Welcome back to another year of NBA Draft coverage on the Phoenix Suns.
Our 29 for 29 series will roll through 29 different prospects we think you should know about ahead of the draft that sits less than two weeks away. The general idea here is to cover the entire canvas for who Phoenix could select at No. 29, as well as a few players who could come up later with its second-round pick at No. 52. There is also a solid chance the Suns acquire more picks in a Kevin Durant trade, and these prospects could apply to those selections too.
The five-part series began with five names who would be a “best player available” type of selection and then broke down another five who have some hidden upside that could be untapped. We then took a crack at five more who fit the profile of what this new Suns regime wants. We also laid out the international class, and now will wrap on a group of eight seniors who were either the best players in college basketball or the best at what they do.
For help on knowing where guys might or should go, refer to ESPN’s big board ranking for each prospect, as they are the most “intel-based” and generally have a good idea of the range to know.
Ryan Kalkbrenner, C, Creighton, 23 years old
Measurables: 7-foot-2, 257 pounds, 7-foot-6 wingspan Stats: 19.2 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 1.5 APG, 2.7 BPG, 0.5 SPG, 1.5 TPG, 65.3 FG% (11.9 FGA/G), 34.4 3P% (1.7 3PA/G), 68.1 FT% (4.6 FTA/G) Big board rankings: ESPN: 25, The Athletic: 26, The Ringer: 23, Yahoo!: 19
Kalkbrenner is the best player in college basketball you haven’t heard of.
A five-year player who has consistently gotten better, Kalkbrenner was one block shy of becoming one of 30 players in college basketball history to have at least 400 in their career. Among players with at least 100 games, his true shooting percentage of 68.5% ranks 12th all-time, per Stathead.
The ridiculous measurements of 7-foot-2 with a 7-foot-6 wingspan allowed Kalkbrenner to dominate the interior for years in the Big East. He figured out more ways to make up for slow-footedness on some parts of the floor as time progressed but that will catch up to him no matter what in the NBA. Being a ginormous human being, though, will still yield benefits. He just knows where to be and rarely makes mistakes, to that aforementioned point of his gradual improvement.
The wild card he tosses into the fray is a developing 3-point shot. Kalkbrenner took 115 over the last two seasons. While the conversion rate was poor, it’s something he must continue to develop. That the process is already getting well underway is a positive.
Ryan Kalkbrenner is one of the most impactful prospects in this class that people are undervaluing.
Exceptional rim protector (2.7 BPG + 7.3% BLK) that utilizes his 9’4 (!) reach to disrupt any offense — uber efficient interior scoring (78.5% FG) with shooting/connective upside. t.co/GmK1s3aAcA pic.twitter.com/ecHJJXfuzK
— Mohamed (@mcfNBA) May 29, 2025
There’s a dangerous tendency to look at ultra-specific players like Kalkbrenner, wonder how they are long-term starters and then just point at guys like Brook Lopez and Rudy Gobert with similar skill sets to provide proof it can work. The similarities end quickly with Lopez’s tremendous offensive skill he untapped even further and Gobert being one of the best defensive players of all time.
If that’s asking too much out of Kalkbrenner, then he can still be a good reserve, but the key differentiator there is he’s a one-position guy at center, so that means he’s playing somewhere around only 15 minutes per game. It’s a tough evaluation and also a pick that could reward the team that takes the risk with a unique defensive presence.
Walter Clayton, PG, Florida, 22 years old
Measurables: 6-foot-3, 199 pounds, 6-foot-4 wingspan Stats: 18.3 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 4.2 APG, 0.5 BPG, 1.2 SPG, 2.4 TPG, 44.8 FG% (13.4 FGA/G), 38.6 3P% (7.8 3PA/G), 87.5 FT% (3.7 FTA/G) Big board rankings: ESPN: 27, The Athletic: 20, The Ringer: 25, Yahoo!: 28
As a basketball fan, I just hope the team that drafts Clayton is going to optimize his role. Because if they do, we’re going to have a really fun NBA career to watch.
Clayton has a case as the most dynamic shot-maker in this class. During his run in the NCAA Tournament, the highest level of competition in the sport. he was the best player en route to a championship. The tape from just those postseason games was better than most of what these prospects put together in an entire season.
Look below at where his shoulders and feet are as he prepares to and shoots the ball on some of these. It’s an undeniable high-end skill for an excellent shooter. The explosive manner in which Clayton uses his athleticism to get it off is exciting to project for the future, especially with how he embraced being off the ball and the weapon he can be there too, in addition to the pull-up 3s.
Walter Clayton Jr is a top-20 prospect, imo. Has gone underdiscussed since the tournament. One of the top creators in the class.
53.5 TS% on OTD jumpers (1.07PPP, 89 %ile) 60.4% at rim, 76.1% unassisted 1 of 4 players nationally with more than 130 rim attempts + 250 3pa pic.twitter.com/xD4crAjgK6
— Gabe (@Hoops_GE) June 2, 2025
Getting him to an NBA situation where he’s going to have more room to maneuver and less pressure to create could unpack something in his game. It’s also a decently safe bet that he could just be an awesome Sixth Man of the Year contender for the next decade, if the creation for his teammates, scoring at the rim and defensive ability isn’t up to par to be a starter. Either way, there’s a few teams that need a supplementary scoring punch at guard (I know one!) and if he goes to one of those, watch out. Some version of Ty Jerome last year in Cleveland is undoubtedly a real possibility.
Clayton is going to have to overcome the barrier of looking the part of a great college player that might just be that, capped at a ceiling that he cannot break through when on the court with the best in the world. Similar smaller guards that are locked to one position come to mind like Carsen Edwards, Frank Mason, Shabazz Napier and Russ Smith. Every now and then, though, one of these guys ends up being pretty good, like Payton Pritchard or Jalen Brunson.
That is why Clayton should go in the first round.
Are there other established seniors worth a look for Suns?
As we covered for some international prospects, a sizable chunk of this year’s draft class returned to school due to the recent NIL changes, a chunk that would have remained in even just a few years ago. This is benefitting everyone who wasn’t looking at the possibility of getting selected in the first round just a few months ago.
But now some possible second-rounders will be going in the top-30, and other potential undrafted names will indeed be hearing their name called now.
There are a few key cast members of this past college basketball season who stand out in this pack, most notably a crowd that has a lot hinging on their jump shots.
The best player in the country was Johni Broome out of Auburn. A 6-foot-10 big, Broome looked like a professional playing against amateurs all season and was tremendously productive across five seasons. A refined post game on the block includes passing chops and some potential from 3 — and he was an active defensive playmaker. Broome is a part of that aforementioned 400-block club.
What Broome used to dominate in college will be put to an extreme test in the pros. He was simply stronger and more refined than just about anyone who tried to defend him. That ends here, and he is severely limited as an athlete, to the point where some of his combine clips went viral. As The Ringer put it, below-the-rim post players normally do not translate.
Another All-American was Wisconsin’s John Tonje, another late bloomer who had a breakout year for Colorado State two years ago that set the scene for what the 6-foot-6 wing would do with the Badgers. Tonje’s mix of slashing (6.9 FTA/G) and shooting (5.9 3PA/G, 38.8%) made him one of the best scorers in college basketball.
Is he not just a reliable shooter, but a great one? If so, now you’ve got a true offensive weapon that makes up for his blah profile everywhere else. A 90.9% free-throw percentage always helps as a vote of confidence, and a 3P% in the high 30s on lots of volume in a N0. 1 option role across two seasons is another.
Speaking of buckets, Hunter Sallis was a problem for two years at Wake Forest, and it’s the same simple question of a prolific scorer’s shooting resume. The 6-foot-5 guard went from 40.5% from deep as a junior to 27.7% this past season, both coming on around five attempts a night.
If he’s even just solid, Sallis brings some well-roundedness elsewhere to the table. There is no elite skill here, not even his scoring, but Sallis can playmake and defend to build out a third-guard archetype.
Chaz Lanier was the best reason to watch Tennessee last year. He was a gamer in every sense of the word, with the shot-making he delivered from the perimeter, nailing big shots time after time in close games.
If Lanier gets drafted, he will be just the sixth player in the last 10 drafts to do so while putting up his shooting numbers of at least 8 3PA/G at 39% or better, per Stathead. Those five are Quentin Grimes, Buddy Hield, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Nesmith and Marcus Sasser, with the first four names having successful NBA careers and the fifth TBD. Lanier’s attributes elsewhere are a shrug, but if he’s that type of shooter, he can belong.
Lanier cannot say he is the best shooter in the draft because that is Koby Brea. A 6-foot-7 true movement shooter, Brea’s five years across Dayton and Kentucky yielded 730 attempts from 3 and a knockdown rate of 43.4%.
There is little else to his game, so like Tonje, it’s about drafting a guy to be a specialist. The one ask with Brea is if he would be more aggressive, as he does not shoot with the green light that he obviously has and the confidence he should possess as an elite shooter.
Our last shout goes to Clayton’s teammate at Florida, 6-foot-3 guard Alijah Martin. He is one of the most explosive athletes in this draft, a true game-changer with how he gets vertical and agile laterally. Martin takes that athleticism and is an absolute pain in the ass everywhere on the floor.
Martin was not the most consistent shooter in college, but there is still a place for guys who don’t offer the most trustworthy mid-30s percentage with how he defends, rebounds and fills in gaps. He is not a point guard, so that is quite the size issue for an off-ball guard.
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