With the FIRST pick in the 2018 NBA draft, the Phoenix Suns select...

[TOO]

"If you don’t take Deandre Ayton, you’re just an idiot." Barkley is all in on Ayton. Chuck says some dumb s*** but he knows the NBA and he knows big men. Ayton is my pick. He made some decent points in the interview posted at Brightside of the sun.

Are you sure he didn't call them a knucklehead?

https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2018 ... nitely-hot

[In2ition]

"If you don’t take Deandre Ayton, you’re just an idiot." Barkley is all in on Ayton. Chuck says some dumb s*** but he knows the NBA and he knows big men. Ayton is my pick. He made some decent points in the interview posted at Brightside of the sun.

Are you sure he didn't call them a knucklehead?

https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2018 ... nitely-hot

Haha, I should have put it in green font.

[UglyTruth]

"If you don’t take Deandre Ayton, you’re just an idiot." Barkley is all in on Ayton. Chuck says some dumb s*** but he knows the NBA and he knows big men. Ayton is my pick. He made some decent points in the interview posted at Brightside of the sun.

Ask Barkley how he feels about jump shooting teams and how their so terrible and can never win a title.

I love Chuck as he’s very entertaining but taking anything he says seriously is one of the dumber things a person can do. His and Kevin Hart’s opinions mean about the same despite one having been a Hofer in the NBA. Right now, neither of them are anything more than comedians.

Wouldn’t take me more than 10 seconds to find the ridiculous and dead wrong things he has said.

The fact that he actually likes Ayton should be worrisome to the Ayton stans. Stephen A Smith really likes Ayton too.

Many of the media guys who like Ayton are the guys who are dead wrong most of the time and the opposite of whatever they say actually happens.

PS I’d guess Chuck has never heard of Luka Doncic in his life and would bash him if asked about his game

[The Bobster]

There are legitimate questions about every player in the draft? Why? Because every player has flaws. Ayton, Bagley, Donic, Jackson, Bamba, they all do.

I think Ayton will be a better professional than college player because he won't be playing out of position and he's going to get better coaching. But Doncic will also be a good pro player - he's got great passing ability and is pretty good all-around offensively. Neither one of them has been playing competition anywhere near what they'll be playing against in the NBA so we'll just have to see how their games translate.

[carey]

Maybe I'm losing my mind but what he said about 18-year-olds really resonated with me.

[Cap]

Maybe I'm losing my mind but what he said about 18-year-olds really resonated with me.

Barkley’s argument is that Doncic’s unprecedented accomplishment ought to be impossible, but he did it, so it must be pretty easy, so I’m not impressed. It’s the kind of argument that makes sense only to people who are already committed to their conclusion.

[Flagrant Fowl]

If you're getting your NBA knowledge from Charles Barkley then you're doing it wrong.

[O_Gardino]

Maybe I'm losing my mind but what he said about 18-year-olds really resonated with me.

It's true that the euroleague is not as good as the NBA, but it is better than the NCAA.

[Superbone]

There are legitimate questions about every player in the draft? Why? Because every player has flaws. Ayton, Bagley, Donic, Jackson, Bamba, they all do.

I think Ayton will be a better professional than college player because he won't be playing out of position and he's going to get better coaching. But Doncic will also be a good pro player - he's got great passing ability and is pretty good all-around offensively. Neither one of them has been playing competition anywhere near what they'll be playing against in the NBA so we'll just have to see how their games translate.

I appreciate your balanced to take. I guess it helps that I feel the same way.

[SDC]

Maybe I'm losing my mind but what he said about 18-year-olds really resonated with me.

Barkley’s argument is that Doncic’s unprecedented accomplishment ought to be impossible, but he did it, so it must be pretty easy, so I’m not impressed. It’s the kind of argument that makes sense only to people who are already committed to their conclusion.

honestly thought anthony randolph was a bigger factor in slovenia winning the eurobasket title than doncic.

[carey]

Maybe I'm losing my mind but what he said about 18-year-olds really resonated with me.

It's true that the euroleague is not as good as the NBA, but it is better than the NCAA.

But his point was that no 18-year-old could ever win the MVP in the NBA. LeBron, the best player ever at 18, merely fit in. It took Kobe a few years before he was really, really good. Sure, it's a somewhat heavy handed way of saying that the Euroleague is not as good, but the more I thought about it there more that I feel the truth is in the middle. Doncic is not the player that Empire of the Suns believe he is nor is he going to bust because the Euroleague is weak.

[The Bobster]

The quality of former NBA players in Liga ABC isn't that impressive - Rudy Fernandez, Anthony Randolph, John Jenkins and Gary Neal, being the most notable - so I wouldn't overstate the quality of that league too much.

Alec Brown is playing in that league and averaged 9.1 points over the last three seasons.

If you look at the other 9 players on the 2017 All-Liga ABC team, Tornike Shengelia was drafted in 2012 by Philadelphia, Henk Norel was drafted in 2009 by Minnesota, Bojan Dubljević was drafted in 2013 by Minnesota and Ante Tomić was drafted in 2008 by Utah. All were four mid-to-late 2nd round picks and the other five all-league players were undrafted.

Liga ABC probably isn't that much better than playing in the top-level NCAA programs or in the G-League when it comes to competition. It's the top Spanish league, and one of the best leagues in Europe and over the last 30 years has produced some good NBA players (Arvydas Sabonis, Paul Gasol, Marc Gasol, Kristaps Porzingis, Nikola Mirotic, Drazen Petrovic, Luis Scola, Ricky Rubio), but it's a far cry from the NBA.

[INFORMER]

Maybe I'm losing my mind but what he said about 18-year-olds really resonated with me.

It's true that the euroleague is not as good as the NBA, but it is better than the NCAA.

But his point was that no 18-year-old could ever win the MVP in the NBA.

So that confirms that the NBA is better than ACB. Was this in doubt?

[O_Gardino]

Maybe I'm losing my mind but what he said about 18-year-olds really resonated with me.

It's true that the euroleague is not as good as the NBA, but it is better than the NCAA.

But his point was that no 18-year-old could ever win the MVP in the NBA. LeBron, the best player ever at 18, merely fit in. It took Kobe a few years before he was really, really good. Sure, it's a somewhat heavy handed way of saying that the Euroleague is not as good, but the more I thought about it there more that I feel the truth is in the middle. Doncic is not the player that Empire of the Suns believe he is nor is he going to bust because the Euroleague is weak.

It's not about wether he would have been nba mvp last year - we all know he wouldn't have been. And we also all understand that awards outside of the NBA don't necessarily translate to NBA play. Just look at SEC player of the year Tyler Ulis.

I think the thing we should learn from Doncic's great Euro performance is that he won't be shy like Bender and he won't be one dimensional like Goodwin. You can see that he has the motivation to compete and improve and make an impact, and that he has been more successful than others his age.

[Cap]

Maybe I'm losing my mind but what he said about 18-year-olds really resonated with me.

It's true that the euroleague is not as good as the NBA, but it is better than the NCAA.

But his point was that no 18-year-old could ever win the MVP in the NBA. LeBron, the best player ever at 18, merely fit in. It took Kobe a few years before he was really, really good. Sure, it's a somewhat heavy handed way of saying that the Euroleague is not as good, but the more I thought about it there more that I feel the truth is in the middle. Doncic is not the player that Empire of the Suns believe he is nor is he going to bust because the Euroleague is weak.

It's not about wether he would have been nba mvp last year - we all know he wouldn't have been. And we also all understand that awards outside of the NBA don't necessarily translate to NBA play. Just look at SEC player of the year Tyler Ulis.

I think the thing we should learn from Doncic's great Euro performance is that he won't be shy like Bender and he won't be one dimensional like Goodwin. You can see that he has the motivation to compete and improve and make an impact, and that he has been more successful than others his age.

And also that he’s making plays few others can make at any age, let alone 18. Look at highlight reels of his assists, they look like the kind of spectacular assists we normally associate with 30-year-old MVP Steve Nash.

[djy2j]

I took Barkley's comments about Doncic as that he was far from a sure thing and that the competition he plays against is suspect. I don't think it was anythign we didn't already know. I was more interested in his opinion on Ayton. At this point neither Ayton or Doncic is a sure thing but I want the guy who has higher probability of becoming it. To me that is Ayton.

[O_Gardino]

You can say that again?

[Split T]

Doncic won an MVP playing in a grown men's league. Hard to discount that, it shows his skills are highly advanced. My only concern is the athleticism. The ACB doesn't have the level of athletes that the top ncaa teams do. I don't think that will keep Doncic from being a good NBA player, but it might keep him from being a great one.

Ayton doesn't have those same limitations, but he has different ones. Just have to make a decision on who is more likely to overcome their limitations in the NBA.

[Mori Chu]

Doncic won an MVP playing in a grown men's league. Hard to discount that, it shows his skills are highly advanced. My only concern is the athleticism. The ACB doesn't have the level of athletes that the top ncaa teams do. I don't think that will keep Doncic from being a good NBA player, but it might keep him from being a great one.

Many great players wouldn't be described as "athletic." James Harden isn't very athletic, by NBA standards. Tim Duncan wasn't athletic. Dragic, Kyle Lowry, Karl-Anthony Towns, Victor Oladipo, Chris Paul, ... lots of guys do well despite average NBA "athleticism."

[SDC]

Doncic won an MVP playing in a grown men's league. Hard to discount that, it shows his skills are highly advanced. My only concern is the athleticism. The ACB doesn't have the level of athletes that the top ncaa teams do. I don't think that will keep Doncic from being a good NBA player, but it might keep him from being a great one.

Many great players wouldn't be described as "athletic." James Harden isn't very athletic, by NBA standards. Tim Duncan wasn't athletic. Dragic, Kyle Lowry, Karl-Anthony Towns, Victor Oladipo, Chris Paul, ... lots of guys do well despite average NBA "athleticism."

doncic is actually slower than harden