the phoenix suns got the first pick in the 2018 nba draft.
the phoenix suns got the first pick in the 2018 nba draft.
who gets the first pick in the 2018 nba draft?
the phoenix suns
the 2018 nba draft was held on june 21, 2018, at barclays center in brooklyn, new york. national basketball association (nba) teams took turns selecting amateur united states college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. it was televised nationally by espn. this draft was the last to use the original weighted lottery system that gave teams near the bottom of the nba draft better odds at the top three picks of the draft while teams higher up had worse odds in the process; the rule was agreed upon by the nba on september 28, 2017, but would not be implemented until the 2019 draft. it was also considered the final year where undrafted college underclassmen were forced to begin their professional careers early; on august 8, 2018, the ncaa announced that players who declared for the nba draft and were not selected would have the opportunity to return to their school for at least another year. with the last year of what was, at the time, the most recent lottery system (with the nba draft lottery being held in chicago instead of in new york), the phoenix suns won the first overall pick on may 15, 2018, with the sacramento kings at the second overall pick and the atlanta hawks at third overall pick. the suns' selection was their first no. 1 overall selection in franchise history. they used the selection on the bahamian center deandre ayton from the nearby university of arizona.
2018 nba draft
in 2016, dikembe mutombo made people question the draft's legitimacy when he prematurely tweeted a congratulatory message to the philadelphia 76ers for receiving the first pick hours before the lottery was conducted. philadelphia did indeed win the first overall pick. further questions were raised a bit when the nba draft revealed that every spot remained exactly the same as it was before the event took place, which was the first occurrence in draft lottery history. a year later, lakers executive magic johnson raised even further questions about the draft process with him assuring head coach luke walton that the lakers would acquire a top 3 pick for the 2017 nba draft after an interview walton had on may 4, 2017, twelve days before the draft lottery commenced and moved up to the second pick. as a result of the way teams like the philadelphia 76ers were manipulating draft odds in their favor by losing games on purpose, starting september 28, 2017 with the end of the 2018 nba draft, the nba implemented a new system discouraging teams from going through philadelphia's route in the mid-2010s by not only giving the worst three teams equal odds at the #1 pick, but also increasing their odds at going down within the draft with four teams being selected instead of the usual three.
nba draft lottery