The NBA Draft is just a day away, and the stakes for the Phoenix Suns have been greatly multiplied after the Kevin Durant trade.
Phoenix now owns the No. 10 pick, in addition to Nos. 29, 52 and 59. The late lottery pick was the best asset to come back in exchange for Durant, and any type of imminent ascent building around Devin Booker the next 2-3 years is contingent on acing this draft.
The Suns do not own any other assets that will yield them a potential All-Star. Outside of the very slim chance Phoenix’s other first-round picks hard-stuck in the 20s strike gold, this is its one real crack at changing a rather grim-looking trajectory.
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Suns have intriguing options with No. 10 pick that could flip their trajectory
With that in mind, it’s vital that Phoenix targets upside here. The mid-to-late lottery has a ton of high-ceiling/low-floor prospects that range all the way back to the late teens. It’s a good break for the Suns, who need to swing big here.
Seven prospects will almost assuredly be off the board by the time Phoenix is up: Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe, Duke’s Cooper Flagg, Khaman Maluach and Kon Knueppel, Rutgers’ Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper and Texas’ Tre Johnson. If any are on the board, positional redundancy be damned, the Suns need to take them.
Assuming the draft goes as expected and all those guys are gone, here are the five best targets for the Suns at No. 10.
5 best NBA Draft fits for the Phoenix Suns at No. 10
5. Collin Murray-Boyles, F/C, South Carolina, 20 years old
Collin Murray-Boyles (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Measurables: 6-foot-8, 239 pounds, 7-foot-1 wingspan Stats: 16.8 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 2.4 APG, 1.3 BPG, 1.5 SPG, 2.4 TPG, 58.6 FG% (10.3 FGA/G), 26.5 3P% (1.1 3PA/G), 70.7 FT% (5.9 FTA/G) Big board rankings: ESPN: 13, The Athletic: 8, The Ringer: 16, Yahoo!: 12
Murray-Boyles is the exception to our discussion based on star potential, because this is more of a star in your role selection than someone who could make a few All-Star teams.
The evaluation for Murray-Boyles, as The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie points out, hinges on how the team drafting him plans to integrate the most unique skill set in the lottery.
That begins with maximizing his versatility on defense, where Murray-Boyles can scale up or down. He has the strength to bang with some 5s and the quickness to stick with wings attacking him off the dribble. Murray-Boyles is everywhere off or on the ball, where he will immediately make an impact and has All-Defense nods in his future. The toughness, grit and so on that Phoenix wants to add this summer are all boxes he checks.
On offense, Murray-Boyles got that productive scoring up primarily out of the post, which won’t fully translate. The handle is OK, but has to keep improving in order to open up the best part of his game on that end as a passer. His playmaking chops and how he is clearly two steps ahead of everyone at the collegiate level is what could help him survive as an offensive player without a jumper.
All of this together adds up to some crazy stretches on tape. This is just the opening six minutes against the best team in the country.
Collin Murray-Boyles 1st shift of the game against Florida is crazy man pic.twitter.com/h6J6zNy71c
— Aligned RB (@RyB_311) June 24, 2025
Adding a moderately reliable 3-pointer would make a world of difference here, but another X-factor for Murray-Boyles is how his athleticism holds up. He’s not particularly explosive, so you’d hope that it doesn’t ding down his overall defense too much.
Phoenix should only take Murray-Boyles if new head coach Jordan Ott plans to utilize him properly to get the most out of what he does. That’s not a call we can make at this time, but what we can say is there’s an obvious gap on the roster in what he provides at 6-foot-8.
4. Jeremiah Fears, PG, Oklahoma, 18 years old
Jeremiah Fears (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Measurables: 6-foot-4, 180 pounds, 6-foot-5 wingspan Stats: 17.1 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 4.1 APG, 0.1 BPG, 1.6 SPG, 3.4 TPG, 43.4 FG% (12.2 FGA/G), 28.4 3P% (3.9 3PA/G), 85.1 FT% (6.3 FTA/G) Big board rankings: ESPN: 8, The Athletic: 18, The Ringer: 19, Yahoo!: 6
Fears is one of two point guards we will cover. There is a case for fit becoming an issue on a Suns roster that includes Booker, Bradley Beal and Jalen Green all as on-ball players. But on top of the expectation that Beal is gone, the value in hitting on a primary initiator at this point in the draft would be too good to pass up.
Either of these kids could come off the bench as the third guard and run offense while one of Booker and Green are on the bench. The reason why both are included is because there is a clear path toward All-Star ceilings.
Fears has the most dynamic draft profile you’ll see in the lottery, because the highs are high and the lows are lows. As you can see with the big board rankings, that’s either an exciting chance for more or enough to scare off a selection that high.
Fears is incredible at getting to the rim with tremendous speed and a handle that will create separation against most quality defenders in the NBA right now. The passing is solid and getting better for a guy that is very used to making a defense shift and recover toward him. All of these traits are accentuated by a tough mentality to be physical through drives.
6’4 Oklahoma PG Jeremiah Fears.
Led all D1 Freshmen in ‘Points Created’ per game (31.7). Strong offensive talent that gets to the rim at will (52.6% FG) — impressive playmaking craft (28.6% AST + 1.2 A/TO).
Questionable jump-shooting skill but improved as the season progressed. pic.twitter.com/ZVdoXaUlue
— Mohamed (@mcfNBA) June 4, 2025
There was a tendency to force things at the rim and just as a creator in general, but it should be OK enough to write that off based on the team he had to carry.
Fears has got such a high ceiling as a playmaker that it will get him picked in the lottery even though he can’t shoot and is the worst defender I watched for this class.
A free-throw percentage in the mid-80s indicates Fears’ 28.4% from 3 will rise quickly, and Vecenie’s notes on it are covering more mechanical issues than anything, so maybe it can get tweaked. The defense was all effort. When he cared on or off the ball, which didn’t happen nearly enough, Fears was a fine defender. We’ll see who can get him to wake up on that end.
If the Booker/Green backcourt is a real thing, it would be a great benefit to Booker’s game to have a pick-and-roll playmaker share the floor with him at times to relieve pressure and set the table for him as well. For those wondering why this would make sense at all in the short term, there you go, while the long-term potential is obvious.
3. Kasparas Jakucionis, PG, Illinois, 18 years old
Kasparas Jakucionis (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Measurables: 6-foot-6, 205 pounds, 6-foot-8 wingspan Stats: 15.0 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 4.7 APG, 0.3 BPG, 0.9 SPG, 3.7 TPG, 44 FG% (10.3 FGA/G), 31.8 3P% (5.2 3PA/G), 84.5 FT% (5.1 FTA/G) Big board rankings: ESPN: 10, The Athletic: 7, The Ringer: 14, Yahoo!: 15
Jakucionis’ potential starts with his step-back jumper. While his shooting percentages may scare teams off, he was the only reliable shot creator on Illinois for most of the season and had to settle for lots of bad shots. He made a lot of them and has a pull-up game from 3 that is ready immediately, a great threat to set up the best part of Jakucionis’ game.
He is the best pick-and-roll ball-handler in this class. Like Bryant, Jakucionis simply looks like a pro. He’s an outstanding passer, uses different tempos to open up lanes and has some craft to finding his shot as well. He uses his great size for a lead guard to his advantage and consistently made collegiate defenses look ill-equipped for how awesome he was at creating shots for his teammates.
Kasparas Jakucionis P&R playmaking/scoring tape.
26% AST (1.27 A/TO) — 94th %-ile in P&R handling possessions. pic.twitter.com/gaj1ZRqqat
— Mohamed (@mcfNBA) June 1, 2025
The primary concern is how often Jakucionis got stuck in a blender of turnovers. A handful of front offices are going to dismiss him based simply on that proclivity, a stretch of sloppy outings that showed how far he has to go in terms of game-to-game consistency.
His defense swings from “maybe he’ll be fine” to “maybe he won’t be” and is a good way to describe his overall athleticism for the NBA too.
Overall, Jakucionis has a steady-enough floor with his playmaking acumen and scoring that the ceiling would be worth the risk.
2. Carter Bryant, F, Arizona, 19 years old
Carter Bryant (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Measurables: 6-foot-8, 215 pounds, 7-foot wingspan Stats: 6.5 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 1.0 APG, 1.0 BPG, 0.9 SPG, 1.0 TPG, 46.0 FG% (4.8 FGA/G), 37.1 3P% (2.8 3PA/G), 69.5 FT% (1.6 FTA/G) Big board rankings: ESPN: 12, The Athletic: 10, The Ringer: 6, Yahoo!: 17
The pitch for Bryant is similar to Murray-Boyles, in that Phoenix so desperately needs more players of his physical profile and collection of attributes that he would have loads of opportunity to expand his game from there.
Bryant is the cleanest 3-and-D prospect in the draft. He spent most of the season ranked from the mid teens to 20s, mainly due to a sporadic role off the bench that had nothing to do with his effectiveness and instead an inability to utilize him properly. In no surprise, once teams got him in workouts and interviews, Bryant climbed big boards and will now be going in the lottery.
All season long, Bryant showed the combination of desire and ability to cover primary scorers. There’s some debate as to whether he could cover the quicker point guards of the NBA, but the next three positions down should be no problem. His mix of aggressiveness getting into a ball-handler while fluidly moving side to side was impressive.
While the percentage from 3 isn’t elite, Bryant’s jumper is polished. Just like his defense, you can tell he’s a professional and has the proper mindset. He was ready to shoot and didn’t mind taking them with a contest nearby.
The rest of his offense is all upside, but again, his talent there was hardly put in a position to succeed with no real role and no point guard to set him up. Some flashes were there. He made dozens of quality passes over the season that suggested he will be a good decision-maker off closeouts, at least.
Carter Bryant scoring tape.
37.1% from 3P (8.4 3PA/100) + 70.8% at the rim (1.42 PPP). pic.twitter.com/1xKkzftpXz
— Mohamed (@mcfNBA) June 6, 2025
Speaking with an extra amount of information in Bryant being a Wildcat, everyone raves about the kid and his approach to the game. When you watch him play, it’s clear he’s going to translate just fine, but it’s all about what it looks like behind the scenes and that’s where he earns high reviews.
The Suns would ideally like a “power forward” but slotting Bryant next to Ryan Dunn as the future of the wing rotation should be something they are A-OK for settling with.
1. Thomas Sorber, C, Georgetown, 19 years old
Zuby Ejiofor of the St. John’s Red Storm and Thomas Sorber of the Georgetown Hoyas (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
Measurables: 6-foot-11, 263 pounds, 7-foot-6 wingspan Stats: 14.5 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 2.4 APG, 2.0 BPG, 1.5 SPG, 2.3 TPG, 53.2 FG% (10.4 FGA/G), 16.2 3P% (1.5 3PA/G), 72.4 FT% (4.4 FTA/G) Big board rankings: ESPN: 16, The Athletic: 1t, The Ringer: 10, Yahoo!: 21
Sorber is the most well-rounded prospect in this range when it comes to the idea of a high ceiling. It is easy to see how he becomes a very good offensive player and a very good defensive player for what you want out of a complementary center. That’s not to say it will be easy for him to do, but the concept and what he’s shown he’s capable of already is the type of balance the Suns would want with this pick.
The book on him offensively was physicality in the post but once he gets with professional guards in pace-and-space environment, that’s when his great work as a screen-setter will get into the mix and allow Sorber to show more as a diver. He’s a solid athlete for that size, and at 263 pounds with the eyeball test telling you to cut 20 off that number, that means there’s more muscle and speed coming too.
Sorber showed some real passing chops and will at least be a competent dribble handoff and short roll guy, with the unanswerable question because of a bad Georgetown team being if there is some hub potential. He wants to take 3s and might have the potential to, but an injury in February had him miss the rest of the year and the workout tours to show its upside.
On defense, the mobility can be limited a drop, but there were times he hung in there on switches and showed some side-to-side speed. As long as he makes those aforementioned physical improvements, his freakish wingspan will cover up being a lil’ undersized.
Sorber’s defensive impact is a tough eval.
6’9.25″ w/out shoes, 7’6″ WS, 9’1″ standing reach. Good defensive playmaking rates w/ 7.6% BLK% and 2.7% STL%.
Slower athlete so he will likely be a drop defender, but I do like the wall-ups mixed with his strong lower half… t.co/pAk0I1x3CS pic.twitter.com/vjR4hQnS8N
— Jonah (@Huncho_Jman) June 19, 2025
He was remarkably productive. To repeat a stat used earlier in this space, it has been 20 years since a first-round pick averaged at least eight rebounds, two assists, two blocks and 1.5 steals per game, according to Stathead. Sorber will break that trend, joining a fun list of throwback forwards/bigs like Danny Granger, Kenny Thomas, Chris Webber, Robert Horry and Derrick Coleman.
Sorber would be a big swing, with risk being just as present as the potential for him on both ends of the floor. It’s exactly the type of risk Phoenix should be taking, and it could do so at a big need as well.
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