The Philadelphia 76ers took Washington guard Markelle Fultz as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft on Thursday night, widely confirming most mock draft predictions for the top selections at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The 19-year-old, 6-foot-5 star was one of a record-setting 16 freshmen selected in the first 30 picks, which only included two seniors.
“Coming in, I want to win Rookie of the Year,” Fultz said earlier this year. “I got a pretty high goal for myself: I want to be the M.V.P. I set my goals high because I want to put in a lot of work to achieve them.”
The Sixers acquired Fultz earlier this week in a trade with the Boston Celtics to move up two spots from No. 3. In his lone season at Washington, the guard averaged 23.2 points, 5.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds in 25 games for the Huskies, who finished the season with a dreadful 9-22 record and 13 straight losses. Fultz also shot 41.3 percent from three-point range and 64.9 percent from the free-throw line.
Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!
A week of sports news in your in-box.
We find the sports news you need to know, so you don't have to.
Only Kevin Durant (Texas, 2006-07) and Michael Beasley (Kansas State, 2007-08) averaged more points as a freshman over the past 10 seasons.
When asked on Thursday what the greatest misconception about him is, Fultz stated it was that he’s “not a winner.”
“I get tired of hearing that,” he said. “Anybody that knows me knows how competitive I am. Look at my résumé through high school. I’ve been winning my whole life.”
According to the New York Times’ Benjamin Hoffman and Marc Tracy, Fultz is an “intriguing” player to join Philadelphia’s core offense, which includes Joel Embiid, Dario Saric and Australian forward Ben Simmons, whom the Sixers took as the No. 1 overall pick in 2016. Embiid was the 76ers’ third overall pick in 2014.
The Los Angeles Lakers, meanwhile, selected hometown star Lonzo Ball as the second overall pick on Thursday.
The 6-foot-6 UCLA freshman point guard shot 41.2 percent from three-point range. In his lone campaign with the Bruins, Ball set a single-season record with 274 assists. In exchange for him, the Lakers traded D’Angelo Russell (the No. 2 pick just two years ago) to the Brooklyn Nets.
Hoffman claims that “Ball’s ability to create opportunities for teammates should immediately make Julius Randle and Brandon Ingram better players.”
Tracy, for his part, believes the youngster — who is known for his rapping skills and whose father LaVar Ball is a former college basketball and retired professional football player — could be the most raved-about draft pick of 2017. Tracy says Ball could reach levels akin to Kyrie Irving, LeBron James or Allen Iverson.
The Celtics, who were expected by some mock drafts to take Kansas forward Josh Jackson, ended up selecting 19-year-old, 6-foot-8 Duke small forward Jayson Tatum as the No. 3 pick. The Phoenix Suns chose 20-year-old Jackson as the fourth overall pick. Another Duke player, sophomore shooting guard Luke Kennard, went to the Detroit Piston as the 12th overall pick.
As far as major trades go, the Bulls sent three-time All-Star guard Jimmy Butler and their No. 16 overall pick — Creighton center Justin Patton — to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and their No. 7 pick, Arizona’s 7-foot freshman power forward from Finland, Lauri Markkanen. Butler — who averaged 23.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.9 steals a game last season — will now be reunited with former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau.
The Sacramento Kings, meanwhile, picked Kentucky point guard De’Aaron Fox as the fifth overall selection. Sacramento then turned No. 10 overall pick, Gonzaga swingman Zach Collins, into UNC Forward Justin Jackson (No. 15 overall pick) and Duke’s 6-foot-11 freshman center Harry Giles via a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers that has not yet been formally announced. Giles declared for the draft earlier this year despite suffering severe injuries to both his knees.
Here are the full results of the 2017 NBA Draft: (30 picks in each of the two rounds)
NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 22: Markelle Fultz walks on stage with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being drafted first overall by the Philadelphia 76ers during the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 22, 2017 in New York City.
With their big three finally back in action Wednesday, the Philadelphia 76ers suffered another setback…
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tny--EWynOQ Nike paid tribute to Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal with a 10-meter-tall animated display…
https://youtu.be/dtJoJz9hC48 Tennis legend Rafael Nadal bid a heartfelt goodbye to his devoted Spanish fans as he brought…
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DQ9Rxhnuer4 U.S. Olympic fencer Eli Dershwitz shed light on the critical skills necessary in fencing…
Two offensive linemen for the Chicago Bears returned to practice, a massive step in the…
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/s2g9t_33Myw President-elect Donald Trump received a warm welcome from Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Jon…