The Phoenix Suns picked Deandre Ayton in the 2018 draft, but CBS Sports has taken another look and ranked the big man a few spots lower.
It is too soon to redraft the 2018 NBA Draft but given the time we have had, it has been visited a few times. This round, Kyle Boone of CBS Sports, has Phoenix Suns promising center, Deandre Ayton, going not one, not two, not three, and not four, but fifth overall.
The Dallas Mavericks with the fifth pick (who actually traded up two spots to get Luka Doncic at the third pick in the real draft) took Deandre Ayton in the redraft.
A quick recap of the top 10 picks:
Phoenix Suns: Luka Doncic
Sacramento Kings: Jaren Jackson Jr.
Atlanta Hawks: Trae Young
Memphis Grizzlies: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Dallas Mavericks: Deandre Ayton
Orlando Magic: Michael Porter Jr.
Chicago Bulls: Mitchell Robinson
Cleveland Cavaliers: Devonte’ Graham
New York Knicks: Donte DiVincenzo
Philadelphia 76ers: Mikal Bridges
The redraft goes the full first round, but I am ending it with Mikal Bridges going at #10. The Philadelphia 76ers actually traded this pick back in 2018 to the Suns for Zhaire Smith and the 2021 Miami first-round pick, who obviously really did choose Bridges in this spot.
It can be regrettable that the 76ers didn’t stick with the original pick when the following year they drafted Matisse Thybulle. Having both Thybulle and Bridges coming in off the bench as your lockdown defenders, was an opportunity missed for the 76ers.
The Phoenix Suns picked Luca Doncic in the CBS 2018 redraft.
Luka Doncic going #1 to our beloved Suns is of course the correct pick no matter if Ayton becomes an NBA All-Star or superstar because Luka is already there as a player.
Kyle goes on to say about the Luka pick:
"“Phoenix was set on selecting DeAndre Ayton, the University of Arizona product, early on in the draft process. And while he’s been productive as a young big in the league, there’s no debating Luka Doncic should have heard his name called first in the draft. He leads the entire 2018 draft class in box plus/minus and VORP (Value Over Replacement) by a healthy margin, and this season he emerged as an All-Star, averaging 28.7 points and 8.7 assists per game. Imagine if the Suns had been smart enough to pair him with Devin Booker in Phoenix.”"
The pairing of Luka and Booker would have been smart, of course, now that we look back at it. The thing that is overlooked is the whole Devin Booker part of this. Booker wants to be the star of this team and wants to have his sidekick in Ayton. If Luka came to Phoenix, Suns fans would be supporting the #77 on their jerseys and not #1. Maybe Booker had an influence on the pick or maybe he didn’t, but if that pick went the other way, Luka may be the one riding around with Kendall Jenner in Paradise Valley.
Shooting the 3-point shot is very key when catching the eye of random NBA fans and those in the media. Jaren Jackson Jr. used his 38.6 percent from behind the arc to gain that attention.
After Ayton is selected in the redraft at #5, Kyle Boone explained:
"“Dallas drafted Dennis Smith Jr. in 2017, so it’s hard to imagine they’d go anywhere but big in this spot.And it’s hard to imagine Deandre Ayton falling out of the top five. Is he No. 1 pick material? In this draft, I think not. But he’s a double-double machine who, with two season’s worth of tape, looks like one of the league’s most talented two-way big men.”"
An All-Star starter already in his second year, Trae Young is hard to argue with going at number three but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander going before Ayton is where I have some issues. I have always seen the potential in SGA and hoped the Suns could have landed him, but to go ahead of Ayton is truly disrespectful. Time will tell, of course, with Ayton and the rest of the picks from the 2018 draft.
Ayton, even selected at #1, has the biggest chance to surprise people around the league in the coming years.