As the NBA Draft draws near, I thought it would be fun to go on a little journey. I had no idea it would take me to the corners of Basketball Reference and NBA dot com, spending countless hours mining data, comparing players and eras, and learning more about the vast 80-year history of the NBA. What started as a stroll through previous drafts to answer my own simple question became a maniacal quest that has eaten up weekends. But it’s 111° outside, so I ain’t going out there.
Every now and then, I like to disappear down a basketball rabbit hole. The last time I did that, it turned into an entire book as I explored the Phoenix Suns All-Time Pyramid.
This time, I figured I’d create something I can keep coming back to for years. Whenever the draft season rolls around, and the Phoenix Suns find themselves selecting at a particular spot, I always wonder the same thing: What’s the ceiling of that pick? Who is the best player ever selected there? And so begins my adventure to answer these questions.
The Suns aren’t often drafting first overall. In fact, they’ve only done it once in franchise history, which is 1.7% of the time if you include the 2026 NBA Draft. Considering they don’t control many of their own future first-round picks, there’s a good chance we’ll continue seeing them draft from some interesting positions over the coming years. Perhaps they’ll do something they’ve never done: make a draft selection at 41, 37, 26, 12, or 3. After all, if everything holds true, the Suns will be selecting at 47th overall for the first time ever.
Understanding who might be available at a given draft slot is important. Having historical context is fun too. So with that in mind, I decided to put together a list of the best players ever drafted at every draft position in NBA history. All of them. One through 60.
What follows is a six-part series in which I work through every draft slot and make the case for who I believe is the greatest player selected at that position. In the same breath, I’m dishing out some Suns history lessons as well, as we explore everyone the Suns drafted at that position.
There will be plenty of subjectivity involved. There will be bias. There will certainly be some personal attachment to a few players along the way. And in some cases, there simply won’t be many strong options. Once you get into the back half of the second round, NBA history becomes a strange place. Many of those selections were international prospects who never came over, players who spent their careers overseas, or players who never appeared in an NBA game.
That’s part of what makes this exercise interesting. Some picks are loaded with Hall of Famers. Others feel like a scavenger hunt. Either way, the goal is the same: To identify the best player ever selected at every draft position and create a reference point for future draft nights.
So with that, let’s begin the countdown. From 60 to 1. The best player from every draft slot in NBA history.
60. Michael Cooper (1978)
Honorable Mentions:
- Isaiah Thomas (2011)
- Drazen Petrovic (1986)
Suns Taken at 60:
- Ronnie Robinson (1973)*
- Dwayne Collins (2010)**
*opted to stay in the ABA
**pick acquired from Cleveland for Shaquille O’Neal
How did the Showtime Lakers become so successful? They made all the right moves, which included drafting Michael Cooper with the 60th overall pick in the third round of the 1978 draft. Sure, you can appreciate that Isaiah Thomas was a two-time All-Star and that Drazen Petrovic, a Hall of Famer (the only Hall of Famer drafted 60th), averaged 15.4 points in his tragically shortened NBA career. But Michael Cooper was a five-time NBA champion who played a major role on those teams.
Cooper didn’t do it on the offensive end, where the team was revolutionary. No, he was the steadying wing defender that allowed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to be so effective on the interior. Cooper won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 1987 and was an 8-time All-Defensive Team recipient. Not bad for someone drafted 60th.
59. Pat Cummings (1978)
Honorable Mentions:
- Jimmy Black (1978)
Suns Taken at 59:
- Matt Gantt (1972)
- John Campbell (1980)*
- Murray Jarman (1984)
- DJ Strawberry (2007)
- George King (2018)**
*pick acquired from Washington for Steve Malovic
**pick acquired from Toronto for PJ Tucker
Wow. 1978, a great year for late-round talent, eh? Well, not really.
The 59th pick has generated a deeper collection of players who carved out meaningful professional careers, just not in the NBA. While it has not produced a Hall of Fame-caliber NBA player, it has produced an NBA All-Star, multiple long-term starters, championship contributors, and several international legends.
The Milwaukee Bucks selected Pat Cummings 59th overall in 1978 and set in motion a solid NBA career that would last 12 seasons. The 6’9” power forward from the University of Cincinnati would play 683 games in the NBA, starting 308. He did so for the Bucks, Mavericks, Knicks, Heat, and Jazz. He averaged 9.6 points and 5.6 rebounds. These ain’t numbers that jump off the screen, but at pick 59, I’d taken them. I’d take Cimmings’ longevity and productivity, especially in an era in which he was drafted in the 3rd round.
58. Kurt Rambis (1980)
Honorable Mentions:
- Ned Twyman (1961)
- Henry Bibby (1972)
- Earl Cureton (1979)
Suns Taken at 58:
- Rich Jones (1969)*
- Randy Allan (1974)
- Sam McCants (1975)
*opted to stay in the ABA
“Rambo”, who played for the Phoenix Suns from 1989 to 1992, is yet another late-round steal that assisted in fortifying the Showtime Lakers run. With his iconic goggles and non-stop hustle, Rambis helped the Lakers win 4 championships in the 80s, with his best postseason run being in the 1985 playoffs. He started 19 games for Los Angeles, doing so alongside Magic Johnson, Byron Scott, James Worthy, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He essentially was the Lakers’ Dillon Brooks of the time.
He’d play 14 years in the NBA, doing so with the Lakers, Hornets, Suns, and Kings. While he had numerous memorable moments, none was more memorable than being clotheslined by Kevin McHale in the highly physical 1984 NBA Finals.
“I would probably be in jail right now if I had been able to do what I wanted to do after he upended me because I was going after him,” Rambis told Michael Cooper in a 2022 podcast interview. “If you look at the tape, I was headed right towards him. Worthy pushes me into the reporters, I ended up falling down, and Larry Bird ends up helping me up. By then, I was too tired to do anything else.”
57. Manu Ginboli (1999)
Honorable Mentions:
- Marcin Gortat (2005)
- Frank Brickowski (1981)
Suns Taken at 57:
- Marcin Gortat (2005)*
- Emir Preldzic (2009)**
- Alex Oriakhi (2013)***
*traded to Orlando for future considerations
**player rights sold to Cleveland
***traded to Sacramento for Isaiah Thomas
Noticing a trend early in this series? Great teams (and Suns’ rivals) have done a stellar job hitting on late-round draft picks. And while the Suns drafted Marcin Gortat in 2005, they traded him to Orlando on draft night. The Spurs? They certainly didn’t trade a man who would come to live in the Suns’ side for 16 years, Manu Ginobili.
Manu was drafted by the Spurs in 1999, but he continued to play abroad, in Lega Basket and the EuroLeague, for three seasons before joining the Spurs in 2002. He entered the NBA as a polished 25-year-old player and instantly made an impact. 4th in Rookie of the Year voting, 3rd in Sixth Man of the Year voting in year 2, and an All-Star in year 3.
Manu was a four-time champion as he played his entire career with the San Antonio Spurs, averaging 13.3 points while coming off the bench for 67% of his career. He was a two-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA Team recipient, and won Sixth Man of the Year in 2008. He is easily the best player drafted 57th overall, and it’s not even close.
56. Amir Johnson (2005)
Honorable Mentions:
- Ramon Sessions (2007)
- Mickey Johnson (1974)
Suns Taken at 56:
- Jerry Everett (1985)
- Chris Carr (1995)
- Kevin McCullar, Jr. (2024)*
*draft rights traded to New York for Oso Ighodaro
We’re still navigating the back end of the draft, so every now and then, we’re going to run into players we aren’t overly familiar with. As I worked through the research and compared careers, Amir Johnson emerged as the clear choice at No. 56.
Selected by the Detroit Pistons, Johnson carved out a long, productive NBA career. Across 14 seasons with the Pistons, Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics, and Philadelphia 76ers, he averaged 7.0 points and 5.4 rebounds while appearing in 870 games. Not bad for the 56th pick.
The 6’9” big man entered the NBA directly out of high school and built a reputation as a dependable, available contributor. During the 2009-10 season with Toronto, he appeared in all 82 games. Years later, he started nine of Boston’s 14 playoff games during the Celtics’ run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2017.
Johnson was never a star. He was never the face of a franchise. He wasn’t carrying the torch for anyone. What he was, however, was exactly what teams hope to find late in the second round: a reliable NBA player who sticks around for more than a decade and consistently provides value. When you’re evaluating the 56th pick, that’s the standard. And Amir Johnson set it.
55. Luis Scola (2002)
Honorable Mentions:
- Patty Mills (2009)
- Larry Brown (1963)
Suns Taken at 55:
- Kenny Gattison (1986)
- Rodney Johns (1988)
Luis Scola, who spent the 2012-13 season with the Phoenix Suns, was another example of an international prospect choosing to continue his career overseas before eventually making the jump to the NBA.
It was also clear that the San Antonio Spurs had their finger on the pulse of Argentine basketball, as they were the team that originally selected Scola in the 2002 NBA Draft. Rather than joining the NBA immediately, Scola remained overseas until 2007. By the time he was ready to make the jump, his draft rights had been traded to the Houston Rockets.
The move worked out well for Houston. Scola became a steady and productive contributor for five seasons with the Rockets. He played all 82 games in three consecutive years, finished third in Rookie of the Year voting in 2007-08, and earned a spot on the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
Eventually, Houston waived him, and he landed in Phoenix. In his lone season with the Suns, Scola once again appeared in all 82 games before being traded to the Indiana Pacers for Gerald Green, Miles Plumlee, and a 2014 first-round pick.
Now, this one was close. Patty Mills has a very legitimate case to be considered the best player ever selected 55th overall. He won a championship with the Spurs and played 16 seasons in the NBA. But this is where a little subjectivity enters the equation. And maybe a little bias, too.
Perhaps the fact that Scola spent time in Phoenix and that I genuinely enjoyed watching him play influences the decision. That’s part of the fun of an exercise like this. Not every selection is determined solely by accolades and championships. Sometimes, a personal connection serves as the tiebreaker.
And in this case, that tiebreaker pushes Luis Scola to the top of the list at No. 55.
54. Sam Mitchell (1985)
Honorable Mentions:
- Mark Blount (1997)
- Shake Milton (2018)
- Shandon Anderson (1996)
Suns Taken at 54:
- Bayard Forrest (1975)
- Byron Wilson (1993)
- Alec Peters (2017)
Sam Mitchell has an interesting story. He was selected 54th overall in the 1985 NBA Draft, a third-round pick of the Houston Rockets. The Rockets ultimately cut him, which wasn’t uncommon for players drafted that late at the time. So Mitchell took a different path. He headed to the Continental Basketball Association, where he spent the next four seasons. During that stretch, he won a championship with the Rapid City Thrillers and continued working toward another shot at the NBA.
Eventually, that opportunity came. Mitchell made his NBA debut as a 26-year-old rookie with the expansion Minnesota Timberwolves, proving that there is more than one path to making it in professional basketball.
From there, he carved out a long and productive career. Mitchell played 13 NBA seasons, retiring in 2002 at age 38. Over that span, he averaged 8.7 points and 3.7 rebounds while logging 22.4 minutes per game.
That’s impressive value from the 54th overall pick, especially considering how long it took him to reach the NBA. And his basketball story didn’t end when his playing career did. Many fans probably recognize Mitchell’s name because of what came next. After transitioning into coaching, he won the NBA Coach of the Year award in 2007 as the head coach of the Toronto Raptors.
53. Anthony Mason (1988)
Honorable Mentions:
- Emmette Bryant (1964)
- Greg Buckner (1998)
Suns Taken at 53:
- Winston Crite (1987)
When it comes to the history of the 53rd overall pick, there’s Anthony Mason, and then there’s everybody else. Mason was a one-time All-Star, a one-time All-NBA selection, the 1995 Sixth Man of the Year, and a member of the 1997 All-Defensive Team. That’s a pretty impressive résumé for the 53rd pick.
He was originally selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1988 NBA Draft, but opted to spend a season playing in Europe instead. As a result, Portland released his rights. After a stint with Anadolu Efes in Turkey, Mason returned to the United States and signed with the New Jersey Nets. He was waived shortly thereafter, then signed by the Denver Nuggets before bouncing around once again.
Everything changed in 1991 when he landed with the New York Knicks. That’s where my memories of Anthony Mason begin. Those mid-1990s Knicks teams were built differently. They were physical, tough, and fully prepared to turn every game into a rock fight. Mason fit that identity perfectly. The 6’8” power forward was one of the toughest players in the league and a key part of those Knicks teams that routinely battled deep into the postseason.
While New York never reached the mountaintop, Mason’s career continued to flourish. He was eventually traded to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Larry Johnson and later earned an All-Star selection with the Miami Heat in 2001, averaging 16.1 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.
When it was all said and done, Mason played 13 seasons in the NBA, appearing in 882 games while averaging 10.9 points and 8.3 rebounds.
52. Rasual Butler (2002)
Honorable Mentions:
- Fred Hoiberg (1995)
- Toumani Camara (2023)
Suns Taken at 52:
- Greg Grant (1989)
- Anthony Goldwire (1994)
- Toumani Camara (2023)*
- Alex Toohey (2025)**
*traded to Portland in the Deandre Ayton trade
**draft rights traded to Golden State in the Kevin Durant trade
Oh, pick No. 52. This is one that Suns fans might kick themselves over, at least in a roundabout way, because it’s where Toumani Camara was selected. And while Camara could someday become the best player ever drafted at No. 52, his career is still too young for me to hand him that crown. Instead, the honor goes to Rasual Butler, who stands out in a draft slot that doesn’t offer a ton of compelling options.
Butler carved out a long NBA career, playing 13 seasons with eight different franchises. He was the definition of a journeyman, finding ways to contribute wherever he landed. His most productive seasons came in the middle of his career with the New Orleans Hornets and the Los Angeles Clippers. Along the way, he was involved in the massive five-team trade that sent Antoine Walker to the Miami Heat.
There aren’t a lot of accolades attached to Butler’s name. No All-Star appearances. No major awards. No lengthy list of accomplishments. What he did have was longevity. He stayed in the league for more than a decade, carved out a role for himself, and consistently found ways to contribute.
In many ways, that’s representative of the 52nd pick throughout NBA history. You’re usually not finding stars. You’re hoping to find someone who sticks. Rasual Butler did exactly that, which is why he gets the nod at No. 52.
51. Kyle Korver (2003)
Honorable Mentions:
- Corey Brewer (1998)
- Monte Morris (2017)
Suns Taken at 51:
- Dereck Whittenburg (1983)
- Mike Morrison (1989)
As we close out the first installment of this series, we end with a good one. Kyle Korver. The sharpshooter out of Creighton University put together a 17-year NBA career and remains one of the greatest shooting specialists the league has ever seen.
Korver finished in the top 11 of Sixth Man of the Year voting four different times and earned a lone All-Star appearance during his career. He retired with a career 42.9% mark from beyond the arc and was one of the players who benefited most from the NBA’s evolution into a more spread-out, three-point-oriented game.
Four times, Korver led the league in three-point percentage. His most efficient season came in 2009-10 with the Utah Jazz, when he shot an absurd 53.6% from three. Granted, that came on only 2.1 attempts per game. As the league evolved, so did Korver’s role. By the end of his career, he averaged 4.6 three-point attempts per game and served as one of the NBA’s premier floor spacers.
Korver played for six different franchises throughout his career, although his most memorable years came with the Atlanta Hawks. He was part of that memorable Hawks starting lineup that produced four All-Stars in a single season, a rare accomplishment that reflected just how successful Atlanta was during that stretch.
For a player selected 51st overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2003, Korver represents tremendous value. A 17-year career. An All-Star appearance. One of the greatest shooters in NBA history.
That’s it for our journey today.
The back end of the second round is a fascinating place when viewed through the lens of NBA history. Prior to the late 1980s, it was often where teams took chances on international prospects, hoping that one day those players might make their way to the United States and contribute at the NBA level. Then came Drazen Petrovic. Not that international players weren’t being drafted before him, but his success helped accelerate a shift in perception. More and more international prospects began making the jump to the NBA, and the league is unquestionably better for it.
Even so, the back half of the second round remains a difficult place to find meaningful NBA talent. What this exercise has shown us is that the potential is there. You can find long careers. You can find starters. You can even find All Stars. But those players are the exception, not the rule.
Finding value this late in the draft requires patience, development, and opportunity. Talent alone isn’t enough. Organizations have to invest in those players and give them a pathway to grow. That’s what makes draft night so intriguing. Every pick carries a little bit of hope. And every once in a while, a player selected deep in the second round turns into something much more than anyone expected.
Tune in tomorrow as we continue the countdown and explore picks 50 through 41.
