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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.
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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.
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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…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/nba-draft-history-best-players-120000562.html
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Publish date : 2026-06-17 12:00:00
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