Phoenix Suns: 5 Best Draft Selections This Century

Phoenix Suns (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Phoenix Suns (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
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Phoenix Suns
Phoenix Suns (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

2. Amar’e Stoudemire

Now we get into the heavy-hitters. Stoudamire had an incredibly impressive NBA career after being taken with the ninth pick in 2002. His achievements include being a six-time All-Star, one-time All-NBA First Team, four-time All-NBA Second Team, and Rookie of the Year in 2003.

He averaged over 20 points in six of his eight seasons in Phoenix, putting up a career-high 26 per game in the 2004-05 season as he and Nash delivered the franchise to the Conference Finals. He posted averages of 29.9 points and 10.7 rebounds during that 2005 postseason.

Along with the number one overall pick in Yao Ming, the two stand head and shoulders above their contemporaries from that particular draft class.

1. Devin Booker

In a decade of often incredibly disappointing draft selections, the Suns got their franchise player with one of their later lottery picks. Taken with the 13th pick in 2015, Booker joins the first overall pick, Karl-Anthony Towns, as the only two players from the draft to have been named an All-Star and All-NBA selection to this point of their careers.

Devin Booker and Kyle Kuzma, Phoenix Suns (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)
Devin Booker and Kyle Kuzma, Phoenix Suns (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)

Booker announced himself as a draft steal from early in the piece, finishing fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 2016. From his second year onwards, Booker has averaged at least 22 points a game and has solidified himself as one of the best and most consistent scorers in the league.

A three-time All Star, Booker was recently judged the league’s best shooting-guard in a ranking undertaken by HoopsHype. Still at just 25 years of age and on the rise, Booker is well on the way to becoming one of the Suns’ all-time greats.