Phoenix Suns: The pros and cons of drafting Luka Doncic No. 1

Pro: He’s the best player

Sometimes, teams overthink things on draft night. Sometimes, it’s more tempting to go with the rawer players who have considerable upside simply because of their measurements, athleticism or emerging skill-set.

If the Suns are looking for the best all-around basketball player in the 2018 NBA Draft, it’s Luka Doncic — and it’s not particularly close.

It’s truly unfortunate Doncic wasn’t able to work out for NBA teams…until you remember he was busy winning championships overseas in the second-best basketball league in the world. That entailed facing better competition than anything Ayton, Mohamed Bamba or anyone else saw in the NCAA.

At the age of 19, Doncic led Real Madrid to the EuroLeague championship and the Spanish ACB league championship, earning MVP honors for the EuroLeague’s regular season and its Final Four. He’s a three-time ACB champ, a EuroBasket champ and is by far the youngest player to rack up all these accolades.

Forget about fears he’ll be another Ricky Rubio, Mario Hezonja or Darko Milicic. He’s the most prestigious and accomplished draft prospect to ever come from overseas, and he’s doing things that guys like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kristaps Porzingis never came close to accomplishing at his age.

Doncic is great in transition, he’s crafty attacking the rim once he gets going at full speed, he can stop on a dime for a mid-range pull-up, he knows how to attack pick-and-rolls off the dribble, he can step-back and get his own shot off and he’s adept in the post too.

Even better, Wonder Boy does not shy away from the spotlight, showing a rare level of maturity and confidence in high-stakes situations.

He’s not afraid of taking — and making — big-time shots. You can’t teach clutch, and even against competition that doesn’t stack up to NBA players, did we mention that he’s doing all this at age 19?

Doncic’s 14.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game might not seem overly impressive, but keep in mind he’s only playing about 25 minutes a night. Convert those averages to per 40 minutes and the results are eye-popping: 22.9 points, 8.4 rebounds and 7.4 assists.

There’s a certain swagger, confidence and brilliance to watching Doncic play that casts a massive shadow over every other prospect. What he’s accomplished overseas at such a young age is literally unprecedented, and if the Suns are looking for the best player at No. 1, it’s Luka Doncic.

Con: He might not be the easiest fit

Teams drafting No. 1 overall should never draft for fit, but if the Suns believe the difference between Doncic and Ayton/Bamba/Jaren Jackson Jr. is razor-thin, there’s no denying drafting a big would make more sense for this particular roster.

Doncic may wind up being the best player in this draft, but as we’ve seen for decades now, a prospect’s fit with his NBA team can mean all the difference between becoming a future star or an average role player — or even a bust.

Doncic has the skill-set, NBA-readiness and high ceiling to be good anywhere, but since he can only function as a point forward on the offensive end, the Suns would need a lockdown defender who can guard point guards and help make up for Booker’s (and possibly Doncic’s) shortcomings on that end.

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As such, the Suns would still have needs at point guard and center if they drafted Doncic. That alone makes drafting Ayton, Bamba, Jackson or Marvin Bagley III more sensible on paper, although as we’ve already covered, the concerns over Doncic’s defense have been overblown — especially when compared to how valuable wings have become in the modern NBA.

Still, drafting Doncic creates problems. Are the Suns supposed to start Doncic as point forward along with Booker, Jackson, a regular 4 and a 5? Does Jackson have to shoulder the load of trying to guard point guards at age 21? Do the Suns play a traditional 1, Booker, Doncic and then Jackson at the 4? Do they bring Doncic or Jackson off the bench? And where the hell does T.J. Warren fit in with all of this?

Small-ball lineups built around Doncic, Booker and Jackson are tantalizing on paper, but in the short-term, that fit would give up a ton of points. It would take some time for that promising reality to take shape, and it’d take a lot more roster-tweaking on McDonough’s part.

Drafting Doncic also means the Suns would have to trade up if they wanted to snag a high-quality big man, since they’d be unlikely to land one at No. 16 or No. 31. They’d be better off using one of those picks on a young floor general, but the starting-caliber prospects would be gone by then too.

Packaging picks and a young player to move up would be a possibility, but it’s impossible to say what McDonough will do on draft night with all these potential paths looking more like a draft-day maze.

Next: 2018 NBA Mock Draft - Final edition

Free agency could hold some answers (Clint Capela or DeAndre Jordan at center, and Marcus Smart or Avery Bradley at point guard, for example), but the point still stands: If the Phoenix Suns draft Luka Doncic, it wouldn’t be the cleanest fit, both from an on-court perspective or a roster construction standpoint.