BUTLER BOMBSHELL
BULLS DEAL STAR TO T'WOLVES
The top of the NBA draft went as expected Thursday as one-and-done freshmen filled the top seven slots, including Washington’s Markelle Fultz and UCLA’s Lonzo Ball, who went Nos. 1 and 2.
But there still was a league shakeup of seismic proportions in one of a bevy of trades, this one sending three-time Chicago All-Star Jimmy Butler to Minnesota, where he will reunite with his former Bulls coach, Tom Thibodeau.
“Minnesota did what it had to do and got what they needed, a high energy veteran,” one league executive said.
Despite all the talent, despite 16 freshmen taken in the first round, the deal involving Butler probably was the night’s biggest story.
While Knicks fans awaited news of a potential Kristaps Porzingis trade, word of the Butler deal filtered through the crowd. The Timberwolves sent guards Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn (the No. 5 pick last year), and a swap of picks Thursday. So the Bulls got the Wolves’ pick at No. 7, mobile Arizona 7-foot shooting power forward Lauri Markkanen. Minnesota got Chicago’s 16th pick, Creighton center Justin Patton.
“Chicago gets three young players. I like Dunn and I like LaVine when healthy,” the exec said of LaVine, who tore his ACL in February. “With [Dwyane] Wade [LaVine] doesn’t have to hurry back.
“But Minnesota gets a really good veteran for a young team. He’ll be a real presence in their locker room.”
The exec noted one drawback for the T’wolves: “They’re still in the West.”
At the very top of the draft, decisions made during the workouts made Fultz and Ball look like Einsteins.
Fultz dreamed of being the No. 1 choice. Last Saturday, after a trade shook up the top of the draft order, Fultz rushed to work out for the team holding the first pick, the 76ers, who had traded up from No. 3.
Ball dreamed of playing in his hometown of Los Angeles, so he worked out for only one team, the Lakers.
“That morning I woke up, I didn’t know where I was going. I didn’t know where I was working out,” said Fultz, the highestscoring freshman in Washington history with 579 points. “My trainer … just told me, ‘We’ve got to go to Philly.’
“I just got in the car and went to sleep the whole way up. It’s not that far, so we drove down there, worked out. After I worked out, I felt confident.”
Ball, who donned a pair of Lakers “Big Baller” shoes from the company he founded with his father, LaVar, seemed as excited about the prospect of learning from Lakers executive Magic Johnson as he was to be staying home.
“I don’t think there’s [just] one thing you can learn from him. Just everything he’s going to teach me is going to be useful. Obviously he’s the best point guard to ever play, so I’m looking to go in there and just learn from day one,” said Ball, whose father predicted on TV the Lakers would make the playoffs.
The other trades included Denver sending the 13th pick, Donovan Mitchell of Louisville (whose dad works for the Mets), to Utah for Syracuse forward Tyler Lydon (24th pick), and forward Trey Lyles. Sacramento sent the 10th pick, Gonzaga center Zach Collins, to Portland for North Carolina forward Justin Jackson, picked 15th, and No. 20 (Duke center Harry Giles, taken despite a history of knee woes).
It was Frank Ntilikina, the 18-year-old who was expecting to return to Europe to play the championship game for his French team, who ended the run of freshmen when he was selected No. 8 by the Knicks.
After Fultz and Ball, the freshman parade continued with Duke forward Jayson Tatum to Boston at No. 3, Kansas wing Josh Jackson to Phoenix fourth, Kentucky point guard De’Aaron Fox to Sacramento No. 5, Florida State power forward Jonathan Isaac to Orlando sixth then Markkanen.
Kentucky guard Malik Monk, who had been linked to the Knicks, fell to the Hornets at No. 11
Only two seniors went in the first round: San Antonio took Colorado point guard Derrick White at No. 29 and the Jazz, picking for the Lakers at 30 from another deal, took Villanova guard Josh Hart.