Suns win NBA Draft Lottery, will pick No. 1 in 2018 NBA Draft
May 15, 2018, 5:25 PM | Updated: May 21, 2018, 1:42 pm
(AP Photos)
(AP Photos)
The Phoenix Suns entered Tuesday’s NBA Draft Lottery with the best odds to land the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft and they left with just that.
The Suns will have the first pick in the NBA Draft for the first time in franchise history.
It is Phoenix’s highest selection in the draft since 1987 when the team selected Armen Gilliam with the second overall pick. Having picked fourth the past two years, the Suns have not had a top-three pick since that draft.
Experts peg two players at the top of this year’s draft class: Arizona’s Deandre Ayton and Real Madrid’s Luka Doncic.
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Listed at 7-foot-1 and 250 pounds, Ayton’s athletic stature blows away anyone in his class.
As a freshman, he averaged 20.1 points, 11.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocks a game while shooting 61.2 percent from the field. Going back to the 1992-93 college basketball season, Ayton is the only freshman in the Sports-Reference database who posted those averages.
Ayton is one of the older freshmen in the process and will turn 20 years old in late July. He has expressed an interest in joining Phoenix, telling CBS Sports Radio that he could see “a little Shaq and Kobe 2.0” with Suns guard Devin Booker.
Doncic, who turned 19 in late February, has reached statistical achievements overseas that no other prospect his age has ever touched. In 62 games with Real Madrid, he’s putting up 14.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game.
The Slovenian has been playing for the Spanish team since October and began competitive play in the beginning of September with the Slovenian national team in the EuroBasket tournament.
The head coach of Slovenia, of course, was new Suns head coach Igor Kokoskov, who led the team to an upset win of the entire tournament.
The Suns also pick at No. 16 in the first round and Nos. 31 and 59 in the second round.
1. Phoenix Suns
2. Sacramento Kings
3. Atlanta Hawks
4. Memphis Grizzlies
5. Dallas Mavericks
6. Orlando Magic
7. Chicago Bulls
8. Cleveland Cavaliers (via BKN)
9. New York Knicks
10. Philadelphia 76ers (via LAL)
11. Charlotte Hornets
12. Los Angeles Clippers (via DET)
13. Los Angeles Clippers
14. Denver Nuggets
