Phoenix Suns: The pros and cons of drafting Luka Doncic No. 1
Pro: The Kokoskov connection
You may have heard about this by now, but the new head coach of Phoenix Suns coached Luka Doncic with Team Slovenia, and alongside Goran Dragic, the trio led them to gold in the EuroBasket 2017.
It’s not just that Igor Kokoskov is intimately familiar with Wonder Boy’s game; the two found success together as well. Whether he was playing him off the ball or putting the rock in his hands, Kokoskov found ways to utilize Doncic’s skill-set well. As he implements a new offense in Phoenix, it’d be much easier for him to do so — and much easier for Doncic to adjust to the NBA — with the two joining forces again.
Kokoskov did a great job of putting Doncic in positions to succeed @ Eurobasket. Got the defense moving side to side before bringing Doncic off a ball screen going right w' a spaced floor. He's at his best when he can catch on the move & pick teams apart. https://t.co/FjeHn0rPwU pic.twitter.com/wotl0H5uoN
— Mike Schmitz (@Mike_Schmitz) May 2, 2018
Hiring Kokoskov certainly doesn’t mean the Suns are pigeonholed into drafting Doncic; McDonough has said numerous times they will take the guy they think is the best player.
Luckily, they’ll have more insight into his game than any other team because of the Kokoskov connection, and if he is the pick at No. 1, that familiarity will help make the transition to the NBA easier for Doncic.
Con: The inevitable backlash
There’s a happy storyline to be found if Kokoskov and Doncic are reunited in the NBA, but you can be guaranteed it’ll be drowned out by an angry mob of U of A fans formed outside Talking Stick Resort Arena if the Suns pass up Deandre Ayton at No. 1.
Drafting Ayton just because he played at a university a few hours down the road would be dumb. Drafting him because he went to high school in Phoenix would also dumb. However, there’s no denying the the Arizona connection plays a factor here, and it’d be ignorant to do so.
If the Suns were to draft Luka Doncic #1 they could just trot out Steve Nash quotes to calm the angry mob. pic.twitter.com/T73Qze3VTC
— Scott Howard (@ScottHoward42) June 18, 2018
Picking Ayton would make the hometown fans happy, especially if he’s good. Can you imagine if he panned out and led the Suns to a championship? He could go down as the most beloved Phoenix sports figure ever.
If the Suns take Ayton and he reaches his ceiling, even the most loyal ASU fans will love him. If they draft him and he winds up being a 20-10 guy who can’t stay on the floor in a playoff series, well, at least the “draft bust” McDonough invested in will be a local guy.
Doncic will have no such luxury as the foreign prospect, and you’ve already probably heard the idiotic comparisons to famous draft busts from overseas like Darko Milicic or Mario Hezonja.
Prior to being drafted, Mario Hezonja was 9th on his own team in minutes in the Euroleague as a 20 year old.
— Micah Adams (@MAdamsStatGuy) June 19, 2018
As a 19-yr old, Doncic was the league's MVP and played by far the most minutes of anyone on his team.
Using Hezonja as a reason to be wary of Doncic is laughably dumb.
Aside from the foreign stereotypes, there will be even more pressure on Doncic to excel if Phoenix passes on the perceived “sure thing.” Arizona fans will document his every failure and Ayton’s every success. Suns fans will expect him to be great, and if he doesn’t come along right away, it will be all too easy to turn on him and label him a bust before he even gets a fair chance.
This shouldn’t matter, but the staunch contrast between support for Ayton and skepticism for the European prospect would put an inordinate amount of pressure on Wonder Boy to not only live up to the hype of being a No. 1 pick, but being the No. 1 pick who was taken instead of the local bronze god.