4. Phoenix Suns – De’Aaron Fox
In typical Phoenix Suns fashion, they used the fourth pick in a talent-rich draft on Josh Jackson (now in the G League) and then flipped Jackson plus two second-round picks and DeAnthony Melton for Javon Carter. They also received Kyle Korver in the deal and waived him immediately.
Essentially, they traded the fourth overall pick for Javon Carter and added in two future picks plus a solid backup point guard to sweeten the deal. Yikes.
But since this is all hypothetical, we’ll give the Suns the benefit of the doubt this time around and have them taking De’Aaron Fox.
Fox has thrived in his first three seasons as the orchestrator of a young team who seems to be pointed in the right direction out in Sacramento. His jump shot is a little inconsistent, but his end to end speed is as good as anyone in the NBA and he’s nearly impossible to stop when he gets downhill.
His defensive metrics don’t paint a picture of an elite stopper, but when he’s engaged he has the physical profile and instincts of guy who could develop into a high-level defender. He’s just scratching the surface of his full potential, and if the Suns could go back in time and pair him with Devin Booker they’d easily have the best young backcourt in the NBA. What could have been?