Phoenix Suns: Top-Five Best First Round Picks of the last Decade
By Adam Maynes
These are the top-five best first round picks the Phoenix Suns have made since 2010.
The Phoenix Suns set the franchise-record for most seasons in a decade without making the playoffs, officially nine times, breaking the record of six set in the decade of the 1970s.
Because of this, management was forced (although in the case of Ryan McDonough, intentionally) to pick very high in the lottery, even as high as number one, for the first time in franchise-history.
Selecting in the top-ten a franchise-record six times, had management been able to pull off the selection of the that true best talent available in the draft more than once, the Phoenix Suns would be one of the foremost talented, young teams in the league right now, with the chance – if the selections were absolutely perfect – of becoming one of the absolute best teams in the league.
Even a dynastic one.
In the end, though, it is arguable that management even pulled off the selection of the best player once, and in the case of the 2018 draft, while no one should be pulling the plug on Deandre Ayton, even now it appears that Luke Doncic was by far the best player available, and yet he was passed on.
But, this particular post is not a negative one!
These are the top-five best first round draft picks made by the Phoenix Suns in the last decade.
The selections were made by a combination of total Win Share first, Win Share per-48 minutes second, and the eye test, third.
In this case, based on those three categories, Mikal Bridges has finished seventh, while T.J. Warren has finished sixth in the race for the top-five.
For each of them, the eye test has done them in (although in the case of Bridges, his lack of experience with no specific above-average talent to celebrate), and their 3-point shooting has further hurt their positions on this list.
Bridges has a positive total Win Share at 4.3 (although a moderate .068 per 48-minutes), while Warren finished with 13.0 in Phoenix (including a decent (.086 per 48-minutes).
Warren obviously significantly improved his 3-point shooting prior to the 2018-19 season, although his overall ineffectiveness prior to last year hurt his cause.