We don’t know who was on the Suns board at #6 (assuming Morant wouldn’t fall that far). But Clarke was clearly not on it or not high enough. You can fairly call that a miss. But criticisms of Cam based on that aren’t solid evaluation. Especially since he is exceeding expectations of initial critics and IMO meeting expectations for a player drafted at #11.
Yes, Cam likely would have fallen later than 11, but what were the trade scenarios? The Suns obviously wanted to bring back a starter in that trade. Was there another team with a player the Suns wanted for their lineup willing to move him for the #6 with a pick high enough to guarantee Cam? (The Suns probably loved him in the workout and guessed someone else may well have, too.)
Jones has been pretty clear about wanting to put NBA caliber players on the floor. Bridges and Cam are better than Jackson, Bender, and Chriss, and a better fit for today’s game than Len. (Which is also an indictment of how bad those picks panned out.) But taken as a whole, these moves, plus Baynes and Rubio, have brought the Suns back to respectability really quickly, even without Ayton.
It will be interesting to see what the Suns do this year with a pick that will likely fall in the teens. I suppose if they miss the playoffs we may see some lottery luck.
