Adrian Fedkiw
It’s officially official, the blockbuster deal is complete!
The Philadelphia 76ers acquired the No. 1 pick in Thursday night’s NBA Draft from the Boston Celtics on Monday in exchange for the third selection and a protected future first-rounder that can never be the top pick in the draft. Boston will receive the 2018 Los Angeles Lakers’ selection the Sixers currently own if they pick between 2-5 and if that does not convey, they will receive the higher of Philadelphia’s two draft picks in 2019 — the Sacramento Kings pick or its own selection — unless one of those is No. 1 overall. If that occurs, the Celtics will receive the latter of the two selections.
Sixers vice president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo gave his thoughts on the trade through a press release.
We are very pleased with the outcome of this trade, which puts us in the enviable position of selecting first overall in consecutive draft years. History suggests that No. 1 has the greatest odds of producing franchise-level talent and we are confident that this year’s draft class has that very potential. Thursday night will see us take another significant step toward building a successful and sustainable basketball program.
Philadelphia is expected to select 19-year-old Washington guard Markelle Fultz, who averaged 23.2 points, 5.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game during his lone season at Washington. He worked out for the team on Saturday night.
.@MarkelleF pre-draft workout at the Complex. https://t.co/dA1UHASuc9
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) June 18, 2017
The Sixers also had the No. 1 overall selection last year and used it on Ben Simmons, who missed the entire season with a foot injury. A 19-year-old Fultz, 20-year-old Simmons and a 23-year-old Joel Embiid, that’s a scary trio!
As long as everyone stays healthy of course.
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