Devin Booker a steal at 13? Lottery flops? Ayton over Doncic? Re-grading Suns' draft classes (2024)

The Phoenix Suns hit a home run with Devin Booker, but he’s the only one still on the team who they have drafted since selecting him in 2015 out of Kentucky.

The Suns traded most of their draft picks within in the last 10 years after they didn’t pan out, or included them in deals so they could acquire superstar-to-All-Star talent, as has been the case the last two years.

There have been exceptions.

Bogdan Bogdanovic never played a single game for Phoenix after being taken 27^th overall in 2014. He stayed overseas before the Suns traded him two years later to Sacramento and landed Marquese Chriss.

Phoenix’s last two draft picks — Day’Ron Sharpe (29^th overall in 2021) and Toumani Camara (52^nd overall in 2023) — didn’t see any action for Phoenix, either.

The Suns traded Sharpe, a big man, to Brooklyn for Landry Shamet on draft night and dealt Camara in a three-team deal that sent him and Deandre Ayton, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft, to Portland and brought in 7-footer Jusuf Nurkic from the Blazers and Grayson Allen from Milwaukee.

The only thing consistent with any draft are draft grades. With the 2024 draft scheduled for this Wednesday and Thursday and the Suns holding the 22nd overall pick, let’s re-grade Phoenix’s draft classes since 2014.

2014 – T.J. Warren (14^th overall), Tyler Ennis (18^th), Bogdan Bogdanović (27^th) and Alec Brown (50^th).

Draft grades – A- (Bleacher Report), B+ (USA Today), B (ESPN, CBS Sports).

Re-grade – C. Warren is the only player who was with the team longer than one season. Ennis was moved before the trade deadline his rookie year and never panned out in the league. He averaged 4.3 points in four NBA seasons for four different teams.

Bogdanovic never played for Phoenix. Brown, a 7-footer, never saw any NBA action at all.

Warren proved to be a bucket as he averaged 13.8 points in six seasons with the Suns, but was injury-prone and eventually traded to Indiana.

Biggest what if? – Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic was taken 41^st overall by Denver. Every other team in the league is scratching their head wondering what could’ve been had they picked him.

2015 – Devin Booker (13^th overall), Andrew Harrison (44^th overall, traded for Jon Leuer).

Draft grades – B+ (Bleacher Report), B (USA Today, CBS Sports).

Re-grade – A. Booker was viewed as someone who had scoring ability, but he came off the bench for one of the most talented college basketball teams ever in the 2014-15 Kentucky Wildcats.

He has since become Phoenix’s franchise guy and one of the NBA’s best players. The Suns didn’t foresee Booker, the youngest player in the 2015 draft, panning out to this degree.

Leuer never played for the Suns and became a journeyman, but that can’t bring down Phoenix’s re-draft grade. Booker has been that good in exceeding expectations.

2016 – Dragan Bender (4^th overall), Marquese Chriss (8^th overall to Sacramento), Georgios Papagiannis (13^th) Skal Labissière (28^th) and Tyler Ulis (34^th). The Suns traded Bogdanovic, Papagiannis and Labissière and a second-round pick to the Kings for Chriss.

Draft grades – A-plus (Sporting News), A (ESPN, CBS Sports), A- (Fox Sports).

Re-grade – F. Bender and Chriss never lived up to being lottery picks and Ulis was waived after two seasons. Chriss was the most talented of the three as he made NBA All-Rookie second team with some familiar names – 2024 Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, NBA champion Jamal Murray and All-Star Brandon Ingram – but only played two seasons in Phoenix.

The Suns were a mess at the time and changing coaches. Draymond Green bashed the franchise for how they handled Chriss when Chriss wound up with the Warriors, but for none of those three to pan out, particularly Bender and Chriss, the Suns failed that year.

What if? – Domantas Sabonis was still on the draft board to be taken 11^th overall. He’s become an All-Star big man for the Kings.

2017 – Josh Jackson (4^th overall), Davon Reed (32^nd) and Alec Peters (54^th).

Draft grades – A+ (Yahoo! Sports), A (ESPN, Fox Sports, Sports Illustrated).

Re-grade – F. Jackson brought tremendous athleticism with an edge draft experts felt would come alive with the Suns. He had moments in making All-Rookie second team, but never developed a 3-point shot nor lived up to the hype. Talent-wise, he should still be in the NBA, but off-court issues factored in Jackson playing just five NBA seasons after a one-and-done All-American year at Kansas.

What ifs – The list of quality players taken after Jackson is staggering starting with point guard De’Aaron Fox, who went fifth overall to Sacramento. Then there’s Lauri Markkanen (7^th overall), Malik Monk (11^th overall), Donovan Mitchell (12^th overall) and Bam Adebayo (13^th overall).

2018 – Deandre Ayton (1st overall), Zhaire Smith (16^th, traded to Philadelphia for Mikal Bridges), Elie Okobo (31^st) and George King (59^th).

Draft grades – A (Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, Yahoo! Sports, USA Today).

Re-grade – A. Ayton was an All-Rookie first-team selection who averaged a double-double in his five seasons in Phoenix while Bridges developed into a two-way player who finished runner-up for the 2021-22 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award when the Suns won a franchise-record 64 games. They played a huge part in the Suns going from 19 wins their rookie year to making the finals two years later.

The Suns eventually traded both. They sent Bridges to Brooklyn in a blockbuster move that brought in Kevin Durant right before the 2023 trade deadline and dealt Ayton in a three-team deal to Portland heading into the training camp the following summer in getting Nurkic and Allen.

Phoenix got an all-time great in the Bridges deal. The Suns and Ayton needed to part ways, but those two were difference-makers in turning the franchise around.

Absolute biggest what if? – The Suns passed on drafting Luka Doncic, a move that continues to haunt the fan base, especially after he led Dallas to the finals this season.

2019 – Jarrett Culver (6^th overall, traded to Minnesota in a deal that brought in Cam Johnson, 11th overall pick, and Dario Saric), KZ Okpala (32^nd, traded to Miami in a three-team deal that sent Warren to Indiana).

Draft grades – D+ (Bleacher Report), D (CBS Sports), D- (Sports Illustrated), F (Sporting News).

Re-grade – B. The Suns had a draft party that year at what is now called Footprint Center. When the team wound up with Johnson, fans started leaving the arena. Johnson was injury-prone, an older prospect at 23 being a fifth-year senior out of North Carolina and wasn’t expected to go that high.

It turned out to be a beyond solid move in part because they got Saric, but Johnson was the best shooter in the draft and lived up to that with the Suns. He was part of the franchise’s resurgence in becoming a starter and became a fan favorite along with his “twin,” Bridges. He too went to Brooklyn in the Durant deal, but Johnson wound up signing a four-year deal for more than $100 million with the Nets.

They also landed Ty Jerome in a trade that brought in Aron Baynes, but he only played one season with the Suns. The point guard out of Virgina where he won a national championship has been with four NBA teams in five seasons, but was part of the trade that brought in Chris Paul.

2020 – Jalen Smith (10^th overall).

Draft grades – C- (Bleacher Report, Sporting News), D- (CBS Sports), F (USA Today).

Re-grade – F. This was during the COVID-19 pandemic. So, the draft process was wacky for all NBA teams, but the pick was bizarre in the sense that the Suns already had a big man in Ayton and were drafting someone with a similar defensive skill set.

Suns general manager James Jones talked about the idea of playing Smith and Ayton together after seeing the Lakers just win the NBA championship with Dwight Howard and Anthony Davis.

Smith hardly played his rookie year on what became a veteran team with Chris Paul that reached the finals. He had a strong showing in the 2021 Summer League, but the Suns ended up trading him before the 2022 deadline to Indiana to bring back Torrey Craig. He’s played far more for the Pacers, but Smith saw little action in their deep postseason run to the Eastern Conference finals this year.

He seemed to lack the necessary motor in Phoenix, but the Suns should’ve drafted someone else.

What if? – The Suns ended up with Paul, an all-time great at the point guard position, via trade, but they could’ve taken Tyrese Haliburton, who went 12^th overall to Sacramento. He has become one of the best point guards in the league in leading the Pacers.

A Booker-Haliburton backcourt isn’t as eye-popping as a Booker-Doncic one, but it looks pretty darn good on paper.

Have opinions about the current state of theSuns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin atdmrankin@gannett.comor contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at@DuaneRankin.

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