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With the way he's playing right now, one would think that Phoenix Suns superstar Devin Booker would have been, at the very least, a Top 5 draft pick. This is not the case. In 2015, a then-19-year-old Booker actually fell all the way to 13th on draft night.
In a recent appearance on the Basketball Network's 1-on-1 program, former Suns scout Antonio Williams went into detail as to why he believes Booker dropped so far down in the draft board back in 2015:
Article Continues Below“Some underrated aspects of Devin Booker’s game: he’s more athletic than people think he is, he’s tougher than people think he is, and Devin loves basketball,” Williams said. “Devin’s the type that will go and play in a pick-up game somewhere. He loves to hoop. When we look at upside, we always attribute it to physical things. But there’s some other underrated elements of upside as well… Those are some underrated aspects of Devin’s game, and those are the things that have made him into a superstar.”
For what it's worth, it was Karl-Anthony Towns that went first overall in 2015. D'Angelo Russell (second) and Kristaps Porzingis (fourth) were a couple of other guys that were selected before Booker. Neither of the three aforementioned stars was “bad picks.”
However, Booker was also glossed over for the likes of Jahlil Okafor (third), Mario Hezonja (fifth), Emmanuel Mudiay (seventh), Stanley Johnson (eighth), and even Trey Lyles (12th). All of these players have gone on to make an impact in the NBA in their own way, but there's no denying that Booker's career trajectory leaves theirs in the dust.
Needless to say, Devin Booker, who himself was recently forced out of the All-Star game due to a knee injury, is without a doubt the biggest steal of the 2015 NBA Draft. The Suns continue to thank their lucky stars (and their outstanding scouting team) for how a guy who turned out to be a cornerstone superstar for them fell into their lap on that fateful evening.
