubio, I was talking about his floor.
There were serious concern about his speed, his athleticism and how his game would translate in the NBA.
Would he be the next Zarko or the greatest Euro of all time? (I didn't follow the NBA during the Petrovic days).
And as I am a "hope for the best, prepare for the worst" guy, I could understand those concerns.
Just as I could understand why people would choose Ayton over him. That's what I was talking about (at least trying )

That we hired Kokoskov and didn't draft Luka... well... I'm good at empathy, but I have my limits

Dude. Don't ever apologize for your English. You communicate as well as anybody here.

Yea no reason to apologize. When I wrote "If you couldn't tell Luka was a special player during the draft, not sure what to tell ya" I was speaking generally, as someone had previously mentioned the other GMs who passed on Luka. Wasn't going at you specifically.

[Aztec Sunsfan]

I don’t remember the Hardcore Luka Bandwagon being so crowded, many liked him but most were worried about how his athleticism would translate into the NBA.

Maybe I’m wrong and everybody were screaming “Luka!!!” at their flatscreen on draft night, but I’m too lazy to look back at the Draft Day thread, it even had a poll and the minority voted Luka (I know, it turned out many voted about “who they think the Suns were taking”... right. Then many were upset about Dallas trading skills and how we could have did it ourselves, but again, after clear possesion of the facts.

Botton line, insight is 20/20 and the entire board knew all along Doncic was a transcendent talent but keep it to themselves.

[EDC]

It is amusing watching people get bent out of shape about "I told you so"'s over this issue. This board is full of examples of us doing the same thing on other subjects all the time. I think this one just hits home so hard because it is looking like a colossal fuck up. The guy is killing it while ours is sitting on his ass because he couldn't help but juice. Or if it really is prevalent in the league he was too stupid or cheap to juice properly without getting caught.
Either way it isn't a good look.

I do like Nodack's take though. It is the best way to stay sane as a Suns fan. Just assume if he was on our team he would be fucked up somehow.

[EDC]

I don’t remember the Hardcore Luka Bandwagon being so crowded, many liked him but most were worried about how his athleticism would translate into the NBA.

Maybe I’m wrong and everybody were screaming “Luka!!!” at their flatscreen on draft night, but I’m too lazy to look back at the Draft Day thread, it even had a poll and the minority voted Luka (I know, it turned out many voted about “who they think the Suns were taking”... right. Then many were upset about Dallas trading skills and how we could have did it ourselves, but again, after clear possesion of the facts.

Botton line, insight is 20/20 and the entire board knew all along Doncic was a transcendent talent but keep it to themselves.

There were definitely quite a few people who thought Luka was the clear choice because he proved he could lead a team on one of the biggest stages.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1611

[Split T]

I don’t remember the Hardcore Luka Bandwagon being so crowded, many liked him but most were worried about how his athleticism would translate into the NBA.

Maybe I’m wrong and everybody were screaming “Luka!!!” at their flatscreen on draft night, but I’m too lazy to look back at the Draft Day thread, it even had a poll and the minority voted Luka (I know, it turned out many voted about “who they think the Suns were taking”... right. Then many were upset about Dallas trading skills and how we could have did it ourselves, but again, after clear possesion of the facts.

Botton line, insight is 20/20 and the entire board knew all along Doncic was a transcendent talent but keep it to themselves.

There were definitely some pro Luka people on the board and I’m sure some could envision a quick rise to stardom, but nobody knew he’d be this good and they’re lying if they say otherwise.

There were more votes for Ayton in the thread, but it was pretty set in stone we were taking Ayton and I’m sure some pro Luka people talked themselves into Ayton because of that. Perhaps those posters are coming out as Luka supporters now.

There was a time I had Luka 1st on my board(I also had JJJ there) and I wish I could say I kept him there, but I moved Ayton up to 1 by draft time. I saw them as pretty equal prospects, but thought Booker/Ayton made more sense and would be more effective than Booker/Doncic.

I remember foolishly arguing that you could get 80% of Doncic easier than getting 80% of Ayton. I think the 80% players used as examples were Tyreke Evans and Clint Capela. I was real wrong there, haha.

[Split T]

I don’t remember the Hardcore Luka Bandwagon being so crowded, many liked him but most were worried about how his athleticism would translate into the NBA.

Maybe I’m wrong and everybody were screaming “Luka!!!” at their flatscreen on draft night, but I’m too lazy to look back at the Draft Day thread, it even had a poll and the minority voted Luka (I know, it turned out many voted about “who they think the Suns were taking”... right. Then many were upset about Dallas trading skills and how we could have did it ourselves, but again, after clear possesion of the facts.

Botton line, insight is 20/20 and the entire board knew all along Doncic was a transcendent talent but keep it to themselves.

There were definitely quite a few people who thought Luka was the clear choice because he proved he could lead a team on one of the biggest stages.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1611

My 80% argument is right there on the first page...congrats flagrantfowl for being on the right side of that debate.

[INFORMER]

I get people being upset about a number of people beating a dead horse over and over again, in multiple threads no less. But that's the price you pay when an organization screws up at such a massive level.

Ultimately, the fault rests with the organization for a colossal mistake and with The "Generational Center" who has been too much talk, and not enough walk.

[JeremyG]

At the time, Igor claimed that he and everyone else in the organization unanimously agreed that Ayton was the clear number one pick.

[INFORMER]

Of course he did.

[rhylek]

More flagrant with the first poll : viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1598&p=113395#p113395

But I can't wait to see Ayton prove he wasn't that of a mistake!

[JeremyG]

Maybe this is all just made up in my head, but I thought it was Igor for Luka, James for Ayton, and Sarver undecided. Then James convinced Sarver to go with Ayton (first #1 pick ever, never had a franchise center, the city will love you for it instead of taking some young slow euro like Skita).

That makes sense too but even so, why hire Igor in the first place if you're undecided on the pick or going to go with the other guy. Igor coached and knew Luka better than anyone in the NBA prob. It can also make Jones look pretty bad too.

I always thought Sarver was the Ayton guy. But hiring Luka's coach and not drafting Luka is a very McD thing to do. We'll probably never really separate who did what in that mess of a rebuild.

You all are forgetting the timeline of events. The Suns hired Igor 13 days before winning the lottery. At the time we hired him, it was more likely that we would get either the #2 or #3 pick than the #1 pick.