Two Suns Land in Top Five of 2018 NBA Redraft

Hindsight is 20/20, isn't it?

The Phoenix Suns used their only No. 1 pick in franchise history to take Arizona center Deandre Ayton, an athletic big man that held potential to dominate the paint like he once did at the college level.

Ayton was taken over the likes of Luka Doncic and Trae Young, and to this very day fans of the NBA will debate who should have been taken with the first selection.

Ayton was awarded with a four-year, $133 million offer sheet during the offseason, but that wasn't the only draft pick that was paid by Phoenix from 2018.

Forward Mikal Bridges inked a four-year, $90.9 million deal that kicks in this season, and thanks to his consistent improvement. even that contract looks like a steal at this point in time.

Plenty of talented players were taken in the 2018 NBA Draft, but where did Phoenix's two players land in Bleacher Report's redraft?

Two Suns Land in Top Five of 2018 NBA Redraft

No. 4: Deandre Ayton

Andy Bailey's explanation:

"The trend toward wings who can defend all over the floor and hit threes may favor Mikal Bridges, but his Phoenix Suns teammate Deandre Ayton still gets the nod between the two.

"Ayton isn't quite as malleable, but he's closer to being a No. 1 option on offense. Those players are still a little harder to come by.

"For his career, Ayton has averaged 16.3 points in 30.7 minutes per game while shooting 59.9 percent from the field. When he plays without Devin Booker, he puts up 20.2 points per 75 possessions.

"That production has been more the result of rim-running and cleanup duties inside since Chris Paul arrived, but Ayton showed flashes as a mid-range shooter in his first few seasons. If he improves at drawing contact and getting to the free-throw line, it's easy to see him as a top scorer. At 24 years old, there's still plenty of time for him to add that.

"Ayton staying in the top five isn't based entirely on his offense, either. He isn't a Jaren Jackson Jr.-esque shot blocker or a perimeter defender like Robert Williams III, but he's decent in both respects. That's good enough when combined with his offensive upside."

No. 5: Mikal Bridges

Andy Bailey's Reasoning:

"Mikal Bridges has never had much of an opportunity to show off his ball-handling or distribution skills, but there aren't many other boxes that he doesn't check.

"In the modern NBA, when positional versatility, perimeter defense and outside shooting are among the most important boxes, Bridges is a no-brainer for the top 10.

"Over the last two seasons, Bridges has averaged 13.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.6 threes and 1.1 steals while shooting 39.7 percent from deep. He's generally been assigned to every opponent's most difficult perimeter assignment on defense, too.

"All of the above is more than theoretically helpful. During his four seasons with the Phoenix Suns, they're plus-3.8 points per 100 possessions when he's on the floor and minus-2.6 with him off. His net rating in that stretch is better than Devin Booker's.

"As an added bonus, Bridges is already among the game's legitimate iron men. He has yet to miss a single game in his NBA career."

Current Suns guard Landry Shamet (originally picked at No. 26) took a slight dip to No. 28 in the redraft.

The top three players chosen before Ayton/Bridges were Luka Doncic, Trae Young and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

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