Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Draft Lottery Notes: Sixers, Suns, Ntilikina, Nuggets

June 19th 2017 at 9:26pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Sixers are still actively seeking another first-round pick in Thursday’s draft despite acquiring the top overall pick from the Celtics on Monday, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Philadelphia will take Washington point guard Markelle Fultz at the top of the draft but still have four second-rounders in this draft to dangle, as well as numerous other future picks. The Sixers could trade a player on their current roster in a package with some of those second-rounders or future picks to get another player in the first round, Pompey adds. “I think whether we were selecting at No. 1 or staying at 3, there’s been some talk about our interest in acquiring yet another pick,” President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo told Pompey and other media members. “I’m not going to give up those efforts because we moved up to No. 1.”

In other notable developments involving this year’s lottery:

  • Suns GM Ryan McDonough doesn’t anticipate moving the No. 4 pick in the draft, as he told Scott Bordow of the Arizona Republic and other reporters on Monday. The Suns have been rumored to part of three-way deals involving Paul George and Jimmy Butler, and they are also reportedly enamored with UCLA point guard Lonzo Ball, who is expected to be drafted No. 2 overall by the Lakers. However, McDonough says he’s comfortable with staying put and taking whatever player falls to that spot. “We have a good grouping of players regardless of who goes one, two or three we really like,” McDonough told Bordow. “I think at this point there’s one player we feel won’t be there for sure at No. 4 (Fultz) and we’re prepared for every other scenario.”
  • The Mavs have hired the coach of potential lottery pick Frank Ntilikina, Vincent Collet, to run their Orlando Summer League team, ESPN’s Chad Ford tweets. Collet is Ntilikina’s coach for SIG Strasbourg in France. The coaching hire means that Dallas, which has the No. 9 pick in the draft, is “all in” on Ntilikina, Ford adds. Ntilikina wants to go to Dallas but the Knicks, who have the No. 8 pick, are also interested in the point guard, Ford reports in a separate tweet. Despite the Mavs’ efforts, the Knicks have shown the most interest in the French point guard, according to the New York Daily News’ Stefan Bondy, having sent scout Makhtar Ndiaye to watch him extensively.
  • Danilo Gallinari‘s foray into free agency will have little to no impact on the Nuggets’ lottery selection, according to Nick Kosmider of the Denver Post: President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly told Kosmider and other reporters that the club isn’t targeting a specific need with the No. 13 overall pick. “Whoever we draft, whether it be No. 13 or we move up or we move down, it would be hard for them to have a significant role next season,” Connelly said.
Retweet 6 Share 0 Send via email0
View Comments (30)