New Phoenix Suns head coach Igor Kokoskov has storied ties to top prospect Luka Doncic, after having coached him during a victorious EuroBasket 2017 tournament that gave Slovenia the gold for the first time in the nation's history.

Yet those who believe his connection to the 19-year-old international phenom are enough to make him a sure-fire pick for the Suns with the No. 1 overall pick are simply jumping to conclusions.

While Kokoskov will surely have input in the decision, it won't be put on him to make the final call, but rather in the hands of general manager Ryan McDonough; who will take the input from his fellow executive board, ownership, and as promised, phenom Devin Booker.

“He is damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t,” a source told Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. “If he pushes for Doncic and they take him, then anything that happens with Doncic or Ayton from there is on him. No team wants to put their coach in that situation. No coach wants to be in that situation. They’re going to avoid that like the plague.”

Making that selection on his own could be a massive make-or-break decision, making him responsible for the franchise's future fate if Doncic turned injury prone or just didn't have the season he was expected to have as the top overall pick.

His minutes and place in the rotation will also be utterly scrutinized, making him a man on an island with ownership and the front office — a position that could set him up to fail — just too much for a rookie head coach in the league.

McDonough will be the one to press the launch button on this operation, which now rides the fate of many Suns' faithful coming into this offseason.