LET DEALS BEGIN
After Suns select Ayton, teams scramble to improve their options
The NBA draft Thursday began as expected, but while the Rockets waited for the first round to end for their part of the draft to take shape, it did not take long for the intrigue to arrive.
The Suns opened the draft by making center DeAndre Ayton their first-ever No. 1 overall pick, a selection that seemed certain since the Suns won the draft lottery. “Having my name called to be the first pick for the Phoenix Suns was mindblowing,” Ayton said. “Having all that confidence and leading up to that point when I saw Adam Silver came out, I was just waiting for my name, and when he called it, my mind went blank. I just got up there and enjoyed the moment, and I saw the reaction on my mom’s face. It was just priceless.”
The Kings might have been tempted by other options, but they made a pick widely expected, taking Duke power forward Marvin Bagley III with the second pick.
With that, the deal-making began, with
one move bringing potential to impact the Rockets next month when free agency begins.
Luka Doncic, the Slovenian teen who at 19 years old was the youngest EuroLeague MVP for Real Madrid, went third as expected. But the Hawks and Mavericks agreed to a deal in which Dallas moved up from fifth to grab him, sending a 2019 first-round pick, heavily protected, to the Hawks to move up enough to get the player they wanted.
“I've been talking to Dallas a lot,” Doncic said. “They really wanted me, and they were very, very nice.
“Honestly, it’s like a dream. It’s like a dream. I’ve been dreaming about being a EuroLeague champion, being a European team champion, being drafted. All this year has been like a dream.”
The Hawks made the move based on being able to land their preference, Oklahoma guard Trae Young. Once the Grizzlies took Jaren Jackson Jr., the power forward from Michigan State, the Hawks grabbed Young and will have an extra first-round pick next year, provided it does not fall in the top five, according to reports.
The Mavericks thought Doncic, long considered a prospect worthy of the first pick, worth the investment, making him their highest draft-night acquisition since Jason Kidd was the second pick in 1994.
Doncic was drafted earlier than any European guard, becoming the seventh international player taken in the top five with only Yao Ming, Andrea Bargnani and Darko Milicic going earlier.
The Hawks’ determination to take Young dropped Texas center Mo Bamba to the Magic with the sixth pick.
The Mavericks’ move to get Doncic instead of Bamba could impact the Rockets, with the Mavericks expected to be in the market for a center with the Rockets’ Clint Capela to be a restricted free agent with skills that would fit exceedingly well with Doncic’s passing.
When asked about the Mavericks’ need for a center, coach Rick Carlisle pointed to the start of freeagent recruiting, telling media in Dallas, “July 1 is right around the corner, bro. We’ll address it.”
With that, the next mystery to be solved became when Michael Porter Jr. would be selected, with Porter considered a top talent, but with concerns after his back surgery as a Missouri freshman.
Duke’s Wendell Carter Jr. went to the Bulls with Alabama’s Collin Sexton going to the Cavaliers, giving them the point guard prospect they have needed. New York fans called for Porter, but there was no surprise with the choice of Kentucky’s Kevin Knox or the customary reflex response of Knicks fans to boo.
After Villanova’s Mikal Bridges stayed in Philadelphia, where his mother is a 76ers employee before the next trade came through, but that led to one of the other stunners of the first round.
When Texas Tech’s Zhaire Smith was taken by the Suns with the 16th pick, Smith was dealt along with the 2021 firstround pick acquired from the Miami Heat to send Bridges to Phoenix.
The player taken after Bridges had been dealt.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went 11th, with the Clippers moving up one spot to get him with the Hornets’ pick, sending a pair of second-round picks to Charlotte before the Hornets took Miles Bridges of Michigan State with the 12th pick.
That put the Clippers back on the clock with their own pick with the Clippers grabbing another guard, Boston College’s Jerome Robinson.
By then, teams willing to gamble on Porter, had to be considering what they would spend to move up. But the Nuggets ended the lottery by choosing Porter.
“The teams at the very, very top of the draft told me last week I was their guy, they were going to take me,” Porter said, citing the Kings, Mavericks and Grizzlies. “Then the hip episode happened, and then doctors got involved and they got scared.
“So once one team gets scared, a lot of them get scared. And that’s what caused the drop.”
With that, the draft settled in with few surprises, other than the unexpectedly long wait for Texas A&M’s Robert Williams before he finally went to the Celtics with the 27th pick.
jonathan.feigen@chron.com twitter.com/jonathan_feigen