Sixers take Bridges at No. 10
The 76ers selected forward Mikal Bridges with the 10th pick in the NBA draft Thursday night, with the Villanova national champion making the short move down the road for the emerging franchise.
Bridges started all 40 games for the national champs and averaged 17.7 points in his junior season.
The Sixers are quite familiar with Bridges — the Wildcats played all their home games last season in the same arena as the Sixers and his mother works in human resources for the franchise’s parent company.
The Sixers made their picks just two weeks after Bryan Colangelo resigned as president of basketball operations in the wake of a Twitter debacle where he was found “careless and in some instances reckless” sharing of sensitive team information.
Coach Brett Brown was put in charge on an interim basis as the franchise searches for a new general manager.
With the first overall pick in the draft for the first time in franchise history, the Suns believe they have their man in 7-foot-1, 250-pound Deandre Ayton, whose size, athleticism and multiple skills made him the obvious No 1 overall pick Thursday night.
He will join Devin Booker and
Josh Jackson as the core of young talent that the Suns hope will pull them out of their long decline. Phoenix has missed the playoffs the last eight seasons and their 21-61 record last season was the worst in the NBA and second-worst in franchise history.
Ayton was born in the Bahamas but left at age 12, a basketball prodigy who stayed in several Southern California homes and played with various basketball programs, including a season as a teammate of Marvin Bagley III at Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix.
The Sacramento Kings selected Duke forward Marvin Bagley III with the second overall pick.
Bagley will be a welcome addition in Sacramento’s frontcourt. The 6-foot-11 Bagley was AP’s player of the year in the Atlantic Coast Conference during his only season at Duke. He averaged 21 points and 11.1 rebounds while shooting better than 60 percent and has the ability to consistently finish at the rim.
Dallas moved up two spots in the NBA draft Thursday night to get Slovenian guard Luka Doncic, who was selected by Atlanta while the Mavericks picked former Oklahoma scoring sensation Trae Young for the Hawks as part of the deal.
The Mavericks are also sending a lottery-protected first-round pick in 2019 to Atlanta.
The Memphis Grizzlies selected forward Jaren Jackson Jr. of Michigan State with the fourth overall pick.
Despite reports the Grizzlies might trade out of the franchise’s first lottery pick since 2010, Memphis stayed put Thursday night and selected Jackson immediately after the Atlanta Hawks selected Luka Doncic.
Jackson is a one-anddone power forward who averaged 10.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game. He has good defensive skills with quickness that allows him to keep pace with smaller players.
The Orlando Magic selected Mohamed Bamba, the 7-footer from Texas, with the sixth overall pick in Thursday night’s draft.
The 20-year-old center from New York City averaged 12.9 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.7 blocks as a freshman for the Longhorns.
Bamba’s 7-foot-10 wingspan is reportedly the largest ever measured at the NBA draft combine. The Magic exercised the sixth overall pick for the second year in a row, having drafted 6-10 Jonathan Isaac a year ago.
The Chicago Bulls drafted Duke’s Wendell Carter Jr. with the No. 7 overall pick on Thursday night, giving them another
versatile big man to go with Lauri Markkanen.
The 6-foot-10, 259-pound Carter Jr. was the second Blue Devils big man taken after Marvin Bagley III went to Sacramento at No. 2. With his ability to hit from the outside and score down low, he averaged 13.5 points and 9.1 rebounds as a freshman last season while helping the Blue Devils advance to the Elite Eight.
The Cleveland Cavaliers selected Alabama guard Collin Sexton with the No. 8 pick, taking a playmaker they hope convinces LeBron James to re-sign with them.
Sexton averaged 19.2 points and 3.6 assists as a freshman for the Crimson Tide. The 19-year-old also carried them to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012. The confident 6-foot-3, 190-pounder is a proven scorer and he addresses a major need for the Cavs, who traded AllStar point guard Kyrie Irving to Boston last year.