The Phoenix Suns have mortgaged their future in recent seasons, and the end result has not been pretty. The franchise has been on the downturn over the past few seasons; they do not have control over their own first-round pick until 2031 and all they have to show for over the past two seasons is a first-round exit in 2024 and a total disappointment of a campaign in 2025 where they missed the postseason completely.
In fact, for the Suns to be involved in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft, they had to trade their 2031 first-round pick to the Utah Jazz in exchange for the Cleveland Cavaliers' first-rounder which ended up being the 29th pick of the draft after Cleveland won 64 games this past season. (They also got two first-rounders from one of the Cavs, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Utah Jazz in 2027 and 2029.)
Phoenix is in desperate need of an infusion of young talent; at the very least, the team's scouting department can be proud of their selection of Ryan Dunn in last year's draft, with Dunn emerging as a burgeoning two-way talent who shot way better from beyond the arc than his college stats would indicate.
With the Suns looking likely to move on from the Kevin Durant era, the first order of business for them is to pick up players who will fit alongside Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. And with some stroke of luck, perhaps they can find another immediate rotation player using the 29th overall pick — one-upping themselves after picking up Dunn with the 28th selection last year.
Here is the perfect outcome for the Suns as they look to make the most out of their late first-round selection.
Walter Clayton Jr. falls to the Suns at 29
Florida Gators guard Walter Clayton Jr. (1) celebrates after winning the national championship game of the Final Four of the 2025 NCAA Tournament at the Alamodome.
© Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
Drafting for need is rarely the best thing a franchise can do. Passing up on the best talent available to prioritize filling a position of need has come to bite a ton of NBA teams in the past, so it's not like the Suns will be entering the 2025 NBA Draft with the express intention of drafting a point guard.
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Ever since trading away Chris Paul in the Beal trade, the Suns have been in desperate need of a point guard who will bring out the best in the team. Booker has made countless strides in his ability to manage an offense and create quality shots for his teammates, but he's at his best as a secondary playmaker who thrives as the primary scoring option. There's no wonder that the Suns thrived the most over the past five years when someone like Paul lined up alongside Booker in the backcourt.
This is not to say that Walter Clayton Jr. will be the second coming of Paul. If he was, he wouldn't be projected to go late in the first round. Paul also entered the league at age 20, while Clayton is coming in not as highly-touted of a prospect as a 22-year-old. Nonetheless, Clayton has some leadership pedigree, having played a huge role in the title-winning Florida squad this past season, and he has the ballsy shot-making ability as well as the growing game management skills to be an excellent fit alongside Booker.
Clayton has both the intangibles and tangibles to make the Suns a more functional team with more balance; he shot 38.6 percent from three on 7.8 attempts per ballgame last season for Florida, and he also has good size for a point guard, which would allow him to not become a huge defensive weak link for opposing teams to target.
The 22-year-old is not as good of a playmaker as the Suns would like, and perhaps they would be best served by acquiring a center in the draft. This position was a weak spot for the Suns last season; they had to give up a draft pick just to get off of Jusuf Nurkic's contract, Nick Richards, plain and simple, was not the answer, and Oso Ighodaro left a lot to be desired, especially defensively.
Maybe the Suns would be better off hoping that the likes of Thomas Sorber or Rasheer Fleming fall to them at 29. Those would not be bad pickups whatsoever. But Sorber and Fleming are projected to go higher than Clayton; the latest ClutchPoints mock draft has the two big men going off the board at 19 and 21, respectively, while Clayton was still there at pick 25.
But with there being more big-man options in this year's draft, and perhaps the likely Durant trade of the offseason bringing back a big man, the Suns might be best served drafting a more sure thing at a position of equal need in Clayton.