The 2026 NBA Finals served as a painful reminder to Phoenix Suns fans of what could have been.
Jalen Brunson, who won an NCAA championship with teammates Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart while in college at Villanova, ran it back by guiding the New York Knicks to their first championship in 53 years.
Suns fans were largely thrilled for Bridges, a fan favorite during his time in The Valley who was traded away in the Kevin Durant deal. Brunson is another talent the Suns could have acquired via the 2018 draft, instead taking a different point guard who never established himself in the NBA.
It wasn’t the first time nor the last time in the past 10 years that the Suns have whiffed on a chance to draft an All-Star-caliber point guard — a frustrating trend that looks worse now that the Suns are searching for a point guard to pair alongside face of the franchise Devin Booker.
Phoenix Suns frequently missed chances to draft franchise point guard
In the 2018 NBA draft, the Suns notoriously selected center Deandre Ayton at No. 1 overall, spurning the potential of Euroleague MVP Luka Doncic in the process.
But the Ayton pick arguably wasn’t the worst choice they made that year relative to players available, as the Suns used their 31st overall selection in Round 2 to take French point guard Elie Okobo — just two slots ahead of Brunson, the future Finals MVP.
Brunson is now a three-time All-NBA talent, three-time All-Star and NBA champion. Okobo, meanwhile, played just two seasons for the Suns and finished with career averages of 4.8 points and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 39.5% from the floor.
Just one year prior, the Suns had the No. 4 overall pick in the 2017 draft. Phoenix had the option to take Kentucky point guard De’Aaron Fox in that slot, but instead went with Kansas wing Josh Jackson (Fox was taken one slot later by the Sacramento Kings).
Like Okobo, Jackson played just two seasons in The Valley and was out of the league entirely before his 25th birthday.
The Suns had yet another chance for an elite point guard in the 2020 draft, where they were selecting at No. 10 overall. But instead of nabbing future two-time All-NBA talent Tyrese Haliburton, who guided the Indiana Pacers to the NBA Finals in 2025, the Suns selected Maryland big man Jalen Smith.
Haliburton went just two slots later — again to the Kings who, ironically, wound up trading away both Fox and Haliburton.
The Suns don’t possess a first-round draft pick in the 2026 draft, but history suggests they’d miss out on the best talents available anyway.
Whiffing on Doncic, Fox, Brunson and Haliburton in just a four-year span is a really tough look for Phoenix’s scouting department. It looks even worse now that Brunson can call himself an NBA champ.
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