Suns Get Their Local Star, Could They have Done More?

The Phoenix Suns entered the 2018 draft with the grad prize their for the taking as for the first time in their history, they were drafting #1. The all around consensus was that the Suns were going to be selecting Deandre Ayton the local prodigy with that pick.

Suns fans are have to live Ayton no matter how much they wanted Luka Doncic or Trae Young. Passing on a player like Ayton would curse a teams franchise if he winds up in the Hall Of Fame.  If he's a bust, well at least we can say we made a safe pick.

For one, Doncic and Young both have low floors as well. Doncic has excelled at the European level but sometimes it doesn't translate to North America. Young is great, but defensively he is flawed.

The other three picks irritate me. Mikal Bridges is a good player but the log jam at the three and four spots are triggered again. More importantly, I'm not sure it was that much of an upgrade from Zhaire Smith the Texas Tech explosive sharp shooter to give away Miami's 2021 1st round pick.

With the Suns third pick of the night, they reached out all the way to France to pick Élie Okobo. This pick has me baffled as he becomes the sixth forward to be taken by the Suns since 2014. My pick would have been Jalen Brunson who was on Villanova's National Title winning team this April. Drafting a Point Guard with one of their first three picks was a must for me.

The last pick, is almost a whatever pick. I want to say I'm surprised it was another forward but I'm really not. George King will likely be a G League player next year so its really a pick for the future. Still, not going with a Point Guard was bothersome to me.

Let's predict the Depth Chart for opening night next October.

PG	SG	SF	PF	C
Eric Bledsoe	Devon Booker	Josh Jackson	Marquese Chriss	Deandre Ayton
Tyler Ulis	Troy Daniels	TJ Waren	Dragan Bender	Alex Len

G-League:
Élie Okobo
Mikal Bridges
George King

Now, here's what my roster would have looked like if I was the GM after the Isaiah Thomas deal.

PG	SG	SF	PF	C
De’Aaron Fox	Devon Booker	Zhaire Smith	Marquese Chriss	Deandre Ayton
Jalen Brunson	Buddy Hield	TJ Waren	George King	Alex Len

For me, we have too many forwards with not enough playing time. The winners of the draft were Dallas, Charlotte and Philadelphia.

I give the Suns a C for not filling holes and not being creative enough with their four picks.