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The Phoenix Suns 2022-23 season came to an end at the hands of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and the NBA champion Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets eliminated the Suns in six games in the Western Conference Semifinals. Granted, the Suns gave the Nuggets a real run for their money, as they were the only team in the 2023 playoffs to take the Nuggets to six games, but it was still evident that the team as currently constructed was not a championship squad.
So, the Suns decided to shake up their roster with a major trade. The Suns sent a trade package highlighted by Chris Paul to the Washington Wizards in exchange for star guard Bradley Beal. Phoenix now has arguably the best trio in the NBA in Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Beal.
A solid NBA Draft for the Suns could have helped solidify their roster around their big three. Unfortunately, though, the Suns did not have a great draft.
The Phoenix Suns owned just one pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Specifically, the Suns had the 52nd overall pick, which they used to select Dayton forward Toumani Camara. With all of that said, let's look at one big mistake that the Phoenix Suns made in the 2023 NBA Draft:
1 big mistake by Suns in 2023 NBA Draft
Not trading up to draft Marcus Sasser in the first round
After trading Chris Paul, the Suns are light on point guard depth. If the season began today, Cameron Payne would likely get the starting nod. Payne is a quality NBA point guard but is a score-first one at that and thus wouldn't be an ideal fit playing alongside three elite scorers in the starting lineup. So the Suns should have traded up to the 25th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft to select Houston point guard Marcus Sasser.
The Boston Celtics traded away the draft rights for Marcus Sasser to the Detroit Pistons for pennies on the dollar. They received three second-round picks from the Pistons, an offer that the Suns could have given the Celtics, too.
Sasser, a 6'1″ guard, flashed impressive scoring and playmaking chops during his senior season with Houston.
Scoring-wise, he averaged 16.8 points per game for the Cougars during his senior season on 43.8% shooting from the field, and his trademark offensive skill is his ability to shoot the three-ball.
Sasser didn't just attempt plenty of threes per game as a senior, but he also made his threes with great efficiency, too. He converted 38.4% of his three-point shots on 6.9 attempts per contest, an extremely impressive combination of usage and accuracy. And Sasser is comfortable creating his own shot from deep or shooting off the catch.
And playmaking-wise, Sasser rarely committed turnovers during his four-year college career. He averaged just 1.4 turnovers per game across his four-year career at Houston, a very low number for a high-usage guard like himself.
All in all, Sassser's potential as a scorer and playmaker is very alluring. He has the talent and experience to contribute to a contender like the Suns right away as a backup point guard, and he could have even earned the starting point guard spot in due time.
Since the Suns didn't draft a point guard in the 2023 NBA Draft, expect them to aggressively pursue veteran point guards such as Derrick Rose in free agency this summer.
