NEW YORK—Markelle Fultz is expected to become the number one pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft after the Philadelphia 76ers swung a deal for the top choice after watching his private workout.
The 19-year-old point guard, who played at the University of Washington last season, would become the club’s fourth top overall pick and follow 2016’s first overall pick by Philly, Australian forward Ben Simmons.
Bryan Colangelo, the 76ers president of basketball operations, played coy about the pick even after swapping the first and third picks with Boston and giving up a future number one pick to get the first choice of unclaimed talent.
“I feel that within the top 10, there are probably five or six sure-fire All-Stars. There may be one or two franchise-level players,” Colangelo said. “On Thursday night, hopefully we make a decision that results in one of those franchise-level players being here.”
Fultz averaged 23.2 points, 5.9 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals over 25 games last season for a Washington Huskies team that was 9-22.
He would join a young squad that features Simmons, who missed all of last season with a foot injury; Jahlil Okafor and 2017 NBA Rookie of the Year finalists Joel Embiid and Dario Saric. That young core of talent could provide a base to rebuild the team.
Since 2003, the 76ers have won only one playoff series and they have only one winning season since 2005. The Sixers went 28-54 last season.
“We have a core of young players that will be significantly stronger once the draft selection is made,” Colangelo said.
“We felt like we were in the right position to make a deal. We felt the value of adding the one pick now was the right thing at the expense of only losing one of four going forward.”
Croatian forward Saric was asked on Twitter about the young group melding into a championship team and replied, “It will be hard but I hope with young team we got big chance to be dominant.”
The Los Angeles Lakers have the second pick in the draft and are expected to select University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) standout Lonzo Ball.
The 19-year-old point guard had 14.6 points, 7.6 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 1.8 steals a game for the Bruins last season. No other US college player averaged 14 points with six rebounds and six assists a game as well.
Boston comes back at third overall with point guard Isiah Thomas solidly in place, making Fultz expendable and opening the door for other talented playmakers as Josh Jackson, a shooting guard who scored 16.3 points, 7.4 rebounds 3.0 assists and 1.7 steals a game for Kansas last season.
De’Aaron Fox, a point guard who scored 39 points against Ball-led UCLA in the national college tournament, is also among the top prospects.
The Phoenix Suns will select fourth, followed in order by the Sacramento Kings, Orlando Magic, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks, Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento again.
Meanwhile, Spanish center Pau Gasol will decline a $16.2 million NBA contract option for next season but plans to re-sign with the San Antonio Spurs, the San Antonio Express-News reported Tuesday.
The 36-year-old 7-footer (2.13m), who won two NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers, would become a free agent but hopes the move would help him obtain a longer-term contract.
Gasol taking a lower salary would enable the Spurs to spend more money to offer other free agents deals for next season, adding talent to a lineup that produced the second-best record in the NBA last season but was swept out of the Western Conference finals by eventual champion Golden State.
Gasol, a six-time NBA All-Star taken with the third overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft, averaged a career-low 12.4 points with 7.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocked shots over 64 games in his first campaign with the Spurs last season.
His career averages over 16 seasons are 17.9 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 1,119 games with the Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies.
Former All-Star forward David, 34, is expected to opt out of a deal that would bring him $1.6 million next season in a similar move. Lee averaged 7.3 points and 5.6 rebounds over 79 games for the Spurs last season.
