Markelle Fultz works out for Sixers amid trade talk
CAMDEN, N.J. » Life’s a breeze for Markelle Fultz these days, a series of rides and flights with only his future at stake.
Fultz only turned 19 last month, but he’s been on a basketball parade from coast to coast, preparing for a June 22 night in Brooklyn that he anticipates could begin with his name being called first at the NBA Draft.
“It’s been crazy, man,” Fultz said Saturday night after a brief workout before the Sixers’ brass. “Knowing that the draft is only a couple of days away, it’s been unbelievable. It’s been a blessing; a dream I always had. I’m just anxious to get to that day and get it over with so I know where I’m going, and I’m going to be fully invested to whatever team I’m going to.”
If you believe the reports, speculative and perhaps otherwise, of the past two nights, that team could very well be the 76ers.
A rumored trade, first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, said the Boston Celtics, who currently own the No. 1 pick in the draft, were in advanced talks with the Sixers for a swap of picks. The Sixers would give Boston the No. 3 pick, the Lakers’ unprotected 2018 first-round selection and perhaps a top pick in 2021 in exchange for this year’s top pick.
If the trade indeed goes through, the Sixers were speculated to award the No. 1 to Fultz, who played one season as the starting point guard at the University of Washington and wound up leading the PAC12 with a 23.2 points per game scoring average.
Yet Fultz missed six of the Huskies’ last eight regular season games, plus their Pac-12 tournament loss, due to ongoing soreness in his right knee.
There are still questions about that, yet you might not know it to see the way he’s been making moves on the court.
“My knee’s great, as you can see,” Fultz said. “I’m jumping pretty high and everything like that. It was just a situation where I had some stuff going on with my knee. I don’t want to address it but it was what was best for me as a player, so that’s what I did.”
Fultz was only out on the court for a short time at the Sixers’ practice facility, and undeniably missed a bevy of his three-point attempts. Probably not a surprise when you sleep through a nearly three-hour drive from his Upper Marlboro, Md. home to the court, then jog right out and start hoisting the basketball.
This, of course, after having already made other visits.
“It was about a two-day process,” Fultz said of his Philly experience. “My mom and my trainer pretty much handle everything. I just wake up and go where they tell me to go. They said we got to go to Philly, I said, ‘OK, I’m ready for it.’
“I think yesterday and the day before that they were deciding where we’re going to go next after the Laker workout and this is where we decided. It was great. I came in here, got some shots up, what I love to do every time I get a chance to do this ... put some work in. It’s almost like AAU. Driving out of town to wherever you’re going, just going to play some AAU games. Anytime I get an opportunity to do it, I’ll be excited.”
Fultz’s arrival was rather stylish, leaving his auto with a Sixers cap on his head.
“I come to Philly a lot, and I’m just showing love for the city,” Fultz said. “I’m out here, I want to show love, that’s all it was. I had a Philly hat.
“I have a lot of hats at home, so, I mean, it was just one that I picked out.”
As for what it would be like to wear Sixers’ garb for real, Fultz said, “I think it would be pretty cool. Just being with a young team, I think the upside of it would be crazy. And like I said, I’m close to home, so a lot of feelings could come out and just show love to the city. This city has great fans.”
Fultz thinks he can bring a presence on defense, a deft shooting touch and intangibles to the Sixers.
“First of all, it’s how I carry myself as a player, and as a young man, just being humble,” he said. “I think I’m just a hard worker, and I’ll do whatever it takes to help whatever team I go to, to win.”
Clearly, he knows he has to leave his options open. He is considered a sure-fire top-3 pick but not a consensus No. 1. UCLA point guard Lonzo Ball, Kansas forward Josh Jackson and Kentucky shooting guard Malik Monk, who worked out earlier in the week in Camden, are also in that top-shelf mix.
Hence, the almost predictable talk about teams possibly shuffling picks via blockbuster deals leading up to the draft.
“I really don’t pay a lot of attention to it,” Fultz said. “I’m blessed; I say my prayers every night ... I let God take care of it. ... I’m truly blessed to be in this position and whatever happens I”m looking forward to taking my talents to wherever I go.
“This was a dream I had since I was a young kid,” he added, “but like I said, it just shows how much hard work I put in and how dedicated I am to do what I do. I’ve set goals for myself and I go out there to achieve them.”
Fultz, who prepped at DeMatha Catholic and was a 2016 McDonald’s All-American, took in a Sixers game in April. Perhaps a bond with the team started to take hold then.
Joel Embiid, in a typical humorous Twitter post, tweeted a pic of him and teammate Dario Saric next to a locker stall that had a Markelle Fultz nameplate over it. The only accompanying message? “Trust the Process,” of course.
“Pretty cool,” Fultz said. “First of all with Embiid, me and him had been talking before when I was in college. He was a pretty cool guy. He was giving me tips and pointers. When I saw that I thought it was pretty cool, pretty funny. And I’m happy that the players want me to come here.”