When Ryan McDonough took over as general manager of the Phoenix Suns, his objective was clear.

“Walking in there, the main thing I wanted to do is upgrade the talent,” said McDonough. “And do it in a fashion that was sustainable for the long term. I didn’t want to try to take any shortcuts or try any quick fixes.”

The Suns have acquired Eric Bledsoe, Alex Len and Archie Goodwin this offseason.

“What I believe in is kind of what we did in Boston — you build through the draft and you are hoping you draft well enough and keep all your young players together and have that be your core of the next great Suns team,” he said. “That model is what Oklahoma City has done, what San Antonio did. You draft very well and keep those guys.

“What we did in Boston when I was with the Celtics was a little bit different. We drafted fairly well and we kept some of the guys, but we also traded a few of them for Ray Allen and Garnett, and we built a championship team that way. There are different ways to do it but the one consistent is you need good young players and you need draft picks.”