Butler to Minnesota in blockbuster
The long-anticipated reunion between Jimmy Butler and Tom
Thibodeau is on. Two people with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press the Chicago Bulls had traded three-time All-Star Butler and the 16th overall pick last night to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Zach LaVine, Kris
Dunn and the No. 7 overall pick during the NBA draft.
The Timberwolves drafted Arizona’s Lauri Markkanen with the No. 7 overall pick for the Bulls after the two teams agreed to the blockbuster deal.
The trade brings together Butler and Wolves coach and president Thibodeau, who coached the Bulls for five seasons before being fired in 2015. Butler gives Thibodeau the tough-minded scorer and hardnosed defender that he has been searching for to complement a promising young core.
The Wolves paid a big price: Besides surrendering the lottery pick, they gave up a rising star in LaVine, who is coming off of a torn ACL and Dunn, last year’s No. 5 overall pick.
Form holds at top
The Philadelphia 76ers got the player they wanted and Lonzo Ball the team he wanted. The 76ers selected guard
Markelle Fultz last night with the No. 1 pick after trading up earlier in the week to grab the high-scoring freshman guard from Washington.
The Los Angeles Lakers followed by taking Ball as the draft started with a pair of freshman point guards from the Pac-12 Conference.
Fultz averaged 23.2 points last season, tops among freshmen, and added 5.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game, the only Division 1 player to reach those stats. He walked across the stage at Barclays Center wearing red sneakers made of basketballs.
“In high school I told my trainer Keith I wanted to be the No. 1 player in the country and the No. 1 draft pick, so it was a goal I set out there, and that’s what I was striving for,” Fultz said.
Big Blue night
Kentucky won the lottery. Three Wildcats selected were in the top 14 picks.
Bam Adebayo was the last lottery pick; he went 14th to Miami, joining De’Aaron Fox and Malik
Monk in the NBA. Duke had two players in the top 14, and nobody else placed more than one.
Twelve of the first 14 picks, including Adebayo, were one-and-doners.
That’s a trend that could slow down after this year.
The NCAA has never really liked it, and earlier this month, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the system as it’s currently constructed — where players can enter the draft after a year of college — is “not working for anyone.”
Kings trade back
The Sacramento Kings took Fox with the fifth overall pick and then traded their second lottery pick for two more firstround selections.
“I know it’s going to be tough to change a team, but for me, I wanted to come in and be able to affect the game right away,” Fox said. “A lot of people say I could be a franchise-changer, and that’s what I really want to be.” Kings general manager Vlade
Divac then moved down from the No. 10 spot in a deal with Portland for the 15th and 20th selections. Sacramento took North Carolina forward Justin Jackson with the 15th pick and Duke big man Harry Giles at No. 20.
This marked the fourth time since 2010 that the Kings came out of the draft with a first-round player from Kentucky.
Suns snatch Jackson
The Phoenix Suns selected small forward Josh Jackson of Kansas with the fourth overall pick.
The 6-foot-8, 207-pound forward averaged 16.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game in his lone season with the Jayhawks. The 20-year-old Jackson was the Big 12 freshman of the year and an all-Big 12 first-team selection.