With the Phoenix Suns no longer praying for ping pong balls and fruitful prospects to come their way each offseason, the 2017 NBA Draft already feels like ancient history.
During that fateful night, the Suns sat well positioned with the fourth overall pick, granted to them thanks to their abysmal 24-58 record from the season before. With their selection, Phoenix called upon athletic wing Josh Jackson, who just finished a fabulous season at the collegiate level averaging 16.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
But as we all know today, that investment never paid off as desired. Jackson struggled to gel with his team and failed to develop as a consistent scoring option. After two disappointing seasons with the Suns, they traded him to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Playing the “what if” game can be dangerous, but this pick absolutely deserves our hindsight attention. During their next draft, Phoenix saw incredible returns with their picks, walking away with Mikal Bridges and Deandre Ayton. But the Jackson selection beforehand strikes as a strange chapter in this team’s rebuilding story, which undoubtedly works against its momentum.
If the Suns knew what we know today, they would absolutely cash their pick in on someone else and instead leave Jackson to the field. That draft produced several superstar players, and if the Suns snatched up one of them rather than Jackson, their already talented roster becomes even scarier within an instant.
So to erase these cursed pages within Phoenix’s history and replace them with new and improved ones, the 2017 NBA re-draft goes as follows.