Go time: With selection of Deandre Ayton, Suns’ young core is complete
Jun 21, 2018, 4:54 PM | Updated: Jun 22, 2018, 12:13 am
PHOENIX — Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver, general manager Ryan McDonough and their staff are done rebuilding.
With the selection of Deandre Ayton first overall in the 2018 NBA Draft, the young core of the team is complete.
Ayton and shooting guard Devin Booker combine for a formidable one-two punch, and small forward Josh Jackson is a more than capable third option.
If all three players develop to reasonable expectations given their current outlooks, that’s a championship-level “Big 3” when the players approach their mid-to-late 20s.
After that, where the Suns go from here remains to be seen.
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Letting the group grow naturally together around the right veterans would be the most logical step.
The Suns, though, don’t want the playoff drought to continue on any longer and have expectations for winning basketball next season.
They will maintain a forward-moving mindset this offseason, making decisions to accommodate for the three players and even potentially adding a big-time piece that has been more seasoned in the NBA.
There’s a certain level of execution and precision required despite what the Suns already possess.
It’s impossible to view the team as one of the more desirable free agent or trade destinations given how they just lost 61 games in 2017-18.
Even if they were to trade for the likes of Kevin Love or Kemba Walker and wanted to keep them long-term, both would have to be convinced this team is headed for a quick turnaround. Or, they have already undergone it, a la the Philadelphia 76ers jumping from 28 wins to 54 last season.
That is the challenge, but the hard part is over.
Instead of winding up like terrible teams who continue to draft in the lottery and fail like the Orlando Magic or Sacramento Kings, the Suns have the right young group.
The Boston Celtics have Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
The Philadelphia 76ers have Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid and Markelle Fultz.
Now, the Suns have Ayton, Booker and Jackson, and that group is among the best young cores in the league.
At some points in the Suns’ rebuilding process, it seemed hopeless the team could even add the right pieces around Booker to get him to the playoffs before he inevitably wanted out.
That’s not the case anymore.
There will be no more tanking or talk of it, no more prioritizing minutes for younger players to let them grow.
After some failures along the way, McDonough has the right group of young players and now it’s on those three to deliver on their potential.
If they do, there will be a whole lot of winning for the Suns in the future.
With that comes expectations, something the team will welcome in return for a certain level of Valley relevance that has eluded the team in years past.
