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Gilgeous-Alexander dealt after Hornets pick him, Suns take Ayton at No. 1 Arizona centre Deandre Ayton was the first pick, staying in state with the Phoenix Suns.
Hamilton’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander entered the NBA in style — picked 11th by the Hornets, traded to the Clippers and an instant online sensation with his out-there attire.
Canadian guard Shai GilgeousA-lexander is headed to the Los Angeles Clippers.
The 19-year-old from Hamilton was taken No. 11 by the Charlotte Hornets, then traded moments later to the Clippers for the draft rights to Miles Bridges and a couple of secondround picks.
Gilgeous-Alexander, whose draft night attire had social media buzzing, showed rapid improvement in his one season at Kentucky. He came off the bench before working his way into the starting lineup, and scored 16.4 points per night the rest of the way. He averaged over 19 points, almost seven assists, and shot over 50 per cent from three-point range in his final 10 games with the Wildcats.
Considered the best point guard in the draft, Gilgeous-Alexander has impressive length — he’s six-foot-six with a sixfoot-11 wingspan.
“It’s a great feeling, being able to play in the NBA in itself is a blessing, and something not a lot of kids get to experience, and me being one of them is an amazing feeling,” he said.
Long before his name was called at Barclays Center, Gilgeous-Alexander was all over the internet for his champagnecoloured floral suit. It was made by Jhoanna Alba, whose company ALBA is known for outfitting more than 1,000 pro athletes and entertainers.
“When I was getting fitted for my suit, I had no intentions of getting something like this. I wanted to look nice, but nothing this crazy,” he said. “I noticed there was this square of fabric on the table next to me while I was getting fitted. It had this pattern and this colour (champagne). I tried it on the trim of my jacket at first. I liked that a little bit and then I tried the whole jacket and figured out I really liked it. Then I put the whole suit together and fell in love.”
The fashion was a highlight on an otherwise hum-drum draft night.
Trae Young, who’s headed to Atlanta, wore suit-shorts similar to LeBron James’ Bermuda shorts style during the playoffs.
“I wanted to be different,” Young said. “No one has ever rocked the shorts before at the draft.”
Wendell Carter Jr. wore a Gucci scarf inspired by Black Panther. Even his parents wore Gucci outfits bearing tigers inspired by the Marvel comics movie.
Gilgeous-Alexander follows a string of Canadian lottery picks. Anthony Bennett became the Canadian to be picked No. 1 overall, going first to Cleveland in 2013. Andrew Wiggins followed him a year later, also selected by the Cavaliers with the first overall pick. Tristan Thompson was the highest Canadian draft pick before Bennett when he went fourth to Cleveland in 2011.
The Raptors didn’t have a pick heading into this year’s draft.
The top of the draft went according to form, with the Phoenix Suns stayed close to home and taking Arizona centre Deandre Ayton as expected at No. 1.
Marvis Bagley III went second to the Kings before the Mavericks traded up two spots for the rights to Luka Doncic.
The Atlanta Hawks swapped the rights to Doncic, the No. 3 pick who has spent the last year winning championships all over Europe, to Atlanta for Trae Young, the No. 5 selection from Oklahoma.
The Mavericks also gave up a future first-round pick to draft Doncic, who only arrived in New York on Wednesday after helping Spain’s Real Madrid win its league championship after he won Euroleague MVP and Final Four MVP honours when they won that title this year.
His lengthy European season kept him from working out for teams but he knew the Mavericks were interested in having him on their team for what’s expected to be Dirk Nowitzki’s final NBA season.
“I’ve been talking to Dallas a lot. They really wanted me and they were very, very nice,” the 19-year-old said. “They were very nice to me, and I think we had a very good relationship.”
With Jaren Jackson Jr. going fourth to Memphis, Texas centre Mo Bamba going No. 6 to Orlando and Carter Jr. following to Chicago, it was an early run of big men in what’s increasingly become a perimeterbased league.
Then it was another guard with Alabama’s Collin Sexton going at No. 8 to Cleveland.