The NBA Draft is less than a month away and teams at the top of the lottery are preparing for big workouts with the elite prospects making the jump to the NBA. The Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly finalized a workout date with Lonzo Ball, but they’ve yet to line anything up with Markelle Fultz.
Fultz may never bother with working out for teams outside of the Boston Celtics, enjoying the luxury of being the consensus top pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. The incredibly talented guard out of Washington spoke with Jeff Goodman of ESPN and didn’t shy away from admitting that being the No. 1 pick is something he wants to achieve on draft night.
"I want to be the No. 1 pick really bad. It's been a dream of mine since I was a little kid, and I feel like I would fit well in Boston," Fultz told ESPN.
Markelle also revealed that he has a growing relationship with Isaiah Thomas, who also played at the University of Washington. The two have stayed in contact since they met during one of Fultz’s recruiting visits, and Markelle believes they’d be a good fit together, via ESPN:
"We can both play on or off the ball," Fultz said. "We can both score and also pass. I think we'd be great together. When we've talked since the lottery, we haven't really talked about basketball much. He's been through a lot lately."
Fultz is aware that he is somewhat of an unknown heading into the draft because he played for a Washington team that won just nine games this past season.
"I'm a versatile point guard who is unselfish and can score at all three levels," he said. "I can rebound, block shots, push the ball, basically anything you need from a guard. Off the court, I'm humble."
There’s little reason to believe Fultz will end up anywhere but Boston - barring any draft day trades, of course - and that’s been assumed since the draft order was finalized.
That Markelle sounds very into the idea of not only being a Celtic, but having the honor of going first in a draft class stacked with lottery guards, essentially seals the deal.