HE’D GIVE IT A TRI
Fultz: ‘Amazing’ to join Knicks
Fultz, projected to be No. 1 NBA draft pick, is on hand to watch Knicks and says he could play in triangle
MARKELLE Fultz, the projected first overall pick, showed up at the Garden on Sunday so he could witness the Knicks and their triangle in person. His impression? “I think I could play in any system,” Fultz said. “I’m very versatile so it was cool to see that. It’s a lot of openings and stuff like that so that’s why I came to see that in person.” New York would have to get really lucky in the lottery to draft Fultz, the 18-year-old point guard from the University of Washington. The Knicks (3051) will most likely end up with the sixthworst record in the league, giving them a 6.3% chance of landing the first overall pick.
Most scouts have Fultz and UCLA’s Lonzo Ball going 1 and 2 in the draft.
“It would be amazing (to be drafted by the Knicks). It’s close to home,” said Fultz, who grew up near Washington D.C. “My family can come out and this is the greatest place to play really in New York, big stadium, a lot of good fans.”
“The arena is cool. It was nice, the inside is nice, this is a legendary place so it was good to come here and see it,” he added.
Fultz saw the very rough sketch of the Knicks with Carmelo Anthony (rest), Derrick Rose (knee), Kristaps Porzingis (back) and Joakim Noah (drug suspension) all inactive for Sunday’s 110-97 loss to the Raptors. The defeat assured New York will have a worse record than last season with one game remaining Wednesday against the Sixers. After Sunday’s game, owner James Dolan was spotted leaving team president Phil Jackson’s office and almost walked into the path of the media before being held back by Garden chief communications officer Barry Watkins.
With Rose likely leaving in free agency, the Knicks will be in the market for a point guard this offseason and the draft is loaded with them. Fultz, who averaged 23.2 points during his freshman year at Washington, is considered the best prospect but didn’t play in the NCAA tournament and hasn’t received the same exposure as Ball.
Fultz said Sunday it’d “be cool” to play with Porzingis. Asked about the potential of working with Jackson, Fultz responded, “He’s a great coach, really. He knows what he’s doing. Obviously he has a couple rings. So that’s pretty much all I know.”
New York was the latest stop for Fultz in his NBA tour. He also attended games in Philadelphia and Washington. While an alluring, if only remotely possible, prospect for the Knicks’ future was in the Garden on Sunday, one from their forgettable past was also seated courtside.
Stephon Marbury returned nine years after his messy divorce from the Knicks and was greeted with a video tribute on the Jumbotron. He declared that next season in China will be his last before beginning a coaching career in that country. He also remains a believer in Jackson despite the 79-166 record under his watch. “It can change, it’s just going to take some commitment and some time,” Marbury said. “It’s the culture really. You got to continue to change the culture. When you get a guy like Phil Jackson, you expect the culture to change right away and things to change right away. But ultimately it takes a lot of time. But with him as the leader, him being the person that’s making the decision I think they’re in a great space in having somebody like that.”