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2018 NBA Draft: 5 best fits for Luka Doncic

By Brandon Jefferson

Real Madrid Luka Doncic during Liga Endesa Finals match (1st game) between Real Madrid and Kirolbet Baskonia at Wizink Center in Madrid, Spain. June 13, 2018. (Photo by COOLMedia/Peter Sabok/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Real Madrid Luka Doncic during Liga Endesa Finals match (1st game) between Real Madrid and Kirolbet Baskonia at Wizink Center in Madrid, Spain. June 13, 2018. (Photo by COOLMedia/Peter Sabok/NurPhoto via Getty Images) /
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CHICAGO – MAY 15: Josh Jackson #20 of the Phoenix Suns and General Manager of the Phoenix Suns, Ryan McDonough pose for a photo after getting the number one pick in the 2018 NBA Draft during the 2018 NBA Draft Lottery at the Palmer House Hotel on May 15, 2018 in Chicago Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)
CHICAGO – MAY 15: Josh Jackson #20 of the Phoenix Suns and General Manager of the Phoenix Suns, Ryan McDonough pose for a photo after getting the number one pick in the 2018 NBA Draft during the 2018 NBA Draft Lottery at the Palmer House Hotel on May 15, 2018 in Chicago Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Phoenix Suns (No. 1 overall)

The Phoenix Suns have the first pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. Luka Doncic is the best player available. That alone seems like enough of a fit between team and a prospect to have this pairing make sense. With Eric Bledsoe in Milwaukee and the Elfrid Payton experiment likely coming to an end after half a season in the desert the Suns could certainly use new blood at the point guard position. Adding the 6-foot-8 Doncic alongside Devin Booker and Josh Jackson could give Phoenix a trio that fits perfectly into the way the game is being played in the NBA today. Doncic runs the operation as a point-forward, Booker is the smooth-shooting playmaker, and Jackson is the defensive jack-of-all-trades Swiss Army Knife that compliments Doncic’s and Booker’s skill set.

On top of that, the Suns hired Igor Kokoskov this spring to be their latest head coach. Kokoskov has been an NBA assistant for 17 years, most recently with the Utah Jazz. But, the biggest nugget about the new Suns coach is that he was the head coach of the Slovenian National Team that won EuroBasket in 2017 featuring Doncic. Phoenix played up this connection following the announcement by slyly placing an accent mark over the “S” in “Suns” following the culmination of the draft lottery (which put the internet into a frenzy).

Thursday will mark the first time in Suns franchise history that they will be choosing at the top of the draft. While having the first overall pick is new to Phoenix, the idea is to take the best player first that isn’t always what turns out to be the case. Ayton looks to be the man the team wants most, but what if this turns out to be an elaborate smokescreen on Robert Sarver’s behalf? Yeah right, I stopped believing that sentence halfway through writing it myself.

After being one of the early adopters of the spread pick-and-roll/pace-and-space offense that has come to take over today’s league, the Suns are set up to recoup the requisite talent to make their team matter once more. Yet, it seems like they are going to pass over the player that some have described as a “6-foot-8 Steve Nash”.

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