3 biggest draft misses from the Phoenix Suns since 2010

The Phoenix Suns enter the 2023-24 season as the favorites in the eyes of many people to win a first ever NBA championship. They have achieved this through adding Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and at one point Chris Paul at key times in the organization’s development.

Easy as it is to forget though, they never could have attracted these kinds of players without successfully drafting both Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton. Booker’s credentials need no introduction, and he is one of the top 15 players in the world. Former first overall pick Ayton isn’t as highly thought of, but there’s no doubt he is a top 10 player in his position in the league today.

Although both of these picks were successful in their own ways, the Suns have still missed out on some transcendent talent since 2010.

This isn’t meant in a way that cherry-picks players to make the Suns look bad either. We can’t grade them badly for missing on the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo (15th pick in 2013) or Nikola Jokic (41st pick in 2014, and we all know the Taco Bell story at this stage), because may other franchises also didn’t take a chance on these two champions and league MVPs.

But looking through the list of players taken by the team in the last 13 years, and there have still been some bad misses. Obviously in some cases this would have changed the trajectory of the Suns, meaning they likely never could have drafted Booker or Ayton. But it is still a fun exercise to go back in time and imagine how good they could have been before now.

One exception will be made to this list, and that is Ayton. In hindsight Luka Doncic was the obvious first pick in 2018, and you could make a case for Jaren Jackson Jr. and even Trae Young as well. But the selection is still defensible, as Ayton has already helped power the Suns to an NBA Finals appearance (something Doncic or Young haven’t done), and is a big man who it is hard to pass on.

3 biggest draft misses from the Phoenix Suns since 2010.

3. De’Aaron Fox

We’re going to jump straight in here with the ugly stuff, because De’Aaron Fox (sixth pick in 2017) was a bad miss. The Suns were up at fifth that year, and having just watched Jayson Tatum go to the Boston Celtics they decided to take… Josh Jackson. In the moment this didn’t feel like a disaster, but pretty quickly it was apparent it wasn’t going to work out for him with the Suns.

Jackson’s time with the franchise isn’t quite as bad as you’d think, and in 156 games played (64 starts), he averaged 12.3 points and 4.5 rebounds in just over 25 minutes of action per game. Pedestrian numbers that unfortunately came at a time when the team needed a lot more from such a high lottery selection.

Jackson only missed eight games total across his two seasons with the Suns, but his motor and desire were called into question often. At a time when the organization was figuring out which direction they were going and gave Jackson ample opportunity to be a foundational piece next to the blossoming Booker, he floundered.

Fox has since gone on to rightly draw comparisons to the explosive Russell Westbrook, and just helped the Kings end a postseason drought last year. He has been an All-Star, and at this point in his career it is fair to peg him as the second best player on a team that has hopes of making a postseason run for the next number of years.

In other words, he is exactly the kind of guard who would have thrived next to the do it all offensive force that is Booker. Jonathan Isaac and Lauri Markkanen were the two selections taken after Fox, and even both of them would have turned out better than Jackson. That includes the injury-plagued Isaac, because his defensive upside is so good. An awful pick at an important time.

3 biggest draft misses from the Phoenix Suns since 2010.

2. Domantas Sabonis

Somewhat ironic that we pivot from Fox to the other player who helped the Kings reach the playoffs this season, Domantas Sabonis. The Suns had the fourth pick in 2016, while Sabonis didn’t come off the board until 11th, and was traded on draft night by the Orlando Magic to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Why didn’t we put Buddy Hield (sixth) or Jamal Murray (seventh) here instead? Well, the Suns wanted a forward that year to pair with Booker, and selected Dragan Bender. Like Sabonis, a European big who had the footwork and the potential to be exactly what the team needed at that point in time.

Unlike Sabonis, Bender was out of the league by 2020, and at only 25-years-old still currently plays in Spain. It is fair to say he was as raw as they come, a project player who if a team had stuck with him, may have started to see the fruits of their endeavour at this point. The Suns gave him three seasons, he gave them 5.3 points and 3.8 rebounds.

It would be easy to say the Suns should have taken Murray, and alongside Booker they would have taken the league by storm. It is also fair to point out that Hield’s shooting would have been as welcome then as it would be now, and that he too would have been a success in Arizona. Both of these things are most likely true.

But at a time when the franchise wanted a big man with a ton of upside, they reached and took the wrong one. Sabonis has been an All-Star in the league, and outside of Jokic has some of the best footwork you’re going to see in a big in the NBA today. He also could have been the center solution the team needed, allowing them to look at Doncic or Young instead of Ayton…

3 biggest draft misses from the Phoenix Suns since 2010.

1. Tyrese Haliburton

We’re not sure what it says that a third straight King has made this list, because that organization hasn’t exactly been known for knocking the draft out of the park throughout their existence. But here we are. Tyrese Haliburton was traded for Sabonis and sent to the Indiana Pacers, in a deal that seemed to work out for both teams. A rarity.

The 2020 draft wasn’t full of high end talent, and yet Haliburton somehow slipped all the way to 12th. The Suns, a slowly improving group who would make the finals a year later, were pegged in the 10th spot. With Booker and Ayton already secured, and Paul about to help take the Suns to the next level, they somehow drafted Jalen Smith.

In a somewhat full circle moment, Smith was later traded to the Pacers, where he currently plays with Haliburton, for former fan favorite Torrey Craig. A player they are surely going to miss this coming season for his defensive enthusiasm. Smith’s time with the Suns is already barely remembered, and he managed just 56 games for the team.

For Haliburton however, it is the same familiar story. He was an All-Star last season, and at only 22-years-old he has the highest potential of all of the players listed here. He even said all of the right things about playing for the Kings while still part of that organization, proving early on that he had the right attitude to back up his fantastic talent.

Many have wondered before if a rookie Haliburton could have helped the Suns to win a maiden championship in 2021. After all, this is the easiest what if to talk about because the team already had Booker, Ayton and Paul, and were about to make the finals as constructed. They could have simply added Haliburton. We’ll never know, but there’s no doubt he was a huge miss for the Suns.