The Phoenix Suns not drafting Tyrese Haliburton hit the news cycle again recently, with the player himself appearing on the "Numbers On The Board" podcast to admit that his agent tried to get him to The Valley ahead of the NBA Draft. Hearing this again reopens an old wound for Suns fans, but sooner or later, it will be time to move on.
Suns fans must get over Haliburton and look to future
Looking back through rose-tinted glasses is not doing Suns fans any good. Every franchise has these moments that, in hindsight, you can say could have led to a championship. A healthy Haliburton is one of the best players in the league, but there is no guarantee that a rookie would have come off the bench in the NBA Finals to help them win their first title.
Tyrese Haliburton and his agent were calling the Phoenix Suns on draft night hoping they would draft him:
— CantGuardBook (@CGBBURNER) August 23, 2026
“We were calling Phoenix, like y’all need a PG. I was tryna play with Book. I was like ‘Let me come play with Book’, and they were like, ‘We’re drafting a PF’.” pic.twitter.com/OEHqQw0TiY
Let us not forget that it was actually the Sacramento Kings who selected Haliburton in the end, and although you never want to be compared to that franchise, they got rid of him midway through his second season.
The addition of Haliburton would've likely meant that Chris Paul got moved even sooner (there's no way he was coming off the bench as the younger point guard ascended), and that probably means no Kevin Durant. No Bradley Beal either, which would have been amazing, but the Suns have tried to make the best of that situation regardless.
A core of Booker and Haliburton is a brilliant place to start, much better than the current alternative. Yet, Deandre Ayton was always going to want to be moved, and Haliburton could have been included in whatever trade would have come together for the former first overall pick's services as a throw-in, an outcome that would have made the Suns look even more foolish than not drafting him at all.
Bet you hadn't considered that before. Well, the Suns did just that with Toumani Camara.
Toumani Camara the real one that got away
A much more painful decision that is harder to get over is having an All-Defense wing in Toumani Camara, whom Phoenix drafted in the second round, and attaching him to the Ayton-for-Jusuf Nurkic deal. The Belgian even had a strong Summer League showing for the franchise, but to no avail.
Camara would have been the cheap wing and long-term successor to Mikal Bridges, who would have raised the ceiling in Phoenix. The front office has since learned from that mistake, but it was just as costly as whiffing on Haliburton.
The chance to draft Haliburton and not trade Camara is never coming back, and instead the Suns are returning most of a 45-win team for another crack at the playoffs in the year in which Booker turns 30. Enjoy the ride and stop letting Haliburton make you dwell on what might have been.
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