With the 2017 NBA Draft less than two weeks away, the Boston Celtics continue to hold the No. 1 overall pick. It's believed that with that selection they'll take Washington Huskies guard Markelle Fultz, who many analysts believe is the best option at No. 1 pick. However, a new report is saying that Fultz has agreed to work out for a team with a slightly lower pick, the Sacramento Kings. Could this indicate some sort of trade is brewing somewhere prior to the NBA Draft?
Kings want to upgrade
According to ESPN's Nick Silva, the Sacramento Kings are desperately wanting to upgrade their point guard position.
The team would be perfectly fine drafting Kentucky Wildcats' guard De'Aaron Fox if he falls to the No. 5 spot. However, it's looking like they are weighing their options. Not many analysts foresee Markelle Fultz dropping as low as No. 5. The lowest spot it's believed the Washington guard would go is probably second, should the Celtics shock the world (and the Lakers) by drafting Lonzo Ball first.
In this year's NBA Draft, the Kings hold not just the No. 5 pick, but also the No. 10, giving them two chances to add some potentially good future talents to the roster. This is the same team that traded away DeMarcus Cousins last season to bring Buddy Hield to the team, and will probably be parting ways with free agent Rudy Gay in the near future.
Since they're in rebuild mode, it seems that Sacramento is mostly focused on finding new young talent to bring to the roster in the hopes they build a Golden State Warriors team through the draft. Easier said than done, right?
Would Celtics trade down?
It seems unlikely that the Boston Celtics would trade down at this point when they have such a valuable asset like Fultz.
Not to mention, it would be difficult to find much value from the Sacramento Kings rebuilding roster at this point. Many analysts and fans have indicated that in order for Boston to compete with Cleveland, they need to improve their roster by bringing in another top caliber star like Paul George, Jimmy Butler, Gordon Hayward, or Blake Griffin.
Is it possible the Kings would offer the Celtics a "two picks for one" sort of deal, or maybe one of this year's picks and one of next year's? That could possibly intrigue Danny Ainge and the front office enough to consider the notion. However, with the way the Celtics played when Isaiah Thomas was out of the lineup, it could make a lot more sense to go with keeping the top pick and taking Markelle Fultz.
