With a week to go before this year’s NBA draft, there is a historic level of uncertainty about the top of the lottery at this late stage of the proceedings.
While Arizona center Deandre Ayton seems to be emerging as a consensus choice for the top pick, after that, things are completely wide open.
Here, then, is our best stab at how the first round will play out seven days before NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will take the stage at Barclays Center in Brooklyn to announce all 30 first-round selections:
1. Phoenix Suns: Deandre Ayton, C, Arizona
The Suns have worked out several players, and coach Igor Kokoskov has ties to the other top candidate, Slovenian sensation Luka Doncic, who is still playing in Europe and thus hasn’t worked out in Phoenix.