Having brought in Deandre Ayton, Marvin Bagley III, Mohamed Bamba, and Jaren Jackson Jr. for workouts, the Suns are done auditioning players for the No. 1 overall pick, according to general manager Ryan McDonough. As Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic details, those four players and Luka Doncic all remain in the mix for the top pick in this year’s draft.
“There’s not a bad player in that group,” McDonough said of the players who visited the Suns. “We couldn’t go wrong with any of the four guys we brought in.”
As for Doncic, while the team won’t get a chance to put him through an individual workout, McDonough says the Suns “still want to spend a lot of time” on the EuroLeague MVP.
Here’s more from the Suns’ GM on the team’s draft options, via Bordow:
- Given that the Suns seem to like several prospects at the top of the draft, trading down is a possibility. “[We’ll] see if there are teams that want to blow us away with an offer for No. 1 because I think in this draft we’d be comfortable picking lower than that,” McDonough confirmed.
- However, as McDonough said last month, he believes that a trade involving the No. 1 pick is “unlikely,” warning people not to overreact to his comments about a potential deal. If the Suns do trade down, they wouldn’t want to go any lower than No. 6, according to the GM.
- A trade up from No. 16 is probably more likely than a trade down from No. 1, Bordow writes. Although McDonough doesn’t anticipate getting back into the top five, he didn’t rule out a more modest move. “If we could get into the late lottery or maybe the mid-lottery that’s something we will definitely look at,” McDonough said.
- The Suns will be reluctant to include their own 2019 first-round pick or the Heat’s unprotected 2021 first-rounder in any trade offer. “That’s extremely valuable,” McDonough said of Miami’s 2021 selection, acquired in the Goran Dragic deal. “And our own pick, that’s potentially valuable as well. … We’d have to get a lot to give up one of those assets.”
- Following Jaren Jackson Jr.‘s workout for the Suns, McDonough said the Michigan State big man shouldn’t “take a backseat” to any other prospect in the draft, calling him the best shooter among the bigs who worked out for Phoenix. “He has a case to be up there with just about anybody,” McDonough said of Jackson. “He’s just not getting as much buzz as some of the other guys.”
Jackson Jr would be ideal for the Mavs, they need a scoring bug who can play both ends.
Dallas needs a lot of things.. not a huge fan of Jackson’s game..
They have their point guard, shooting guard, and small forward in Dennis,Wesley,and Barnes. They need a 4-5 and Jackson Jr fits the bill, he’s got great length and can play defense as well as hit outside jumpers. He will be a absolute stud.
Matthew’s is on the way out the door. They’d trade him if they could.
I could see Phoenix trading up from 16 for Sexton. Both the Knicks and Philly seem like ideal potential trade partners
I just don’t see how they move up if they’re not willing to include future first rounders…
I don’t see philly trading back. They already have 26 to go with 10 and an additional four 2nd round picks. They are not looking to acquire more picks and the suns don’t have a player they would be willing to trade that is worthy of 10.
I could also see them liking the idea of adding one of those 2 way guards/wings in the late lottery/just outside of it, as well as the other shooter they’re likely looking at with 26, and adding something in the future to retain flexibility…but I would probably agree with your assessment there
Matthews is not good, & out before/during the season & Barnes is good but way way overpaid, so if they can they should get rid of him too. Try to pick someone good like MPJ, Bamba or even Jackson Jr, though I am not very excited with this 2 compared with other bigs, I think Carter Jr on the long run could be better but is more risky to draft for if this 2 really bloom, people always will be saying that Dallas could have got them, but I do like much more the play of Carter Jr, I thin he is the real deal, but anyway depending on what they get they can try to bring in JR &/or DMC, that would be a great start, specially if they can send Barnes away & bring something better instead of him.
TRADE + sign CPaul ufa
Lebron for:
Ty Chandler, Jared Dudley, Dragan Bender (all expiring), Davon Reed, #1, #16, and #31.
Suns: 1Paul,Knight 2Booker,Daniels 3James,Warren 4JoshJackson,Chriss 5Williams, Len. FAs Payton, Len. Still has #54.
Cavs draft Ayton, Miles Bridges& Isaac Bonga (because “Bonga”).
CLE basically spends $27mil to get Reed, Ayton, Miles & Bonga. The James replacements cost ~$8mil less than James and are stretchable.
PHX goes to the head of the class. James&Paul get to combine oncourt.
Why wouldn’t LBJ just go to Philly. They’re way closer
My series of CLE trades assumes James has the goal of combining with CPaul for titles, then returning to Ohio. I have also proposed PHL & DAL so far.
Philly can trade RoCo, Fultz, Bayless, Holmes, #10, & #26 for Lebron, and have enough $ for Reddick & Ilyasova for instance. Hard to say what the market for CPaul is.
Cavs can’t do a S&T until July, and, even then, receiving a player in a S&T would hard cap them at around 127 mm, likely below what they need to even sign those picks. Phx can’t talk to LeBron or CP3 until well after the draft (so, to arrange prior to the draft, some player on the team would have to recruit him). But they can do a regular trade if LeBron opts into his deal but he’d need to be OK on a 1 year deal next season. Unlikely. OR, do S&T with a 3rd team with lots of cap space to absorb a significant part of the expiring or other salaries that would make the hard cap livable. Doable. Problem is Phx could do this as well (i.e., get another team to take on salary for picks) more easily themselves (they’re the ones with the picks and have other tradable ones), and open up space to sign both CP3 and LeBron, while keeping Ayton. The real underlying problem with this trade scenario is that LeBron is no longer Cle’s to trade, and their insider rights are now irrelevant in a S&T. They’d be solely a facilitator for a UFA, and not a uniquely well situated one. In any event, it would be a huge reach for a facilitator to ask for the 1st overall pick.
That suggestion has me laughing my a** off. LMAO
I went back and forth between Ayton and Booker. Booker has a max contract possibilty coming up (5/$148). PHX may be open to a good excuse to offer less.
Forget S&Ts. James is already signed; it’s an opt-in-and-arrange. All parties must agree and be incentified: James, Paul, Cavs (Gilbert), Suns.
Any opt-in-trade will cost Gilbert at least $28.4mil in salary matching.
What does he get for that?
IDK why James would have to play on a one-year contract. A new contract would already be agreed upon following the trade.
PHX does not have any options for either James or Paul without this process. Do they want it or not. A similar arrangement is available for about 4 other teams. HOU or PHL could pass and hope for a straight ufa signing but that is a risk. PHX could bypass them, but right now profit is available for teams that lose with cheap youngsters, if that’s what they want.
I did not consider a third team to absorb salaries… it is already complicated and so far there is no word on what the parties even want.
PHX: Kidd-Gilchrist, Marvin Williams, 11th Pick
CHA: Chandler, 11th Pick, Chriss
A) I’m assuming you meant Charlotte would receive the 1st pick, not the 11th.
B) Why in the world would Phoenix ever do that? Two bad contracts and move down 10 spots?
I think he meant 16th, which would make it a bad deal for Charlotte, unless he thinks he is dumping worse money than Phoenix, which I wouldn’t agree with
I meant the 16th pick goes to Charlotte. The Hornets would be getting rid of 2 more years on MKG and Williams contracts while taking on Chandlers expiring contract.
I would probably try to move Batum and/or let Dwight’s money expire, and they could theoretically retool around Kemba and whoever they get draft this year, or more likely, trade Kemba, and you at least have some defensive guys around your younger guys to help them develop in a non garbage environment. I dont think those are bad deals, it’s just how they’ve been used recently. MKG also lost progress he made on his jump shot after his shoulder injuries, but maybe a couple of years out from that helps. I also think he would thrive in a more open floor game