2017 NBA Draft Lottery: 10 Ideal Selections For The First 10 Teams
The NBA Draft Lottery offers salvation for wayward teams, but will they make the right choice?
The NBA Finals are over, the Golden State Warriors once again stand on the mountaintop as champions, and now begins the long, arduous trek through the offseason.
The summer offers a few highlights for hoops fans desperate for a fix of their favorite pastime, particularly in the form of the NBA Summer League, the new Big3 League, and, if you're really dedicated, the European Basketball Championship tournament. However, the first, and most important, offseason attraction is the upcoming NBA Draft. Fans from all 30 NBA teams will cram themselves into an auditorium in Brooklyn to see the NCAA's finest called up to the big leagues.
It's impossible to overstate the importance of the NBA Draft. Bad teams go into the event hoping to find a player that can reinvigorate their franchise, while good teams simply hope to land a solid contributor to help them continue their winning ways.
This year's draft looks to be absolutely stacked, especially at point guard, where Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball, De'Aaron Fox, Dennis Smith Jr., and Frank Ntilikina could all hear their names called within the top 10. With so many promising prospects on the board, the teams at the top of the lottery stand a good chance at finding a game changing player, but will they make right decision when they're on the clock?
10. Philadelphia 76ers - Markelle Fultz
This is it. The Process finally appears to be paying off for the Philadelphia 76ers. All signs point to a healthy Joel Embiid being a legitimate once-in-a-lifetime megastar, Ben Simmons is healthy and ready to be unleashed, and now, thanks to a trade up with the Boston Celtics, they can draft their point guard of the future.
Not just any point guard, either: Markelle Fultz, the most exciting point guard prospect since Kyrie Irving.
There's nothing Fultz can't do or isn't good at. In his one season at Washington, he averaged 23.2 points, 5.9 assists, 5.7 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game. The only real knock on him is that his team was bad, but that's more an indictment on the Husky program than anything else.
Fultz has drawn comparisons to James Harden and it's easy to see why when you watch him play. He's more dynamic and his ceiling is more tantalizing than anyone else in this draft. With all the talent the Sixers possess, Fultz's star will shine brighter than ever before.