2018 Draft: 5 Possible Top-5 Picks for the Atlanta Hawks
By Chris Guest
DeAndre Ayton
Though our first mock draft gave the slight edge to Dončić, the supreme talents of Arizona University’s starting center DeAndre Ayton have been on our radar for a long time, and he has seemingly skyrocketed his draft stock with some showcase performances in recent weeks.
Most draft boards have Dončić and Ayton neck-and-neck in terms of potential for going number one overall, and with good reason.
Ayton’s chiseled 7’1”, 250-lb body looks NBA-ready, and he is putting up the stats to prove it.
Ayton is third in the country in Player Efficiency Rating with a robust 31.4, and he is averaging 19.7 points, 10.9 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 1.5 assists per game in 32.6 minutes played per contest.
From the field, Ayton is shooting an amazing 60.6 percent, and he has even connected on 33.3 percent of threes with a strong shooting form. His true shooting percentage of 64.7 percent is also sky-high.
The offensive and defensive potential of the Hawks would automatically skyrocket if Ayton was brought into the fold, and pairing him with John Collins in the frontcourt would give the Hawks a fearsome 1-2 duo put together solely through the draft.