ASU Basketball: Who will be the next Sun Devil drafted?

With the 2018 NBA Draft Thursday night, who will be the next ASU basketball player to be selected in the NBA Draft?

The 2018 NBA Draft gets underway Thursday night as the Pac-12 will likely have a player selected No. 1 overall for the second straight year with Arizona’s Deandre Ayton expected to be drafted by the Phoenix Suns.

Arizona State’s senior class of Tra Holder, Shannon Evans II and Kodi Justice is not expected to have their named called during the draft but should have spots on an NBA Summer League roster.

It’s been five years since a Sun Devils was drafted in which Carrick Felix was drafted in the second round (33rd overall) by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The last Arizona State player drafted in the first round was this year’s likely NBA MVP James Harden who was selected third overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2009.

So who could be the next Sun Devil to hear their name called at the NBA Draft?

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The frontrunner would have to be Remy Martin, who’s coming off a solid freshman season averaging 9.6 points per game, 3.3 assists per game and 3.0 rebounds per game en route to winning Pac-12 Co-Sixth Man of the Year.

Martin will be the starting point guard for Arizona State and should see a big uptick in his stats. He was an energizer bunny off the bench last season providing ASU with speed and athleticism on both ends of the court.

His potential was really shown during Arizona State’s upset win versus Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse where he dropped a career-high 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting with five steals.

Behind Martin, Kimani Lawrence and Romello White could be second-round draft picks if they continue to develop. Lawrence began last season with an injury but had some bright spots in a reserve role.

White should thrive in his natural position as a power forward after having to play as the team’s main big man. The added depth should ease the pressure after averaging 10.5 PPG and 7.1 RPG last season.

Arizona State does have some exciting recruits on the horizon as four 4-star commits will join the program in the program’s highest-rated recruiting class ever.

Among those joining the Sun Devils next season is guards Luguentz Dort and Elias Valtonen, forward Taeshon Cherry and 7-1 center Uros Plavsic.

Dort and Cherry are both rated top-40 nationally according to 247 Sports.

Arizona State has also received commitments from Jaelen House, a four-star commit in the 2019 class, and Kyree Walker, a five-star commit in the 2020 class.

Next: ASU Basketball: End of ‘Guard U’ a chance to grow

Hurley has this program on the rise and it’s only a matter of time Arizona State is back having players selected in the NBA Draft.

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