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Ayton fell to 8th! US media reorders the 18th draft lottery: Doncic No. 2 Brunson soars to 3rd

11:52pm, 20 September 2025【Basketball】

The original No. 1 pick Ayton fell to 8th! With only 10 days left before the new season training camp, US media "fansided" re-ranked the 2018 draft lottery show for the new season, with Doncic ranked second and Brunson soaring to third place in one go.

Fifth place: Jaren Jackson Jr. (formerly No. 4 pick)

In this super draft year in 2018, Jaren Jackson Jr. Jr. played a convincing performance and grew into the highly anticipated inside core of the Grizzlies. He is also the most beautiful defender in the current service data, and has been selected into the All-Star twice.

Even so, Jaren Jackson's ranking has dropped by one, on the one hand because he has too many talents in the 18th class, and on the other hand, Jaren Jackson's still has obvious shortcomings.

As a DPOY defender, Jaren Jackson Jr.'s foul problem is too serious, and his rebounding ability is far from meeting expectations, so the offense and defense details need to be further improved.

No. 4: Trae Young (formerly No. 5 pick)

Tree Young, as the original No. 5 pick, surpassed Jalen Jackson Jr. in this selection and won a higher ranking, thanks to his higher star rank.

Compared with Jalen Jackson Jr. who plays the second in command of the Grizzlies, Trae Young has been the absolute core of the Hawks since entering the league. He is not only a stable All-Star, but also one of the best large-scale shooters in active service.

However, Trae Young has poor performance in leading the team in the past few seasons. Fortunately, the Hawks have completed a comprehensive upgrade in the offseason. The new season is a good opportunity for Trae Young to further improve his positioning.

Third place: Brunson (formerly No. 33 pick)

Brunson is one of the most exciting players in the 18th class. From an overlooked second-round pick to growing into the best key goal scorer in active service, Brunson has made great progress almost every season.

Especially after joining the Knicks in the past three seasons, Brunson has gradually grown into one of the best stars in the current service, being selected into the All-A-League twice in the past three years, and averaging 26.4 points per game.

More importantly, Brunson delivered a better performance in the playoffs, with a per game soaring to 29.9 points, leading the Knicks to return to the Eastern Conference Finals after 25 years. Although he failed to go further, Brunson deserves to be in the top three positions in both his personal performance and his team record.

Second place: Doncic

Doncic rose from the original Tanhua to the second place, but failed to get the top spot because Alexander temporarily occupied this position.

In terms of star level, Doncic should be the best candidate at the top, and he has occupied this position for a long time, but last season Doncic just experienced being forced to switch teams and being eliminated in the first round, and his body size issue has been widely criticized, so he temporarily ranked second.

With the completion of slimming during the offseason, the Lakers also positioned it as the absolute core. I believe Doncic will soon get back to the top position in the future.

No. 1: Alexander

As a typical late-achieving star, Alexander spent a perfect year last season. Not only did he defeat Jokic, the first player in active combat, to win the MVP, but he also led the Thunder to win the first championship in team history and won the MVP.

However, there is huge controversy in Alexander's personal style of play, and his over-reliance on the style of yelling has caused him to suffer a lot of criticism.

This means that if Alexander cannot lead the Thunder to achieve good results for a long time, the top position is likely to be taken away by Doncic in the future.

The rest are ranked as follows (the original pick in brackets)

6-10: Mikal Bridges (10), Michael Porter Jr. (14), Aiton (No. 1), Diwen Qinzow (17) and Sexton (8);

11-14: Anthony Simmons (24), Miles Bridges (12), Mitchell Robinson (36) and Wendel Carter Jr. (7).