The 2018 Draft Lottery took place Tuesday May 15th with few surprises.
The ping pong balls bounced to almost 100 percent predictability for the 2018 NBA Draft Lottery. After several seasons of missing out on the top draft pick the Phoenix Suns sent Josh Jackson instead of Devin Booker to represent the team.
Jackson’s presence along with extra ping pong balls finally delivered the top pick. The OKC Thunder historically have tough battles with the Suns and with the addition of a top draft choice things could get even more interesting next season.
As for how the rest of the ping pong balls fell, for the most part things went according to the odds. The teams affected by shifts were in the two through six selections. Top three predictions had Memphis and Dallas nabbing the second and third picks, but both teams dropped two spots to fourth and fifth respectively. Orlando and Chicago also dropped one spot to sixth and seventh respectively.
Two teams took leaps upward with Atlanta moving up one spot to third. Yet, the team with the best luck was the Sacramento Kings who vaulted from a predicted seventh slot all the way up to second. Can’t wait to see what Vlade Divac will do.
Big Decisions for top of draft board:
Presently the top two picks on most boards lean toward center Deandre Ayton and point guard Luka Doncic. The Suns can’t go wrong selecting in either direction as they could use help at the two spectrums of their lineup. Making things more interesting is each of these players has a connection to Phoenix.
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Igor Kokoskov was hired as the Suns head coach and he has direct ties to Doncic. The pair nabbed the European Championship gold medal. Yet, Ayton isn’t without his own ties, having played his college ball in Arizona. The Suns have three picks in the top 31, so they could look dramatically different next season particularly if they add the right free agents with the draft picks.
For the Kings the issue if the Suns select Ayton is they already have their future point guard in De’Aaron Fox. As much as Vlade Divac loves to make crazy out of the box decisions there are a number of bigs at the top of the draft to offer Divac plenty of choices. Any of Marvin Bagley III, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Mohamed Bamba) who ranked three through fifth could be his selection.
Or the Kings could trade down in similar fashion to what Boston did last season and nab additional picks or assets in the process.
OKC Thunder Draft Picks:
The Enes Kanter trade which sent out a first round pick to Utah will finally be used. Minnesota will be the team who collects on the pick based on returning assets from the Rubio trade. The Wolves will select 20th and fulfill OKC’s trade obligations from seasons ago.
As for the Thunder they have two late second round selections. OKC will select with the 53rd and 57th picks . While the 2018 draft is deep it’s more top heavy than deep throughout. Still teams like the Raptors who picked up undrafted Fred VanVleet and turned 46th pick Norman Powell into a contributor demonstrated unexpected gems do exist. Presti could also pair the picks to move up.
In the coming weeks TI will run our annual draft prospect series. We’ll look at the top 60 prospects as it’s impossible to ever count Sam Presti