The Phoenix Suns were generally expected to select Deandre Ayton as this year’s top pick in the NBA Draft. The Suns surely did not disappoint most of the experts as they did nab Ayton with the no. 1 overall pick.
Apparently, the Suns arrived at the decision to get Ayton upon conferring with the team’s young stars, Devin Booker and Josh Jackson in particular, according to general manager Ryan McDonough during a recent appearance on Arizona Sports 98.7.
McDonough: “Deandre Ayton is who Devin [Booker] wanted and also who Josh Jackson wanted. He was the consensus among our young players right after the Lottery.”
Ayton gives Phoenix a terrific figure down low, someone who could score at the block either by using his brute strength and 7-foot-1, 260-pound frame, or through sheer skill.
The Suns still have Tyson Chandler, but the veteran big man is on the twilight of his career and is definitely not part of the team’s long-term plans, so the addition of Ayton makes plenty of sense for Phoenix. Alex Len, who is set to hit free agency, may or may not come back to Phoenix, but in any case, he is no longer seen as a valuable asset in the middle thanks to years of underperformance. With Ayton, the Suns have a legitimate option at the post, one who would complement the team’s perimeter guys like Devin Booker, Josh Jackson, and TJ Warren.
The Suns are far from a finished product, but Ayton, together with Booker and the rest of the talented cast of youngsters on the team, Phoenix’s future is starting to look at least a little bit brighter.
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