Fultz top pick as freshman floodgates open
NEW YORK — Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball and the future of the NBA arrived Thursday night, when they led a record-setting run of one-and-dones in the NBA draft.
The Philadelphia 76ers took Fultz with the No. 1 pick and the Lakers followed by taking Ball, with the point guards from the Pac-12 Conference beginning a run of seven straight freshmen. Nine of the first 10 selections played just one season of college ball.
The draft got off to a familiar start with the same top-four picks as last year: Philadelphia, the Lakers, Boston and Phoenix.
Fultz averaged 23.2 points last season, tops among freshmen, and added 5.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game, the only Division I player to reach those stats. He walked across the stage at Barclays Center wearing orange sneakers made of basketballs.
The 76ers had the No. 1 pick for the second straight year after trading with the Boston Celtics on Monday. Now they add Fultz to a promising young core that includes rookie of the year finalists Joel Embiid and Dario Saric, plus Ben Simmons, the top pick from last year who sat out all season with a foot injury.
"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," said Fultz, who played just 25 games in college.
Ball then got the wish he and his father, LaVar, wanted all along by staying in Los Angeles, where he starred last season at UCLA. LaVar Ball had said his son would play only for the Lakers, and it was clear that would happen when Lonzo got a phone call with the Lakers on the clock.
"Tonight was supposed to be a good night. Definitely was, and now I'm just focused on playing," Lonzo Ball said.
The Celtics then took Duke's Jayson Tatum at No. 3 after moving down two spots in the trade with Philadelphia. The Suns took Josh Jackson of Kansas, the Sacramento Kings took Kentucky guard De'Aaron Fox at No. 5 and the run of freshmen continued when the Orlando Magic selected Jonathan Isaac.
The run of freshmen bettered the 2014 record of four straight first-year players to start the draft, finally ending when the New York Knicks took French guard Frank Ntilikina at No. 8.
The top 10 was rounded out with two more freshmen: Dennis Smith Jr. of North Carolina State to Dallas at No. 9, and Gonzaga's Zach Collins at No. 10 with the Kings' second pick, which was later dealt to Portland for a pair of picks. Last year's record of 14 first-round freshmen fell when Brooklyn grabbed Jarrett Allen from Texas at No. 22.