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Former Phoenix Suns Head Coach Gets Honest About 2018 NBA Draft
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- Former Phoenix Suns Head Coach Gets Honest About 2018 NBA Draft
(USA TODAY Sports)
There are many points in the history of the Phoenix Suns ' existence where a regretful decision was made.
Perhaps the most flagrant of which over the last 30 or so years came in the summer of 2018. This is when Phoenix used their first-ever number one overall draft pick to take center Deandre Ayton over Slovenian guard Luka Doncic .
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While the preference for Ayton eventually won out, it wasn't a unanimous sentiment.
Igor Kokoskov - Phoenix's head coach from May 2018 to April 2019 - joined the "X's and O's Podcast" recently to discuss a number of topics, including passing on Doncic in June of that year.
"We never, literally never, had a single serious strategic conversation about who we were going to draft, which gave me more than enough of an indication that the decision had already been made. So, Robert Sarver went to Arizona, so he had an emotional connection to Ayton."
The connection between Sarver and the University of Arizona is common knowledge, and certainly was back then as well. Sarver's personal biases won out, but it wasn't for lack of trying from Kokoskov's perspective. The Slovenian native went into that summer having coached Doncic for the national team, seeing what the little-known Euro star had to offer in the process.
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Hindsight is 20/20, which adds context to this situation. Ayton tended to be the consensus top prospect at the time, while Doncic eventually fell to the third overall pick. There were those that did point out the natural path Doncic and then 21-year-old Devin Booker had to fit incredibly well together on the court.
Doncic's sheer blend of shotmaking, passing, and footwork came together with an already expansive level of experience at the professional level via the Euroleague. Doncic and Booker theoretically would have been able to compliment each other's strengths, while the Suns could have invested in a center down the line
While Ayton and Booker got off to a promising start as a duo, the 2022 Western Conferece Semifinals against the Dallas Mavericks (ironically against Kokoskov) is seemingly the point in which the wheels started falling off.
Now, Ayton is a reserve for the Washington Wizards , while Phoenix is still working through issues, including moving beyond the mess caused by Sarver.
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On the other hand, Doncic is now on the Los Angeles Lakers , although there is pressure on the franchise to prove that they are seriously building towards contention.
For now, this is a "what could have been" scenario, but is the door open for a possible team-up down the line? Only time will tell, but for now Booker is leading the new-look Suns into a new season that is promising at the surface.
