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Suns make Bahamas’ Ayton the top pick in NBA draft
NEW YORK, June 22, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The Phoenix Suns used their first No.1
overall pick in franchise history to select towering Bahamian teenager
Deandre Ayton in the 2018 NBA draft on Thursday.
The 19-year-old Ayton was expected to go first to the Suns who like the
seven-foot (2.1-meter) center’s size and skill which he used to dominate in
US college basketball last season with the Arizona Wildcats.
“It means the world to me, you know my family and coaches know the hard
work I put into this game to really try and be successful and achieve all my
goals,” Ayton said.
The Suns are hoping Ayton can help turn around a team that finished with
just 21 wins against 61 defeats, the worst in the NBA.
The Sacramento Kings used the second pick to take power forward Marvin
Bagley who played with Ayton for one season at a high school in Phoenix,
Arizona.
Slovenia’s Luka Doncic was chosen third overall by the Atlanta Hawks, who
then turned around and traded the European star’s rights to the Dallas
Mavericks for fifth pick Trae Young and a future first round draft pick.
It was a big night for the big men in this NBA throwback draft at Barclays
Center arena in New York.
Besides Ayton and Bagley, other big men to go early included Wendell
Carter (Chicago Bulls), Jaren Jackson (Memphis Grizzlies) and Mohamed Bamba
(Orlando Magic). All five are six-foot-10 or bigger.
Jackson went fourth overall, Bamba was sixth and Carter one back in
seventh.
Ayton has been compared to Shaquille O’Neal and with less emphasis on
traditional centers in recent years this draft is considered old school. This
is the first time since 2007 that a half dozen players six-foot-10 or taller
were chosen in the top 10.
– Throwback draft –
Born in the Bahamas, Ayton, who turns 20 next month, moved to Phoenix
during high school and says the majority of his family now live in Arizona.
Ayton believes he could form a partnership in Phoenix with Devin Booker
similar to the Lakers’ famous O’Neal-Kobe Bryant dynamic duo which dominated
the NBA.
“It means a lot to me because the fans there are amazing, they are the
best fans in the world,” he said.
“I’m really happy to be a part of the Phoenix Suns now because we can
really start a winning legacy with Devin Booker and Josh Jackson and all
those other guys.
“You know they’re great, we’re a young team and we’re ready. I’m just
happy to be a Phoenix Sun.”
Doncic, who recently won the Euroleague MVP award, travelled to New York
just days after sealing the Spanish league championship with Real Madrid.
This is not the first time the Hawks have quickly traded the number three
overall pick. In 2001, the Hawks made Pau Gasol a top three pick only to
trade him to the Vancouver Grizzlies for Shareef Abdur-Rahim.
The Cleveland Cavaliers used the eighth pick to take Alabama guard Collin
Sexton.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0845 hrs