FORTUNE AT 50
First No. 1 pick will define Suns’ future
After the Suns lost a coin flip for Lew Alcindor on the afternoon of March 19, 1969, General Manager Jerry Colangelo drove the Valley streets for hours. ❚ “It’s not the end of the world,” he told The Arizona Republic at the time, but it seemed that way. ❚ Alcindor, of course, became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and won six NBA titles. Nearly 50 years later, the Suns are still waiting on their first championship. ❚ But, maybe, just maybe, their fortunes are changing. ❚ The NBA draft lottery balls finally fell their way May 15. The prize – and the anticipation leading up to the moment it was announced the Suns would have the No. 1 pick for the first time in franchise history – so overwhelmed General Manager Ryan McDonough that tears welled up in his eyes as he stood on the lottery stage in Chicago talking to azcentral sports.
“In the 50-year history of the Phoenix Suns there have been a lot of great nights and great accomplishments and I think this is one of them,” McDonough said. “This is something the franchise has never done before.”
The Suns believe landing the No. 1 pick in the June 21 draft is a symbolic – and they hope, tangible – turning point for a franchise in the midst of an eight-year playoff drought. Phoenix won fewer than 25 games each of the past three seasons. While finishing an NBA-worst 21-61 this season, the Suns dropped 28 of its past 32 games and set a franchise record with a 15-game losing streak.
Phoenix does have a couple of cornerstones in place. Shooting guard Devin Booker, who is eligible for a five-year, $156 million rookie contract extension this summer, established himself as one of the game’s better young players, averaging career highs in points (24.9), rebounds (4.5) and assists (4.7). Rookie forward Josh Jackson, the No. 4 pick in the 2017 draft, averaged 17.2 points and 5.6 rebounds the final 39 games of the season.
Now the Suns have a chance to establish their Big 3 with the No. 1 pick. The question, of course, is whom it will be.
McDonough has said Phoenix will consider approximately a half-dozen players for the top spot, but most NBA scouts and executives believe the Suns will choose between University of Arizona center Deandre Ayton and Slovenian guard Luka Doncic, who has a close connection to new Suns coach Igor Kokoskov. Doncic played for the Slovenian national team that Kokoskov coached to the EuroBasket 2017 championship.
The 7-foot-1, 260-pound Ayton is the consensus choice. He averaged 20.1 points and 11.6 rebounds for Arizona last season, he fills a need for the Suns – Alex Len is expected to leave in free agency and veteran Tyson Chandler has one year left on his contract – and he’s athletic enough to play in today’s perimeter-oriented NBA. ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla compared Ayton to Hall of Famers David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing.
“I look at the NBA as trying to figure out who they’re going to pick from No. 2 to 60,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said. “I think the No. 1 pick’s in . ... There’s nobody like Deandre. Nobody.”
Pepperdine coach Lorenzo Romar, who was an assistant with Arizona last season, called Ayton a “can’t-miss” prospect.
“I don’t know if there’s anything he can’t do on the basketball floor,” Romar said. “I’m not saying he’s the best player I’ve ever seen. But I can’t think of anybody I remember who has the same package he has. The sky’s the limit.”
Doncic, 19, has been called the best prospect ever to come out of Europe. He became the youngest EuroLeague MVP this past season and scouts believe he’s the ideal player to fit into an NBA that’s trending toward position-less lineups. The 6-foot-8, 220-pound Doncic led Real Madrid in points (12.8) and assists (5.0) and was the second-leading rebounder (5.7).
Kokoskov has called Doncic a “wunderkind” for court vision and passing ability.
“He’s an upcoming, rising star. Luka is a very talented player. His ability to pass, that’s the hardest part of the game, the most difficult part to teach. To be a good passer you have to understand the game. It’s basketball IQ. He’s really unique and special at that age to understand the game well and to be a team player. He’s not necessarily playing point guard but he’s a playmaker who makes everybody else better on the court.”
The Suns have said Kokoskov’s relationship with Doncic will not factor into their decision. They’ve also said they will consider other players, such as Duke’s Marvin Bagley III and Texas’ Mohamed Bamba. But as the draft approaches, the debate likely will be limited to Ayton, the potentially dominant franchise center the Suns never have had, or Doncic, the teenager who has dominated grown men in the secondbest league in the world.
The stakes are high. It’s a chance for the Suns to immediately become relevant again and, over time, become a team that can contend for a championship.
“We’ll get our choice of players and hopefully pick the best one,” McDonough said.
All that’s riding on the decision is the future of the franchise – and finally getting over a nearly 50-year-old coin flip.