Phoenix Suns stars Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton top-25 players in 5 years?

NBC Sports is running a fun countdown of their projected top-50 NBA players in five years. Halfway through the list and neither Devin Booker nor Deandre Ayton are anywhere to be found – yet.

The Phoenix Suns believe that they have a burgeoning superstar on their hands in Devin Booker with another potential star in Deandre Ayton.

Booker, the still only 22-year-old scoring machine, is well on his way to potentially becoming one of the league’s all-time scorers – if he can remain healthy and play for at least another 12-15 years – while Ayton’s rookie-year double-double average is nothing too to be ignored.

At the moment though, neither receive much respect from around the league, primarily because for their entire careers (four years for Booker in particular), both have played on the franchise’s worst  teams in it’s now 52-year history.

However, in one offseason things appear to be changing in Phoenix’s favor as James Jones is placing his stamp on the roster in a big way, profoundly changing the direction that Ryan McDonough once had them under.

Should winning follow (hopefully with regular playoff appearances beginning in the near-term), both the Phoenix Suns’ and in particular Devin Booker’s exposure will rise greatly in the eyes of fans around the league, potentially finally taking him to the level of superstar that he appears destined to achieve.

If Deandre Ayton continues to take steps towards dominating the post as was advertised with his draft selection, then maybe the pre-draft comparison to Shaquille O’Neal won’t be nearly as far-fetched as they originally seemed.

Such hope potentiality does not seem to have fallen blindly on Kurt Helin of NBCSports.com, who has been counting down his projection for the NBA’s top-50 players in five years.

Releasing five a day, and now halfway through the list (counting down from 50), there has been no mention of either Booker or Ayton.

Klay Thompson (47), Brandon Ingram (45), CJ McCollum (42), RJ Barrett (41), LeBron James (40), Damian Lillard (33), Stephen Curry (31), Kevin Durant (29), and D’Angelo Russell (28), have all been listed thus far.

Sure, they may have fallen outside  of the top-50, but that seemed entirely unlikely – at least for Devin Booker who should be almost assuredly in the top-25.

Booker has already scored 70 points in a single game, while Ayton averaged 16+ points and 10+ boards in his rookie year, surrounded by a disjointed roster, a meddling offense, and no competent point guard who could properly get him the ball in the post.

It appears that Kevin is taking Sunday off and the list of 26-21 will be released on Monday, August 26. Keep an eye out, and see how many Phoenix Suns stars make the Top-50 best NBA players in five years!