ESPN: Suns have history of finding talent late in the draft
Jun 20, 2017, 1:45 PM | Updated: 1:56 pm
(AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darren Calabrese)
(AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darren Calabrese)
Along with the number four pick in this years draft, the Phoenix Suns also hold a pair of second-round choices, Nos. 32 and 54 overall.
As the team’s history shows, the talent can be found all anywhere in the draft.
Luke Knox of ESPN.com compiled a ranking of the best picks from every NBA Draft slot, and the Suns have five players considered the best of their pick.
The standings are backed up by stats, using the player’s career win shares as the determining factor.
As the rankings show, many of the top players drafted by the Suns went on to carve out the majority of their careers elsewhere, helping Phoenix in the trade market.
Here are the five Suns players that cracked the list.
Pick 15: Steve Nash – 1996 – 129.7 win shares
Nash had a couple of different stints with the Suns, while sandwiching a tenure with the Dallas Mavericks in between. In his 10 seasons in Phoenix, Nash along with head coach Mike D’Antoni, ushered in the “seven seconds or less” era in Phoenix.
Although he never made it to the Finals, the eight-time All-Star made the playoffs seven times with the Suns and ranks first in franchise history for assists (6,997), three-point field goals (1,051) and free throw percentage (.907). He finished his career with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Pick 20: Larry Nance – 1981 – 109.6 win shares
Nance spent seven of his 14 years in the NBA with the Suns before being traded to Cleveland for Kevin Johnson and others.
The 1984 Slam Dunk Contest Champion finished his career averaging 17.1 points, 8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.
Pick 21: Michael Finley – 1995 – 85.2 win shares
Finley spent just one full season in the Valley before being traded in the middle of the 1996 season in a deal that brought Jason Kidd to Phoenix.
After winning rookie of the year with the Suns, Finley went on to play for the Mavericks, Spurs and Celtics, posting 15.7 points per game.
Pick 46: Jeff Hornacek – 1986 – 108.9 win shares
Before he was their head coach, he was a popular player. And before he was a popular player, Hornacek was a second-round pick.
Hornacek grew into a good scorer for the Suns, and in 1991-92 made his first All-Star team while averaging 20.1 points per game. The following summer saw him get traded to Philadelphia in the deal that brought Charles Barkley to Phoenix in 1992. From Philadelphia he went on to Utah, where with the Jazz, the two-time three-point contest champion went to two NBA Finals and finished his career as a 40 percent three-point shooter.
Pick 50: Steve Kerr – 1988 – 47.2 win shares
A star for the University of Arizona, Kerr spent just one season with the Suns. He appeared in 26 games, and averaged just 2.1 points per contest. He was then traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he proved to be a good shooter but still was putting together a pretty nondescript career.
It was not until he landed in Chicago in 1993 that Kerr’s reputation really started to rise, with him winning a trio of titles with the Bulls (one of which was courtesy of this clutch shot) before moving on to San Antonio, where he won two more championships.
Following his playing days, Kerr spent time as the Suns’ general manager and is now the head coach of the Golden State Warriors, whom he has guided to two NBA titles in the last three seasons.
