4 years removed from their third ever Finals appearance, the Phoenix Suns are an entirely different team. With the highest payroll in the NBA, Phoenix’s loss against the Lakers last night dropped their record to 31-37, 1.5 games behind the 10th seeded Dallas Mavericks.
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Richard Jefferson was providing color commentary for the Suns’ road game in Los Angeles when he reminded the fans of one of their cardinal mistakes; passing up on Luka Doncic in the 2018 NBA Draft.
With the first overall pick, Phoenix selected Arizona big man DeAndre Ayton over the Slovenian guard. It was a decision informed by the roster’s needs, intended to fill the vacuum in their frontcourt.
However, in pursuit of a center, the Suns chose not to select the best available player. And that has made all the difference. Jefferson reminded the fans of the same during last night’s 96-107 loss at Crypto.com Arena.
“Let me just say this. The number one pick was DeAndre Ayton, a fellow Arizona Wildcat. So, the jury is still out on whether or not they made the right pick here in Phoenix between Luka and DeAndre,” RJ commented.
Richard Jefferson said that the jury is still out on whether the Suns made the right choice with their #1 pick between Luka and Ayton 😂 pic.twitter.com/gDu2ixuVju
— Showtime Luka (@showtimeluka) March 16, 2025
As a former Arizona Wildcat himself, Jefferson joked about his bias towards Ayton, but it was abundantly clear that his remarks derived from his abundance of sarcasm. After all, the jury’s verdict has long been confirmed.
7 years after the draft, Ayton is no longer a Sun. He has averaged a double-double throughout his career but his tenure in Arizona was underwhelming, to say the least.
At the same time, the player Phoenix passed up on has more All-NBA and All-Star selections than their franchise star, Devin Booker. Doncic also gave them 33 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds last night. And he boasts the second-highest points per game average against the Suns, behind only Michael Jordan.
Could Luka Doncic and Devin Booker share a backcourt?
In his last 7 appearances against the Suns, Doncic has scored at least 30 points each time. He has played with extra ferocity against the franchise ever since Devin Booker slighted him in the 2022 Playoffs, resulting in one of the biggest Game 7 blowouts in league history.
However, if the Suns hadn’t drafted by position and selected Luka 1st overall in 2018, the rivalry between Doncic and Booker would be replaced by one of the strongest offensive backcourts of all time.
The franchise was tentative about the fit between Book and the Slovenian superstar, but if you want proof of concept for that partnership then look no further than the LA Lakers. With LeBron James sidelined for over a week already, the duo of Doncic and Austin Reaves have taken over the Lakers’ offense.
Book, like Reaves, would have adapted to Luka’s on-ball gravity and played in more off-ball, spot-up situations. The Suns’ franchise leading scorer has already adjusted to the offensive needs of Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, excelling in catch and shoot scenarios.
On 3.5 three-point attempts, Book is recording a 39% conversion rate. On 4.1 catch and shoot two-point attempts, he’s averaging 40.4% efficiency.
One would expect those numbers to improve around a playmaker of Doncic’s caliber. And the Lakers’ league-leading defense since trading away Anthony Davis has also proven that a solid defensive system can make up for the vulnerabilities of guards like Reaves and Doncic; a defensive mold certainly Booker fits into.
Unfortunately, that partnership will forever remain a hypothetical. Instead, the Suns fanbase is treated to a slow implosion, watching their team suffer from a lack of depth and young talent; the very things they traded away — along with all their draft capital — for aging superstars.
