It’s not official yet, but the Phoenix Suns will be selecting Deandre Ayton with the No. 1 overall pick, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo! Sports.
Charania is also reporting that the Sacramento Kings will be taking Duke freshman Marvin Bagley III with the No. 2 pick. Bagley and Ayton were once teammates at Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix.
Sources: Phoenix (Arizona’s DeAndre Ayton) and Sacramento (Duke’s Marvin Bagley III) have locked in on the NBA Draft’s Nos. 1 and 2 picks.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 21, 2018
Assuming Charania’s report is true — he is arguably the top news-breaker in the industry — Ayton will become the Arizona Wildcats’ first No. 1 pick in program history, which was expected all along after he had an incredible freshman season.
There was some speculation early in the draft process that the Suns could select Luka Doncic since Phoenix’s new head coach, Igor Kokoskov, coached Doncic on the Slovenian national team, but evidently the Suns decided Ayton is too good of a prospect to pass up.
Now we just have to wait for his selection to become official once the 2018 NBA Draft begins just after 4 p.m. PT.