10. Phoenix Suns
Phoenix Suns fans should feel confused. I mean, every other hoops fan sure does when they look at that team. They have one of the brightest young stars in the league in Devin Booker, they have last year’s no. 1 overall pick, Deandre Ayton, and they’ve been playing with multiple other lottery picks.
Still, in spite of all that, they’ve perennially stunk.
The Suns have whiffed on some draft picks (Dragan Bender at no. 4 in 2016 and Josh Jackson at no. 4 in 2017 stick out above the rest). That, of course, hurts. You never want to waste a top-4 pick. But the Suns have also made some other questionable decisions recently.
The biggest red flag in terms of the Suns’ front office’s decision-making skills came when they passed on Luka Doncic in the 2018 NBA Draft. In my eyes, Luka was clearly the top prospect. He was NBA-ready, he was a do-it-all offensive wing and he would’ve fit perfectly next to Devin Booker.
Plus, the Suns had recently hired Luka’s national team coach, Igor Kokoskov. Why not pull the trigger on Luka? Deandre Ayton is fine, but he’s not Luka Doncic.
Another odd decision the Suns made recently was trading down from the no. 6 pick to the no. 11 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. They could’ve taken Coby White or Jarrett Culver with the sixth pick, but instead, they ended up with Cameron Johnson at no. 11.
Sure, the Suns came away with Dario Saric (a solid rotational big man), but giving up the sixth pick? Come on.
The Suns have a nice young core, but they’re still really far away from being a serious threat in the Western Conference.