Chicago Bulls: Re-drafting the 2018 NBA Draft in 2019-20 season

With the No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, let’s assume that the Hawks kept their pick and filled a positional need that they still have to this day. The Hawks use this draft pick to take the actual No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 NBA Draft, Arizona’s big man Ayton. The Suns used their first overall pick to take Ayton originally.

Let’s also assume here that the Hawks don’t know, or that Ayton doesn’t get suspended in the first place this season. And within this framework of the re-draft, he is about the best player left on the board and has the highest ceiling. A Southeast Division that is void of quality big men could allow Ayton to dominate down low too.

Ironically in the span of less than three days, Ayton was the cause of a play that injured Bagley and he was suspended for about a quarter of the regular season. That let the top two picks from last year’s draft miss out on a good portion of this season in such a short span of time. It’s a shame that everything played out that way, but this re-draft doesn’t take that much of this scenario into account.

Nonetheless, Young and Doncic are both panning out better than Ayton so far. Production-wise he still shouldn’t come close to being considered a bust. No one could know that both Young and Doncic could emerge as NBA MVP contenders so quickly. Ayton could still be a quality player for a long time in the NBA.