Suns 5-On-5: Preparing For The NBA Draft Lottery
3. Who was the Suns’ worst draft pick over the last 15 years?
Bourguet: I’m tempted to take Zarko Cabarkapa here because, come on, have you ever heard of Zarko Cabarkapa? But I’m going with Earl Clark in 2009, since the Suns had a deal in place with the Golden State Warriors to trade up to No. 7…until the Minnesota Timberwolves left Stephen Curry on the board. The deal fell through, the Suns passed on guys like Jrue Holiday and Taj Gibson and wound up with a complete bust in Clark.
Hann: For me, it wasn’t necessarily a draft pick as much as it was a draft decision. In the 2004 NBA Draft, Phoenix decided (once again) to trade their first rounder, seventh overall, to the Chicago Bulls for the Jackson Vroman, cash and the Bulls’ 2005 first rounder. At the time the Suns had Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion all growing into their primes.
With an incredible amount of offensive firepower, Phoenix just needed one true defensive piece to put them over the top. Who was available with that seventh overall pick, aside from the player Chicago drafted, Luol Deng? A man by the name of Andre Iguodala. Sigh.
Chasen: I’m taking this question to mean the worst pick given how well others selected after him performed, so I would have to say it’s Earl Clark in 2009. After the Suns took him at 14, some really solid players came off the board, including Jrue Holiday, Ty Lawson, Jeff Teague, Darren Collison, Taj Gibson, Patrick Beverly and Danny Green.
Four of those players were selected in the seven picks following the Suns’ selection, so I would say that was the worst pick, but there are a few you could choose from. As far as disappointing picks go, there’s like 50 to chose from, so I won’t get into that.
Saar: In terms of first round picks, we have a few choices. In one sense none of them were busts, but depending on how you think of busts, then maybe most of them were busts. So Casey Jacobsen in 2002 or Žarko Čabarkapa in 2003 (who? EXACTLY) or Alando Tucker in 2007. Take your pick.
Harris: I haven’t followed the Suns for too long, but a semi-recent choice would be Alando Tucker in 2007 from Wisconsin. He averaged only 4.1 points per game in his brief time at the NBA level, and is now playing internationally.
Next: No. 4