Why Suns' Trio Fell Too Low in ESPN Player Rankings
ESPN wrapped up their yearly player evaluation which, in their words, is evaluated by projecting how good a player will be this upcoming season.
"ESPN's NBArank panel, comprising nearly 150 reporters, editors, producers and analysts, was asked to rank players based on their predicted contributions -- quality and quantity -- for the 2023-24 season only."
The only three Phoenix Suns to make the cut were members of the big three. Bradley Beal checked in at No. 36, Devin Booker at No. 11, and Kevin Durant at No. 7.
The rankings of all three players drew polarized responses, but especially Booker, largely due to the weak reasoning from ESPN's Dave McMenamin.
Durant was noticeably below Boston's Jayson Tatum and Philadelphia's Joel Embiid while Beal was below several players that have arguably had worse track records over recent seasons.
McMenamin's reasoning for Beal dropping 18 spots, down from 19 last year, is because he's now a third option in Phoenix.
That reasoning is faulty, meanwhile players such as Jrue Holiday and Paolo Ranchero are on very shaky ground in being ranked higher than Beal going into this season. Holiday is one of the best defenders in the NBA, but is a well below average player in the playoffs, and Banchero had a strong, yet inefficient rookie season.
Beal is just two seasons removed from averaging 30 points a night and it appears many have lost sight of that.
Durant wasn't ranked egregiously low, but being a better playoff performer than Embiid and Tatum should give Durant the nod over both with most other variables within the same ballpark.
Booker has made the official leap into superstardom, and the only thing keeping him out of the "experts" top ten was based on lazy reasoning. Booker can easily be argued over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis.
All three Suns have looked incredibly good so far, and will continue the quest to silence the critics while looking to bring a long awaited title to the Valley
Other Players That Were Too Low
Jalen Williams- OKC- #95
Cam Johnson- BKN- #82
Brook Lopez- MIL- #69
Desmond Bane- MEM- #61
Zion Williamson- NOLA- #57
James Harden- PHI- #43
Ja Morant- MEM- #35
Trae Young- ATL- #29
Damian Lillard- MIL- #14
