NBA Exec: Suns Passing on Luka Doncic is Historic Mistake

The Phoenix Suns could soon be etched in NBA history for all the wrong reasons, at least according to an anonymous NBA executive that spoke to league insider Marc Stein.

The Suns managed to earn the first number one overall pick in franchise history in the 2018 offseason, and eventually opted to take Arizona Wildcats sensation Deandre Ayton over EuroLeague MVP Luka Doncic, despite previously hiring his Slovenian national team coach Igor Kokoskov.

The move seemed reasonable at the time, as Ayton’s tantalizing physicality, post skill, and defensive upside projected him to become a superstar in the league relatively quickly.

The move continued to be somewhat justifiable going into the 2021 NBA Finals, as Ayton played a crucial role in the run despite being considerably worse than Doncic to that point.

It all went downhill from there, and Ayton was unceremoniously traded to the Portland Trail Blazers, which is ironically the franchise that selected Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan in the ’84 draft.

“And as put to me by one admiring rival executive, who has been marveling at Dončić’s play throughout these playoffs, watching intently as No. 77 repeatedly punishes defenses that are trying to wear him down: ‘Drafting Deandre Ayton over Luka Dončić might one day be as bad as Bowie over Jordan.'”

– Marc Stein

While things look bleak on that front, we ultimately believe that process beats results.

Ayton was widely seen as the best prospect in the draft at the time, and the Suns clearly believed that he was the right selection, so sticking to the plan was the correct move.

Doncic is also on course to be one of the greatest players in league history, but fair or not, he will be judged by how many titles he wins at the end of his career.

Suns fans have seen first hand how difficult it truly is to get back to the Finals, and a Doncic finals loss could prove difficult to remedy over the coming seasons.