Da Windy City
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Chicago Bulls: Ranking the NBA’s top 10 young cores

By Aaron Peterson

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JANUARY 27: Zach LaVine #8 of the Chicago Bulls shoots over teammate Lauri Markkanen #24 against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the United Center on January 27, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. The Cavaliers defeated the Bulls 104-101. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JANUARY 27: Zach LaVine #8 of the Chicago Bulls shoots over teammate Lauri Markkanen #24 against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the United Center on January 27, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. The Cavaliers defeated the Bulls 104-101. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
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The Phoenix Suns were finally starting to get on the right track, and then the 2019 NBA Draft arrived.

Devin Booker appears to be the franchise player going forward in the desert for a very long time, and rightfully so. Yet another impressive season for Booker and arguably an All-Star snub once again combined with a first overall draft pick in DeAndre Ayton, the Suns were expected to take a leap forward in 2019-2020. Instead, the Phoenix ended up with the second worst record in basketball and had poor lottery luck, landing outside of the top five.

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When draft night came, the Suns decided to not only unload T.J. Warren to Phoenix but also gave up draft capital to do so and received literally nothing in return. Warren was a young player who had proved to be a consistent scorer, and unloading him proved pointless in the fact that Phoenix landed no major free agents.

Later that night, Phoenix also shockingly traded down to 11th overall in the draft in exchange for Dario Saric, a nice young forward with one year left on his deal. Sure, Saric provides a solution at the four, but trading down didn’t make a whole lot of sense for a team in desperate need of a point guard when Coby White was on the board.

Even worse, when the Suns picked 11th, they selected Cameron Johnson out of North Carolina who was expected to be available by the mid to early twenties. Johnson is a very good basketball player, but a rebuilding team like Phoenix should not be trading down to select more role players at this point.

More recently, the Suns moved on from former top-five pick Josh Jackson, who has been quite the disappointment on and off of the court in his short NBA career. The issue with this is not moving on from Jackson, it is that once again Phoenix received nothing for him and gave up more draft picks to unload him.

The Suns’ situation makes absolutely no sense. Booker and Ayton are a legit duo that should be terrorizing defenses for a long time. Around these two, Phoenix has some very nice pieces in Mikal Bridges, Ty Jerome, Cam Johnson, and Dario Saric. The team was even able to flip Trevor Ariza for Kelly Oubre Jr., which turned out to be a steal for Phoenix.

However, for some reason, this squad has yet to be able to put things together. 2019-2020 is a massive year for Phoenix. If James Jones fails to improve this franchise, it may be time to go into panic mode in Arizona.

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