Welcome to NBA Draft day!
The Kevin Durant trade armed the Phoenix Suns with a lottery pick, No. 10 overall, a selection we have previewed the potential selections for as well as ranking the five best options for Phoenix specifically.
But don’t sleep on the importance of the Suns’ other first-round pick as well.
We extensively laid out the canvas for No. 29 with 29 different prospects that are in the picture to give you an idea of who is around and, you know, have some fun and pick out some favorites! Feel free to comb through that if you haven’t to go beyond these five names.
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The 5 best prospects for the Suns to target at No. 10 in NBA Draft
National draft experts have the shared opinion of a steep drop once the 20s come up, and while that’s true, this is actually a solid crop of players that will still produce a few important pieces on good teams in the future. That especially emphasizes how no one should really slip too far to 29th, so take a look at ESPN’s top-20 as an example of guys that don’t apply to the rankings below.
Colorado State wing Nique Clifford, Washington State wing Cedric Coward, Illinois wing Will Riley and Michigan big Danny Wolf are some “best player available” scenarios that would make the pick for itself. Phoenix will explore trade-up possibilities as well to make up for that gap and potentially go chase one of those names.
Beyond that collection and possibility, here’s a look at the Suns’ five best potential options, with a fit for them in mind.
5. Hugo Gonzalez, F/G, Real Madrid, 19 years old
Measurables: 6-foot-8, 223 pounds, 6-foot-11 wingspan Stats: 3.4 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 0.6 APG, 0.3 BPG, 0.3 SPG, 40.8 FG% (2.8 FGA/G), 28.4 3P% (1.3 3PA/G), 75.8 FT% (1.0 FTA/G) Big board rankings: ESPN: 22, The Athletic: 24, The Ringer: 37, Yahoo!: 31
For years and years, there has not been an international player to recapture the basketball essence of Rudy Fernandez, one of the most entertaining energy players to watch almost two decades ago. I’d love for Gonzalez to be the one to do it. (Brief aside, Fernandez was originally a Suns selection in 2007 at 24th overall but was a part of a deal to dump James Jones in Portland for cash, one of the many awful trades made by a contender that only served the purpose of saving money. Easy on the Robert Sarver comparisons, everyone.)
While drafting someone from overseas would generally be a surprise move from the first-time general manager bolstering almost all of his basketball experience from the collegiate ranks, Gonzalez would appeal to Brian Gregory. He plays with an infectious energy and does it with a solid combination of athleticism and skill that could have him viable wherever you’re playing an off-ball perimeter player these days.
The core ask with Gonzalez is how you evaluate limited exposure. Those stats are not typos. For one of the preeminent organizations across international basketball, Gonzalez’s role hovered between 10-15 minutes a game, unable to offer a proper lens at a complete identification of how he will make the transition to the NBA. Now, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony notes there are scouts wondering if more time on the floor elsewhere would have led to Gonzalez fulfilling his predicted draft slot last summer of the lottery.
With a handful of athletic, twitchy wings around a similar draft position, or knockdown shooters, Gonzalez being neither is something he will have to overcome. It’s very “plays the right way” when you watch Gonzalez, with his ball-handling and ability to be a connector by keeping possessions moving when a ball-handler swings it. Again, a GM that was a long-time head coach will be drawn to this type of stuff. And it makes sense to be.
Hugo Gonzalez remains one of the most polarizing prospects in the 2025 draft class.
Strong off-ball scoring + tools (6’7 + 6’11 WS) to project as an intriguing 3&D wing with shotmaking upside — major difference in production/opportunity @ Madrid vs FIBA/ANGT could raise concern. t.co/LH2FbbZBHB pic.twitter.com/5K4zThPPWK
— Mohamed (@mcfNBA) June 13, 2025
As a guy without an elite skill beyond how hard he plays, Gonzalez will have to be well-rounded. That means the jumper coming around and that means being an impactful defender. The latter should be no problem. TBD on the shot.
These are the types of prospects that come to mind when it’s about starting a program from the ground up. Gonzalez’s activity and movement on both ends of the floor is a great stylistic fit for what new head coach Jordan Ott will look to achieve as well. As we’ve seen with past roster construction issues that will get touched on in a moment, stacking up different skill sets and profiles is important. Gonzalez on the wing brings that uniqueness.
4. Walter Clayton Jr., 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: 28, The Athletic: 19, The Ringer: 19, Yahoo!: 20
The reason to go with Clayton is the Suns have the right ecosystem to get the most out of him. Yes, the Suns. Clayton can learn from Booker and take pressure off him and Jalen Green at the same time as a sparkplug scorer off the bench, the type of freedom Clayton can take because no one else on the roster projects to have much ball-handling responsibility, assuming Beal is indeed going to be gone one way or the other.
Even if Clayton never develops into a starting-caliber point guard due to being a one-position defender and not having reliable lead playmaking, the floor of a microwave bucket-getter is still valuable to a team like the Suns. If Phoenix doesn’t bring back Tyus Jones and trades at least one of Grayson Allen or Royce O’Neale, that’s a lot of shooting out the door, where Clayton could fill another need.
Clayton has a case as the best shooter in the draft. He is cozy as can be on pull-up 3s, and will take a variation of those in untraditional manners, which most notably occurs when he’s coming off the catch. Clayton can be going any direction and have his shoulders facing any type of angle without it affecting his mechanics, making him a tough shot-maker from Day 1. His 3P% is even more impressive with the degree of difficulty he was jacking up.
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
It’s certainly the cleanest shooting resume of this class. Over 800 3s on 38.6% with an 87.9% mark at the foul line for extra confidence is a near guarantee he will be a plus shooter, with potential to be someone touching in the 40s. Put him on the floor with Booker and that’s when Clayton’s great off-ball work as a shooter can get more shine as well.
The crucial element of Clayton’s profile is that even at his size, he is a very good athlete. Tremendous explosiveness and speed at his size allow him to unleash his offensive game and be competitive on the defensive end. I love how The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie described it as a “bouncy tempo” for Clayton, because the pressure he puts on a defense with that pull-up on standby and his combination of agility and decisiveness in ball-screen scenarios feels like something that can really expand further in the NBA game.
This is a cushy fit of both how Clayton can address a clear need in multiple ways while also providing the headroom for him to explore his ceiling. Maybe taking a point guard at No. 10 is asking too much out of an on-ball guy to grow around two guards that will have it a whole lot. But at the end of the first round? Much more doable.
3. Adou Thiero, F, Arkansas, 21 years old
Measurables: 6-foot-9, 218 pounds, 7-foot wingspan Stats: 15.1 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 1.9 APG, 0.7 BPG, 1.6 SPG, 1.7 TPG, 54.5 FG% (9.4 FGA/G), 25.6 3P% (1.6 3PA/G), 68.6 FT% (6.5 FTA/G) Big board rankings: ESPN: 32, The Athletic: 31, The Ringer: 27, Yahoo!: 27
There is some logic to using at least one of these draft picks, if not both, on just a simple lone qualification of who is the best stylistic match for the type of identity the Suns want to form.
If that’s the case, Thiero is the pick at No. 29.
The Suns need size. Phoenix’s front office massively miscalculated how much of a detriment it would be at on a night-to-night basis for its five most important guards/wings to all be 6-foot-5 or smaller with mostly limited athleticism. They coincidentally doubled down on that with the Durant trade. The centers were both slow and lacking explosiveness too. Bradley Beal was the only real plus athlete, and beyond him, the 36-year-old Durant served as the best presence from an athletic standpoint.
Implementation of the rookies, Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro, should have helped fight that balance. The arrival of Nick Richards and Cody Martin helped some, but Thiero would start a real shift.
He should be looked at as the best athlete in this class, a tremendous lateral and vertical mover at his size. There are not many guys you can watch in college and confidently say they will be able to defend any perimeter scorer from a speed/strength standpoint. He is one of the few. Watching Thiero is like playing a video game where your character is always fully supercharged, ready to unleash your ultimate ability, finishing maneuver or gamebreaker at any moment. He’s using that gift everywhere on the floor with a wonderful motor.
Adou Thiero: the most athletic wing prospect since? pic.twitter.com/7FnYbxr63R
— Mohamed (@mcfNBA) May 11, 2025
Thiero’s development into a 15-point-per-game scorer was all about his drives, leveraging his absurd strides to get in the paint and draw fouls. The key for him offensively won’t be his jumper right away, because that’s going to be a process no matter what. It’s if he can be selective and smart enough with his drives as an off-ball player, producing good looks consistently so that it is a positive from the jump.
It’s fair to say this is a similar pick to Dunn and question if that should make Thiero redundant, given the bevy of needs on the roster elsewhere. But the Suns are starting from the ground up on the wing, and having those two represent that reclamation project even with some offensive concerns could prove worthwhile.
2. Maxime Raynaud, C, Stanford, 22 years old
Measurables: 7-foot-1, 237 pounds, 7-foot-1 wingspan Stats: 20.2 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 1.7 APG, 1.4 BPG, 0.9 SPG, 2.4 TPG, 46.7 FG% (16.1 FGA/G), 34.7 3P% (5.5 3PA/G), 77 FT% (4.2 FTA/G) Big board rankings: ESPN: 26, The Athletic: 30, The Ringer: 28, Yahoo!: 15
It’s incredibly bold to have someone this high on a Suns board that most of their red flags stemming from concerns over athleticism, but Raynaud offers an uncommon skill set on both ends of the floor Phoenix does not have from any center on the roster.
Raynaud is a true stretch 5, both in size and shooting volume. He is a giant 7-foot-1 and took nearly 200 3s last year for the Cardinal, a major uptick after he briefly dabbled when given the option to shoot in his previous two years. While his shot has a load-up to it, Raynaud would face up beyond the line and still let that thing go with confidence when a defender was right on him.
Stanford’s Maxime Raynaud has been a standout at the NBA Combine & also a prospect I’ve raved about all year.
7’1, dominant interior/post-up scoring, highly skilled perimeter + rebounding skill — 37.1% on C&S 3’s + 68.6% at the rim.
A late 1st round stretch option to consider. pic.twitter.com/K9R7enPQvQ
— Mohamed (@mcfNBA) May 15, 2025
There is some skepticism inside the profile and tape on how consistently physical he is around the basket, a weakness he looked to prove wrong at the combine, where he was a major standout. Raynaud moves well for his size, not quick but fluid. That helped in a drop coverage he generally performed solid in thanks to his active hands. He wants to block shots and defend the basket. But the more space ball-handlers have to go at him, the more his lack of quickness got exposed.
As the ACC’s second-leading scorer and top rebounder, Raynaud saw frequent double-teams. The assist-to-turnover number (0.72) does not accurately reflect how he generally nailed the correct instant kickout to the other side of the floor and looked comfortable as a hub at the top of the key. Raynaud would direct traffic, instructing movement in a way that would appeal to Ott’s system.
Raynaud can also execute some drives off the bounce, using pump-fakes on his 3s for free takes to the basket and adding some misdirects on dribble handoffs too. What needs to be better with, though, is what he does once he dribbles. He doesn’t trust it enough to take that extra dribble to be right at the basket when working through a defender, settling for 8-12 footers too often, a large part of his FG% being lower than it should be. More space in the NBA should help build that trust.
The true appeal here is upside, which might be a head-scratcher for you considering Raynaud played four years collegiately and is 22 years old. But as ESPN’s Jeremy Woo pointed out, Raynaud has only been playing basketball full time for a handful of years. He was focused on swimming and chess, played in the French league and then decided to make the full commitment to basketball once he committed to Stanford. Raynaud was originally a walk-on that wanted to attend the school to study astrophysics before it only took him one season to become a starter.
A lot of that hinges on his jumper and growing the range. If he can have his percentage sit in the mid-30s on a few tosses a game, that’s a rotation player. But if he can keep his volume going at 5-6 a night and shoot into the high-30s, that’s a 20-point-per-game scorer. The offensive ceiling at this point in the draft, especially considering how unique it is, has lots of value.
1. Rasheer Fleming, F/C, Saint Joseph’s, 20 years old
Measurables: 6-foot-10, 232 pounds, 7-foot-5 wingspan Stats: 14.7 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 1.3 APG, 1.5 BPG, 1.4 SPG, 1.5 TPG, 53.1 FG% (10.1 FGA/G), 39 3P% (4.5 3PA/G), 74.3 FT% (2.9 FTA/G) Big board rankings: ESPN: 27, The Athletic: 32, The Ringer: 34, Yahoo!: 35
Fleming is an odd shout in general. He’s a three-year player at a mid-major, and yet, his profile reads more like a raw freshman who showed why they were a five-star recruit and also could benefit from more seasoning.
The upside here is great in two different facets, which is why Phoenix would be wise to take a chance on him.
Fleming’s wingspan allows him to have some viability as a 5 and his great mobility would unlock every type of ball-screen coverage. He’s a terrific rim runner and lob threat, with that 3-point percentage (39%) coming on 4.5 3PA/G. His lack of self-creation is a hurdle awaiting him as a 4, but at the 5, he can be a line-drive threat for sure. That’s the total package for an accentuating big on offense. Size on true 5s individually would be an issue but he can at least spend some time as a center without a doubt.
With a 7’5 wingspan, and a chiseled frame, Rasheer Fleming is a prototypical NBA big man physically, with strong finishing and floor-spacing prowess. He filled up the stat sheet with dunks, 3s, rebounds, steals and blocks, making highlight-reel plays with his exceptional length. t.co/ExcuHdrAP8 pic.twitter.com/DkvqWKDErp
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) April 11, 2025
With that in mind, the team that drafts him would want to make sure he isn’t a modern power forward and give him a chance to expand his game. As previously covered, Fleming has just about the perfect base attributes as a two-way big alongside a true center, and what he could offer as a complimentary rebounder and rim protector to that 5 is appetizing. He would just have to be a certified good shooter and his dribble drives off closeouts would have to develop more consistency.
It’s all about the interview and workout process, if a team speaks with him and believes he will put in the work to get smarter on the floor. Vecenie notes “on-court processing as the biggest concern.” You can watch young players and see when the game is a step ahead of them, instead of vice versa, and those are the flashes you see from Fleming as a ball-handler and an off-ball defender. It is not for a lack of effort, as Fleming’s got a good motor.
The landing spot for Fleming needs to be an organization that has the flexibility to work with his development, both positionally and in terms of living with his mistakes too. He might splat into the rookie wall of picking up the NBA game on a contender or with a stingy coach, but give his skill set to Ott after the work he did with Evan Mobley this past season and you’ve got a great match.
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