2018 NBA Mock Draft: If need were all that mattered

There’s a joke to be made about the underlying need the Suns might display by drafting Gilgeous-Alexander. After trading Eric Bledsoe in November, Phoenix wandered through the season with just two active Kentucky guards. Brandon Knight was injured, and at times Tyler Ulis was out of the rotation. That can’t fly — Ulis must return, and Gilgeous-Alexander would return order to the Wildcats’ western kingdom.

It may not be so intensely scripted, but the real message that can be understood from the Suns’ proclivity for Kentucky ball-handlers is that the team hasn’t been able to find a backcourt tandem that works since Steve Nash and Jason Richardson took the team to the 2010 Western Conference Finals. Bledsoe, Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas have all tried and failed to make their case to the rebuilding Suns that they could be the next in a line of great Suns guards.

That’s not to say that, at No. 16, the Suns are destined to find that type of player, or even that Gilgeous-Alexander has the talent to be a longtime starter in the NBA. But it’s clear the Suns need to address the position, as evidenced by the dozens of guards the organization has hosted for workouts during the early summer.

Gilgeous-Alexander will need to cut back on turnovers, bulk up and become a more consistent shooter to survive as a starting point guard in the NBA. The Suns will need him to contribute right away. Who blinks first?