Fultz likely headed to Philly after 76ers acquire No. 1 pick
Published 1:30 am Monday, June 19, 2017
Associated Press
BOSTON — The Boston Celtics have traded the No. 1 pick in this week’s NBA draft to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Boston gets the Sixers’ pick, No. 3 overall, and another first-rounder in either 2018 or 2019. The teams agreed to the deal over the weekend, hours after expected top pick Markelle Fultz worked out for the Sixers.
The trade was first reported by TheVertical.com.
Philadelphia will select first for the second straight year. In 2016, the Sixers picked forward Ben Simmons, who didn’t play at all during the season after breaking a bone in his foot.
“We are very pleased with the outcome of this trade, which puts us in the enviable position of selecting first overall in consecutive draft years,” 76ers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo said. “History suggests that No. 1 has the greatest odds of producing franchise-level talent and we are confident that this year’s draft class has that very potential.
The Celtics could be gearing up for more moves. After finishing with the No. 1 seed in the East this season, they are trying to package some of their picks for an established star who could help them close the gap on NBA finalists Cleveland and Golden State.
If the Celtics holds onto their picks, they would have seven first-rounders in the next three years.
Meanwhile, the 76ers have a chance to add a point guard to the roster of big men they’ve assembled through their years. Fultz would join Jahlil Okafor, Joel Embiid and Simmons.
Fultz’s rise to stardom has been rapid. In 2014, he was playing junior-varsity basketball in high school in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
The 6-foot-4 point guard averaged 23.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.9 assists in 25 games during his lone college season at the University of Washington, excelling on a team that finished 9-22 and lost its final 13 games. Fultz led the Pac-12 in scoring and finished No. 6 among all NCAA Division I players, and was the top freshman scorer in the country.
Philadelphia went 28-54 this past season after winning 19, 18 and 10 games, respectively, in the previous three seasons.
Barring any other trades before Thursday, the first four spots in this year’s draft order would mirror the first four from last year: Philadelphia at No. 1, the Los Angeles Lakers at No. 2, Boston at No. 3 and Phoenix at No. 4.
