Lady Luck has finally smiled on the Phoenix Suns.
After receiving one dose of misfortune after another in previous NBA Draft lotteries, the Suns were awarded the top overall pick in next month's draft as a result of the 2018 lottery held in Chicago on Tuesday night.
H1story made. #TimeToRise pic.twitter.com/q16hh7D7SI
— Phoenix Šuns (@Suns) May 16, 2018
After finishing the 2017-18 season with the NBA's worst record, the Suns had the best odds of securing the No. 1 pick, but only with a 25 percent chance of doing so.
The Suns had never moved up in the NBA Draft order based on their lottery odds but had moved down three times, including last season, in the current lottery format. Last year, the Suns had the second-best odds of receiving the No. 1 pick but ended up with the No. 4 pick.
Josh Jackson, whom the Suns selected with that pick, represented the Suns at Tuesday's lottery.
GOT 1T DONE! pic.twitter.com/M4QjVL5G7r
— Phoenix Šuns (@Suns) May 16, 2018
The Sacramento Kings received the No. 2 pick and the Atlanta Hawks will pick third. The Memphis Grizzlies will pick fourth and the Dallas Mavericks will pick fifth.
The two most often-mentioned candidates for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft are Arizona Wildcats center Deandre Ayton, who played high-school basketball in Phoenix and collegiately at Arizona, and Slovenian guard Luka Doncic, whom new Suns coach Igor Kokoskov coached to a gold medal as the head coach of the Slovenian national team at EuroBasket 2017.
This marks the third time in franchise history that the Suns will have a top-three pick in the NBA Draft.
The 2018 NBA Draft will take place June 21.
The results of the 2018 #NBADraftLottery. pic.twitter.com/tVoS1qladw
— NBA Draft (@NBADraft) May 16, 2018
