< Deandre Ayton is the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft on Thursday night. The former Arizona standout was selected by the Phoenix Suns.
New York — Deandre Ayton became the first No. 1 Sun and Luka Doncic was traded only a day after arriving in the U.S.
The Atlanta Hawks swapped the rights to Doncic, the No. 3 pick from Slovenia, to Atlanta for Trae Young, the No. 5 selection from Oklahoma in on Thursday night in the NBA draft.
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 honors when they won that title this year.
The Hawks will get perhaps the most exciting player in college basketball last season, the first player to lead the nation in scoring and assists in the same season.
Otherwise, the top of the draft was dominated by big men, starting with a pair of former high school teammates.
The Suns stayed close to home to make the 7-foot-1 Ayton the first No. 1 pick in franchise history. The center from Arizona averaged 20.1 points and 11.6 rebounds in his lone season in Tucson, tying for the national lead with 24 double-doubles in 35 games.
He joined Mychal Thompson — father of Golden State All-Star Klay Thompson — in 1978 as the only players from the Bahamas to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.
The Sacramento Kings followed by taking Marvin Bagley III, the Duke big man who played with Ayton at Hillcrest Prep Academy in Phoenix in 2015-16.
With Jaren Jackson Jr. going fourth to Memphis, Texas center Mo Bamba going No. 6 to Orlando and Wendell Carter Jr. following to Chicago, it was an early run of big men in what's increasingly become a perimeter-based league.
Then it was another guard with Alabama's Collin Sexton going at No. 8 to Cleveland, triggering chants of Michael Porter Jr.'s name by Knicks fans who hoped they would take him with the No. 9 pick. But they ended up disappointed as New York went with Kentucky's Kevin Knox.
The 18-year-old Knox played one season at Kentucky, where he led the Wildcats in scoring at 15.8 points per game and 3-pointers with 57.
He shared the SEC's Freshman of the Year award with Alabama guard Collin Sexton, who was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers, and was also an AP Honorable Mention on the All-America team.
At 6-foot-9 and 215 pounds, Knox shot .445 from the field, and .341 from 3-point range.
New York is coming off a 29-53 season as it tries to rebuild. The franchise's cornerstone piece, Kristaps Porzingis, the fourth overall pick in the 2015 draft, suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in February and it isn't known if he will play this season.
Celtics take Williams
The Boston Celtics selected Texas A&M power forward Robert Williams with the No. 27 pick in the NBA draft.
The 6-foot-10, 237-pound sophomore is a two-time Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year. He averaged 10.4 points and 9.2 rebounds for the Aggies last year. He had been projected as a lottery pick.
The Celtics followed an appearance in the 2017 Eastern Conference finals with an offseason overhaul that brought in Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving. Despite losing both of them to injuries during the season, they returned to the league's final four.
Spellman to Hawks
Former St. Thomas More standout Omari Spellman was the last pick in the first round. The Villanova forward was selected 30th by the Atlanta Hawks.