Deandre Ayton Would Love to Be Drafted by Suns, Play with Devin Booker

Former Arizona center Deandre Ayton is hoping to be the first overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft on June 21, especially after the Phoenix Suns won the No. 1 selection in Tuesday's lottery.

Scott Bordow of AZCentral.com provided the latest update from the player:

Ayton is originally from the Bahamas but played high school ball in San Diego and Phoenix, remaining in Arizona for his brief college career.

Jonathan Givony of ESPN listed him as the favorite to go No. 1 overall, but noted Slovenian guard Luka Doncic remains a quality option as Ayton is "not a done deal."

The center has great size at 7'1", 250 pounds and showed he can dominate quality competition, averaging 20.1 points and 11.6 rebounds per game during his freshman season. He was great on both ends of the court and even showed he can step outside and hit a jump shot, knocking down 34.3 percent of attempts from three-point range last season.

Meanwhile, the Suns could use immediate help at center with Alex Len hitting free agency and Tyson Chandler struggling to stay on the court.

Both Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss have shown flashes in their young careers, but they have hardly lived up to expectations as top-10 picks in the 2016 draft. They are also both better used at the 4, while Ayton is likely a true center at the next level.

Adding him to a core that already features Devin Booker and Josh Jackson could create a lot more optimism than we have seen from this franchise in quite some time.

However, the Suns still have plenty of options between Ayton, Doncic, Marvin Bagley III, Jaren Jackson Jr. and more.