Suns’ trade for Marquese Chriss highlights Ryan McDonough’s aggressive mentality

The biggest storyline on the day of the 2016 NBA Draft was what the Boston Celtics would do.

General manager Danny Ainge was armed with eight different selections including the No. 3 overall pick, the spot that many believed to be “where the draft really started.”

The rumor mill was buzzing, with multiple teams needing a point guard. The Philadelphia 76ers were reportedly looking to acquire either the third or fifth pick to select Providence point guard Kris Dunn. There was also Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler, the biggest name swirled into trade rumors, and if the Celtics could offer enough of their treasure chest full of assets for the All-Star.

With all those assets and picks, the Celtics had to do something, right?

As it turns out, they didn’t do much at all.

Having not made a deal and staying put at No. 3, Boston selected California wing Jaylen Brown, a player that was likely to be available in the 6-to-8 range. With seven more picks outside the top-15, surely the Celtics would trade up? Nope. At No. 16, they reached on French power forward Guerschon Yabusele, another player projected to go later than the spot the Celtics selected him.

It’s evident Ainge thought he was going to be making deals, but the only one he made Thursday night was trading two second-round picks for a protected 2019 first-round pick, a less than ideal transaction for a team that won 48 games last season. Ainge gambled, and his attractive compilation of movable pieces on draft night turned into nothing substantial.

That’s not what happened to Ryan McDonough, Phoenix Suns general manager and Ainge’s former assistant general manager.

McDonough was aggressive with the assets he had collected over the course of his first couple of years in Phoenix and what he did with them was significant.

The 2016 NBA Draft has its critics in terms of quality and rightfully so, but it was a debate as to who was the best prospect after Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram, and one of those prospects was Washington power forward Marquese Chriss.

After selecting Croatian big man Dragan Bender at No. 4, McDonough was looking to acquire another one of those players in the conversation, but his next selection was at No. 13 and the overwhelming feeling was that Chriss would not last that long.

He took the first-round pick he acquired for Markieff Morris, No. 13, and the protected first-rounder from the Isaiah Thomas trade, No. 28.

Adding Bogdan Bogdanovic, a player selected with a first-round draft pick from a deal with the Indiana Pacers centered around Luis Scola and a 2020 second-round pick, the only return on sending Marcus Morris, Danny Granger and Reggie Bullock to Detroit.

That gave McDonough enough ammunition to complete the move to No. 8 and select Chriss.

Those trades significantly vary in how well they turned out for Phoenix, but their general manager did not let the return go to waste.

That’s not to say that the players Ainge selected are useless, but in a moment that prompted an assertive mentality, he ended the night sitting on his hands.

McDonough has never been that guy. Some of those bold plans or transactions wind up in the loss column, including a pursuit of LaMarcus Aldridge and trading away Isaiah Thomas, but he’s also had his wins, like getting great value for a player ready to leave in Goran Dragic and acquiring Eric Bledsoe for pennies.

Now we can add another win on the sheet. Chriss is a tremendous gamble, but that’s what McDonough is all about.

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