3 Suns who should have been on HoopsHype top 100 list over Deandre Ayton

The Phoenix Suns have three star players on their roster in Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, and it is no surprise that HoopsHype believe they're three of the top 100 players in the league heading into the new season.

You can think what you like about Beal - but when healthy - he is if anything ranked too low at 73rd in the league on this particular list. It's much better news for Booker (16th) and Durant (11th), although you could argue the two should switch positions. Especially after the summer Booker had with Team USA in keeping Finals MVP Jayson Tatum off the court when it mattered most.

No more Suns appear on the list though, while former Sun Deandre Ayton does.

This feels like a mistake... and that is putting it lightly. In Ayton's first season with the rebuilding Portland Trail Blazers, he struggled to establish himself and put up big numbers when the path to doing so appeared clear. He did improve after the All-Star break, but the Suns won the Ayton for Jusuf Nurkic and Grayson Allen trade, even if Nurkic's known limitations.

While the Suns got out of the Ayton business at just the right time, they also have a host of role players who surely rank among the top 100 in the league. Ayton finished 97th - and if we take pure potential out of the equation and factor everything in - there were three Suns who were definitely more deserving of appearing on that list over him.

3. Tyus Jones

Point guard Tyus Jones may be yet to play a game in Phoenix, but he's a Suns player now and so he most definitely counts. Thought of as the best backup floor general in the league going back to his time with the Memphis Grizzlies, he managed to put up 12 points and over eight assists as a starter with the Washington Wizards last season.

Jones takes care of the ball in a way few others can - outside of his new teammate Monte Morris - and that skill alone is worthy of being on this list. There's a reason the Suns' offseason was viewed as a success, and it was because they managed to get Jones to come to The Valley on a minimum deal.

Forgotten in amongst all of this is the fact he's still only 28-years-old, closer in age to Booker than Beal for example - and although he's not likely to improve in any major way - Allen just had a career season in Phoenix at the same age. We get why he's being overlooked, but he's a pure table-setter and somebody who loves to get his teammates going. That deserves more love.

2. Royce O'Neale

Would you really rather have Ayton - or some other guys to appear on the list such as Tobias Harris - on the Suns over Royce O'Neale? Again this feels like he is being punished because like Jones he accepts being a role player, but there is so much to like about O'Neale's game.

It's not just the 3-point shooting at an above average level, it is how he appeared to raise his game in the postseason for the Suns. The same cannot be said for most of his teammates, while he was as comfortable coming off the bench as he was playing alongside the trio of stars. Defensively he is a tad undersized, but you could never question his commitment to the cause.

At 31 he is that bit older and so it's easier to include guys with a ton of upside like Jalen Suggs and even Cam Thomas. But the thing about upside is - much like Ayton - some players never come close to reaching their full potential. O'Neale on the other hand is not only a known commodity, he is one that every contender in the league could do with having on their roster.

Right now he feels like the Suns' version of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope - both are the same age and have similar enough games - and by season's end it will look foolish that he was overlooked here. Don't be surprised if this is the first campaign of his career where he averages over 10 points per game.

1. Grayson Allen

Really, no Allen after a career year? What does he have to do to get on this list? All Allen managed in his first season with the Suns was career highs in points, rebounds and assists, all while leading the entire league in 3-point shooting at 46.1 percent. To achieve this while starting all bar one of the 75 regular season games he appeared in was hugely impressive.

To steal that starting spot at all was massive - and although he will likely come off the bench this season - filling the gap left by Beal when he was injured was no mean feat. Beal has been a three-time All-Star who has twice averaged over 30 per game in the league, and Allen made his absence manageable with how he performed on both ends of the court.

To make the Ayton deal look like a win for the Suns was also incredibly important, and it was Allen's offensive output that swung the trade in their favor. Nobody could have foreseen this when the deal went down - and while Nurkic also played his part in physically replacing Ayton in the lineup - it was Allen's career year that fans will remember fondly from 2023-24.

He's unlikely to be as deadly from deep next season, but being able to knock down open shots and know your role is a skill that is not appreciated enough in the NBA today. O'Neale also suffers as a result of this - playing for a fringe contender meaning he'll never get the credit he truly deserves - but it is Allen's absence from the top 100 that hurts the most.