2018 NBA Draft Thread

[Split T]

I think my ideal scenario right now is drafting Doncic and then moving back up into the top 10 for JJJ/Bamba/Carter

I would be ok drafting Ayton/Bagley and moving back up for SGA. I also wouldn't mind pairing Bagley with Bamba/JJJ/Carter.

[Mori Chu]

Is he a luxury we can afford to package to get another late lotto pick? Will he accept a bench role? Do we have a true need for a slasher like him with Jackson playing and getting 35minutes a night? Can we replace him with a player who provides more of a need, such as 3pt shooting? Should we sell high on a young 20ppg scorer on a good deal?

I honestly like Warren and his ability to get such easy baskets. But I think he's a luxury and we have more pressing needs, especially if we take Doncic at #1. Hell if we take Doncic, we'll have to find minutes for him and Jackson.

Why trade Warren for a middle first-rounder when it is highly unlikely that such a pick would yield a player as good as Warren? The odds on such a move making our team better are very low. I don't understand why Warren is so undervalued. 20ppg scorers don't just grow on trees.

[ShelC]

I would take Doncic #1, then trade Warren and 15 and/or 16 to move up to 8, 9 or 10 for a guy like Wendell Carter.

In response to an earlier post, I don't love a Booker-Doncic-Jackson trio on the perimeter.

[Split T]

I would take Doncic #1, then trade Warren and 15 and/or 16 to move up to 8, 9 or 10 for a guy like Wendell Carter.

In response to an earlier post, I don't love a Booker-Doncic-Jackson trio on the perimeter.

What if they were 2/3/4?

[ShelC]

That means Doncic or Jackson is the 4, which I still don't love. If they were to play the 4, you'd need a Rudy Gobert type defending the rim. To be honest, Doncic and Jackson together aren't the problem, it'd be Doncic and Booker both being dominant #1 scorers that could be the issue. Could they co-exist? The more I think about it, the less I think we can make it work unless we move Jackson, put Doncic at the 3 and move Warren to the bench.

[Split T]

I think Doncic and Booker would be fine. They are both very capable playing off the ball. Obviously not at the same level, but GS has no problem with Curry and Durant playing together as #1 options.

[TOO]

I think Doncic and Booker would be fine. They are both very capable playing off the ball. Obviously not at the same level, but GS has no problem with Curry and Durant playing together as #1 options.

That's because Durant is a fairly passive superstar. They have their egos in check, the Warriors superstars are an outlier. I dunno how Booker, who I'm sure sees himself as the alpha, would work with a guy who has been the alpha for his team in europe. It could work, it could not. I don't think I'd let it stop me from taking Doncic though, he looks special.

[Split T]

Warriors also have Draymond who runs the offense a lot and Doncic played with Dragic for the Slovenian national team and had no issues. I'm not worried at all.

[O_Gardino]

Most championship teams have two #1 guys on offense. I don't want to put too much responsibility on one man's shoulders.

[Mori Chu]

I like Doncic, but it is a very odd fit to take him when our only two "keepers" on our roster play the 2 and 3, and Doncic seems to be a classic swingman who would play the 2/3 spots. I don't think you can play Booker/Doncic/Jackson as your 2/3/4 (nor Booker/Doncic/Warren). You could MAYBE do it as your 1-2-3 if you had a bigger pair of guys as your 4/5. I still think that if you draft Doncic to be a Sun, you have to either run Booker at the point, or trade Jackson and maybe also Warren.

Do any of you guys get that vague sense of gloom that whoever we draft will turn out to be "meh" and the guy we don't pick will end up being a phenom and changing the future of another franchise?

[The Bobster]

I think Doncic is more of a point guard than Booker is - my concern would be the defense if you go with a backcourt of Booker and Doncic. They'd have a big problem with any backcourts with a lot of quickness.

[EDC]

Do any of you guys get that vague sense of gloom that whoever we draft will turn out to be "meh" and the guy we don't pick will end up being a phenom and changing the future of another franchise?

The joys of being a Suns fan. I'm really worried that we take Ayton and he ends up much more like Len than Embiid. Or to really mess with us he could have an amazing summer league and just be wrecking kids only to get a foot injury and be out of the league like Oden.

This is what years of losing has done to us. We expect the worse.

[ShelC]

I like Doncic, but it is a very odd fit to take him when our only two "keepers" on our roster play the 2 and 3, and Doncic seems to be a classic swingman who would play the 2/3 spots. I don't think you can play Booker/Doncic/Jackson as your 2/3/4 (nor Booker/Doncic/Warren). You could MAYBE do it as your 1-2-3 if you had a bigger pair of guys as your 4/5. I still think that if you draft Doncic to be a Sun, you have to either run Booker at the point, or trade Jackson and maybe also Warren.

Do any of you guys get that vague sense of gloom that whoever we draft will turn out to be "meh" and the guy we don't pick will end up being a phenom and changing the future of another franchise?

All of this.

[Split T]

I like Doncic, but it is a very odd fit to take him when our only two "keepers" on our roster play the 2 and 3, and Doncic seems to be a classic swingman who would play the 2/3 spots. I don't think you can play Booker/Doncic/Jackson as your 2/3/4 (nor Booker/Doncic/Warren). You could MAYBE do it as your 1-2-3 if you had a bigger pair of guys as your 4/5. I still think that if you draft Doncic to be a Sun, you have to either run Booker at the point, or trade Jackson and maybe also Warren.

Do any of you guys get that vague sense of gloom that whoever we draft will turn out to be "meh" and the guy we don't pick will end up being a phenom and changing the future of another franchise?

Why would you need a bigger pair of guys at 4/5 if you play them 1/2/3? You'd have oversized guys at all 5 positions.

And I think you can play them 2/3/4 if you have the right 5. Doncic has a good NBA body and won't be abused in the post. Jackson will get stronger and I think will be able to hold his own as well. There could be a few teams who try and take advantage of it, say SA with Aldridge, but then Aldridge has to guard Doncic or Jackson.

[In2ition]

I like Doncic, but it is a very odd fit to take him when our only two "keepers" on our roster play the 2 and 3, and Doncic seems to be a classic swingman who would play the 2/3 spots. I don't think you can play Booker/Doncic/Jackson as your 2/3/4 (nor Booker/Doncic/Warren). You could MAYBE do it as your 1-2-3 if you had a bigger pair of guys as your 4/5. I still think that if you draft Doncic to be a Sun, you have to either run Booker at the point, or trade Jackson and maybe also Warren.

Do any of you guys get that vague sense of gloom that whoever we draft will turn out to be "meh" and the guy we don't pick will end up being a phenom and changing the future of another franchise?

Doncic would play pg in the realm of Ball and Simmons. He is a better ball handler, facilitator and passer than Booker. He would play great off of Booker and Jackson.

[Mori Chu]

The main argument for a guy like Doncic is that the league seems to have changed to a state where big men are much less important than they used to be. Most of the league's top teams don't have what you would call a dominant big man, at least not in the traditional sense.

Houston? Nope.
Cleveland? Nope.
Golden State? I mean, do you count Kevin Durant as a big man? Draymond?
Toronto? Their bigs are role players.
Boston? They have Horford who's a nice player, but not really dominant or their cornerstone.
...

The best bigs in the league seem to play for middling teams like New Orleans (A. Davis and Boogie), New York (Porzingis), Minnesota (Towns), and so on. None of those teams are dominating the league. If anything, most of those big men are playing "small," shooting a lot of 3s, playing more like perimeter players.

You could make the case that you absolutely need to sign great guards and swingmen to have a good team. The idea that a great big is infinitely more valuable than a great small player is long, long gone.

[Superbone]

I'm not passing on Doncic just because we have Booker and Jackson. I'm just not. I'm also not trading any of the three. You always take BPA regardless of position unless it's 1A and 1B.

[Ring_Wanted]

Doncic would play pg in the realm of Ball and Simmons. He is a better ball handler, facilitator and passer than Booker. He would play great off of Booker and Jackson.

Agreed. If you pick Doncic it is to make him your PG, not to juggle stuff and put Jackson at PF. A rotation of Doncic-Booker-Jackson, with Warren and a 3D PG off the bench looks very promising. You still need to find a PF and a C (with one of then being a 3pt threat), but that's what the rest of the draft, FA and trades are for.

Still, a Booker-Ayton combo is so tantalizing. People say that more traditional big men play for non elite teams, but no such team has Booker on its roster (closest would be Minni with Butler, and before his injury they were well on their way up). The pressure you put on a defense is inmense and if you find right mix of role players, watch out.

[Ring_Wanted]

BTW, we should keep an eye on Terry Rozier's availability this draft/summer.

[ShelC]

Simmons is a freak so I'd be careful comparing Doncic to him. Simmons is 6-10 and a super athletic. He's also a true pass first PG. Ball is also a pass first guy. Putting basically two score/shoot first SGs together could get dicey. And it works with GS because they know it's a special situation with some special players. Would I love to see "positionless" basketball with Doncic, Booker and Jackson? Absolutely. Would it be tricky? Yes. Would we need the right coach? Yes. Would we need the right players up front? Yes. Do I have faith we could make it work? Ehhhhhhhhhhhh.