Last Tuesday night (May 15, 2018), The Phoenix Suns won the NBA Draft Lottery 2018 which took place at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago. On Thursday, June 21 the Suns will be picking first in the NBA Draft 2018 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The NBA Draft Lottery Order Top 10

(Including Who I feel the Current Best Player on the Team)

• Phoenix Suns – Current Best Player: Devin Booker
• Sacramento Kings – Current Best Player: Dea’aron Fox
• Atlanta Hawks – Current Best Player: Dennis Schroder
• Memphis Grizzlies – Current Best Player: Mike Conley
• Dallas Mavericks – Current Best Player: Dennis Smith Jr.
• Orlando Magic – Current Best Player: Aaron Gordon
• Chicago Bulls – Current Best Player: Denzel Valentine
• Cleveland Cavaliers – Current Best Player: Lebron James? (If he stays on the team after this summer)
• New York Knicks – Current Best Player: Kristaps Porzingis
• Philadelphia 76ers – Current Best Player: Joel Embiid

Top 10 Prospects according to CBS Sports

• Deandre Ayton: Center
• Marvin Bagley III: Power Forward
• Luka Doncic: Shooting/Point Guard
• Mohamed Bamba: Power Forward
• Jaren Jackson Jr.: Power Forward
• Michael Porter Jr.: Small Forward
• Trae Young: Point Guard
• Collin Sexton: Point Guard
• Wendell Carter Jr.: Power Forward
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: Point Guard

The Next 3 After

• Kevin Knox: Small Forward
• Mikal Bridges: Small Forward
• Miles Bridges: Small Forward

My Top 10 Prospects

1. Deandre Ayton
2. Marvin Bagley III
3. Mohamed Bamba
4. Luka Doncic
5. Michael Porter Jr.
6. Jaren Jackson Jr.
7. Wendell Carter Jr.
8. Collin Sexton
9. Kevin Knox
10. Mikal Bridges

Unfortunately, Oklahoma sensation Trae Young was left out of my top 10 despite leading the NCAA in scoring and assists. Trae Young has two deficiencies plaguing him as he heads into the NBA. The first is his shot selection. At Oklahoma, Trae was the defacto best player on the team as well as the point guard and therefore was both the primary shot taker and decision maker with the ball being in his hands the most. With this on his shoulders, he forced a lot of contested shots and layups that typically ended up getting blocked into the student section. He definitely is a marksman but, when his shot isn't falling there's not much more than he can give you. The second is his defense. With his small stature and dedication to the offensive end, he typically takes plays off and saves himself for the other end of the floor. He might be a great scorer, but when playing guards like Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Damian Lillard, and Steph Curry it's not going to be easy to just get into a shootout and come out the victor. I also left out Shai Gilgeous-Alexander mainly because I feel that Collin Sexton is the best college guard in the draft. Despite the league moving towards tall guards like International prospect Luka Doncic or Point Forwards like Michael Porter Jr., Collin Sexton is my only exception to that. Collin and Luka, in my opinion, are the only top 10 caliber guards in this draft because of their ability to put the ball in the hole and their activity on defense like no other guard in the draft class.

Three Hot Takes for the Draft

• The Top 10 picks will be completely dominated by the frontcourt. All the point guards besides Luka Doncic will fall out of the top 10. With the rise of the point forward, players like Lebron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo and most recently Ben Simmons have revolutionized the 6’8,6’9 and 6’10 guys bringing the ball up the court and initiating the offense. With that being said, players like Kevin Knox, Mikal Bridges, and Michael Porter Jr. will be asked to do a lot more than just get buckets considering the high caliber guards that terrorize both the Eastern and Western Conferences. And Luka Doncic, who is projected as a shooting guard in the NBA at 6’8, 228 lbs, will be utilized as a primary ball handler that will be able to easily translate to the NBA’s adaptation of the high pick and roll action against smaller guards on whatever team he lands on (maybe the Hawks at #3?)

• Michael Porter Jr. will slip to the Bulls. To be honest this more of a “cross your fingers and pray” kind of take of mine as a Bulls fan. Michael only had 30 total points, 20 total rebounds and more assists than turnovers (1 assist to 3 turnovers) in only two games played the entire year. Despite this, he still has the athleticism and the ball skill fundamentals to be a top 10 pick, but of course, with the lack of game tape on the collegiate level, he is going to drop down from the top 5 projection that scouts gave him when he entered Missouri.

• David Fizdale and the Knicks would look absolutely crazy if they don’t go for grit and bucket getters by drafting either Collin Sexton or Mikal Bridges (honestly more so Bridges because they just drafted a point guard last year). This year Mikal averaged a career high in point per game with 17.7 along with 5.3 rebounds and almost 2 assists. Mikal also was consistently putting the ball in the hole by shooting 85% from the free throw line, 51% from the floor and 44% from three so he definitely would give the Knicks another lengthy scorer to go alongside Kristaps Porzingis.

Honestly, this could be one of the best draft classes in a while. The season may not be over, but the upcoming prospects definitely make it hard to keep eyes solely on the playoffs. Guess we just have to stay tuned until June 21st.