Phoenix Suns: 5 options for pick No. 6 in 2019 NBA Draft

3. De’Andre Hunter

The 3-and-D skill-set is one of the league’s most coveted in the modern NBA, and after helping lead the Virginia Cavaliers to the NCAA championship — just one year after they became the first 1-seed to lose to a 16-seed without him — it’s no surprise De’Andre Hunter is in the running for a top-five pick.

If he’s still on the board at No. 6 and Jarrett Culver is already taken, the Suns could do much worse than a two-way player of his caliber. He’s already 21 years old, which would actually make him one of the older players on the roster, but perhaps that’s what Phoenix needs from yet another rookie as this team desperately attempts to take the next step.

Averaging 15.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game in his sophomore year, Hunter was a leader on both ends of the court. He posted exceptional .520/.438/.783 shooting splits, taking 2.8 3s per game and doubling as the team’s designated lockdown defender.

Adding that kind of skill-set to Mikal Bridges on the wing, or as a small-ball 4 since he’s 6’7″, would finally start to leave a defensive imprint on the Suns’ roster, even though he struggled with defending more explosive players in college and never really made plays on that end, averaging just 0.6 steals and 0.6 blocks per game.

Hunter should be a decent role player in the NBA, but the Suns wouldn’t be able to expect much more than that. At such a crowded position, perhaps a swing for the fences elsewhere would be a better play.