Deandre Ayton will begin his NBA career with the Phoenix Suns. Months of speculation came to an end Thursday night as the Suns selected the Bahamas native with the No. 1 overall pick.
Ayton is not only the first Arizona basketball player to go first overall, but he is the Suns’ first No. 1 overall draft pick in franchise history. The 7-foot-1 big man also becomes the sixth player in Pac-12 Conference history to be taken No. 1, joining the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1969), Bill Walton (1974) and most recently Markelle Fultz (2017).
Labeled as a physical specimen who has the potential to be a franchise-changing player, Ayton has been at the top of draft boards for a while now so it’s no surprise he was the first player taken.