Deandre Ayton wants to ‘start a winning legacy’ with Suns
Jun 21, 2018, 7:28 PM | Updated: Jun 22, 2018, 6:00 pm
Arizona's Deandre Ayton, right, is congratulated by friends and family after he was picked first overall by the Phoenix Suns during the NBA basketball draft in New York, Thursday, June 21, 2018. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen)
(AP Photo/Kevin Hagen)
PHOENIX — During his official pre-draft visit on June 6, center Deandre Ayton proclaimed, “I know I’m going No. 1.”
Two weeks later, the Phoenix Suns made it official, selecting the former Arizona Wildcat with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft on Thursday.
“This is a great blessing. I worked hard for this. I had a lot of confidence because I knew I deserved this,” he said from Brooklyn.
Ayton, 19, had long been linked to the Suns, who drafted No. 1 for the first time in franchise history. He gives the team both an inside presence and an outside threat, the latter of which is coveted in this pace and space NBA.
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At 7-foot-1 and 250-pounds, Ayton fills an immediate need at center. Starter Tyson Chandler is entering the final year of his contract, while Alex Len is due to be become an unrestricted free agent and Alan Williams is on a non-guaranteed deal for 2018-19.
“The game is changing a lot, but I just want to stick to the old-school big man, being down low and really trying to be dominant,” Ayton said.
Dominant was exactly what Ayton was in his one season in Tucson.
A consensus first-team All-American, he averaged 20.1 points on 61.2 percent shooting, 11.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocks, becoming the first to win Pac-12 Player of the Year, Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors in the same season.
The Suns see Ayton as yet another piece to the puzzle.
Joining guard Devin Booker and forward Josh Jackson, last year’s first-round draft pick, Ayton appears to be the perfect fit for a franchise in the midst of an eight-year playoff drought.
“Basketball is really changing, so the two-man game is really hard to stop. Having a guard like Devin Booker, who can really score the ball, and me being a big man who can really pick-and-pop, very versatile, that’s very dangerous,” Ayton said.
“The team in general is a very young and hungry team. We just have to stick together, get a great chemistry and start a winning legacy in Phoenix.”
