Sixers draft Fultz first overall, but Butler trade steals the show
The NBA draft couldn’t even start without a major trade being broken. That’s par for the course, since the last week or so has been nothing short of jaw-dropping, with big moves coming one after the other.
About five minutes before commissioner Adam Silver confirmed the University of Washington’s Markelle Fultz was going No. 1 to the Philadelphia 76ers, Marc Stein of ESPN reported that Chicago Bulls superstar Jimmy Butler, one of the five best two-way players in the world, was heading to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
By the time Fultz had shaken Silver’s hand, walked off of the stage and toward one of the dozen or so interviews the firstrounders are obligated to do on draft night, the details had leaked out.
Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns and the remaining Wolves were getting the sublime Butler and the No. 16 pick in exchange for Kris Dunn, a talented point guard selected No. 5 last season; Zach Lavine, the league’s best dunker, who was picked 13th in 2014 and enjoyed a breakout year last season before tearing his ACL; and the seventh pick, used to select big man Lauri Markkanen.
Wolves head coach Tom Thibodeau helped make Butler a superstar when they were together in Chicago and he tried to reunite last year in a deal also involving Dunn, but it didn’t go through. Now it has, and the Wolves, stuck in a playoff drought stretching over a decade, appear to be on the way back to relevance.
The Bulls rarely make deals, but now have commenced with a rebuild, complicated by the presence of Dwyane Wade and possibly Rajon Rondo.
Fultz and UCLA’s Lonzo Ball, drafted second overall, are supposed to revive struggling marquee franchises in Philadelphia and the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Boston Celtics, with yet another bonus pick from the Kevin Garnett-Paul Pierce robbery, took Duke’s Jayson Tatum, an excellent scorer. Whether they keep him or include him in a deal for Paul George later remains to be seen.
RAPTORS GO FOR POTENTIAL
The Toronto Raptors were talking to many teams about a deal, one involving centre Jonas Valanciunas, but at press time, didn’t have a deal. They selected OG Anunoby at No. 23.
An ACL injury suffered while playing for Indiana ended the swingman’s NCAA season early, and it could be months until he plays again, but his potential was too intriguing to pass up.
Anunoby recently met with the Raptors — one of only six teams he visited with — and he had told Postmedia News on Wednesday that it went well and there was a mutual fit.
“I liked them a lot. It’s a really good organization. It’s a good team,” Anunoby said.
What does he bring to the table? “Hard work, defence and just willing to get better,” the 19-year-old from London, England, said.
Earlier Wednesday, Anunoby told reporters he was feeling great: “No pain, doing a lot more. I think it should be October or November, back on the court.”
CANADIAN ROCKIES
The Denver Nuggets are loading up on Canadian content. Jamal Murray of Kitchener, Ont., was the seventh pick in 2016 and made the all-rookie team. The team dealt for Saskatoon-born power forward Trey Lyles on Thursday, sending the 13th pick to get Lyles and the 24th pick from the Utah Jazz.
Both Murray and Lyles have played for the Canadian national team and are considered key players for future squads, while Nuggets coach Mike Malone was an assistant coach with the program for years under Leo Rautins.
AROUND THE RIM
This marked the first time the first four picks went to the same teams in the exact order in consecutive years … Sign of the night was easily a Knicks fan’s: “Don’t trade Zingis, ya dingus.” You don’t get more on-point than that one … Ball had been asked what had been giving him nightmares leading up to the draft: “I really don’t have one. I like sleeping,” he said … With three players selected, UCLA became the first school to 100 draft picks since the modern format was adopted in 1966. North Carolina and Kentucky are both into the 90s.