This was another brutal season for the Phoenix Suns. They fired their head coach after just three games, their best player essentially Tweeted his way out of town and they finished with the worst record in the league at 21-61. But earlier this month, the Suns were rewarded for their months of misery as they won the Draft Lottery and will have the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft for the first time in franchise history.
Every year around this time, speculation starts to build about not only who will be picked No. 1, but whether the team with the first pick will keep it or try to move it for a big haul. According to Suns GM Ryan McDonough, however, you can save your time with potential trades, and instead focus on who the Suns will pick. That’s because he said on Friday that there’s an “overwhelming likelihood” that the team will keep the top pick. Via ESPN:
Suns general manager Ryan McDonough said there’s an “overwhelming likelihood” that the team will keep its No. 1 overall pick and not trade it away.
McDonough made the comment Friday after the first of what will be many pre-draft workouts of players on the Suns’ practice court.
“It would have to be a young, proven star player with multiple years on his contract, multiple years of team control,” McDonough said. “Once you start whittling down the list, that list probably shrinks to a handful of players if not fewer players than that. So I think the overwhelming likelihood is that we keep the pick. However, we’re open, if those teams call us or we call them. But as of now, obviously we’re planning on keeping it.”
Now, you can’t just run around accepting every quote that comes out at this time of year as gospel. Teams are adept at using smokescreens, and things can change pretty fast — just look at last offseason. However, in this case, it seems pretty likely that McDonough is telling the truth. With the talent at the top of the draft, someone would really have to blow the Suns away with an offer to take that pick off of their hands.
Courtesy: CBS Sports
