Phoenix Suns: Ranking the last 10 first-round picks
By Jono Perilli
Through the last decade, several rookies have come and developed into a part of the Phoenix Suns, some have had a great tenure, while others have flopped.
For most teams, their respective last ten first-round picks have been typically successful, but it depends. It’s expected that first-round picks are primed to fulfill their potential. this stereotype hasn’t always lived up to the meaning, but it’s been seen enough to maintain the meaning. After all, most of the greatest players were selected within the first thirty picks.
For the Phoenix Suns, the last ten first-round picks have been hit-and-miss. Arguably, the five of the last ten picks have been, in a way, successful, some more obvious than others. The bottom five are guys that were never able to sustain something in the NBA. The top five picks in the list were guys who were able to live up to the potential, so far at least.
There’s a whole range of players in this list. Some were busts while others were able to overachieve their potential. In terms of past ten first-round picks, traded picks aren’t included, so players such as Jarrett Culver or Skal Labissiere, who ended getting traded to other teams, won’t be considered.
We’ll count players who got drafted to the Suns on draft night since they were technically their first-round picks. Besides, it would be a bit useless to rank the players who never even played in Phoenix. We’re also not going to count Ty Jerome and Cameron Johnson since it’s quite hard to rank their impact in roughly half a season of play.