The NBA Draft 2017: Young Stars Find Their New Teams

The young stars of the basketball world, coming from the competitive college league (NCAA) in the United States, met their new franchises where they will play next season in the NBA during the 2017 Draft ceremony, held last Thursday in Brooklyn.

The Philadelphia 76ers, who had the first pick for the second consecutive year, took shooting guard Markelle Fultz, the most sought-after rookie of the ceremony. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers drafted the other great young figure of the moment: point guard Lonzo Ball.

(AP)

Fultz averaged 23.2 points last season at Washington, leading freshman players, and added 5.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game. He was the only player from the top division of college basketball in the United States to achieve those statistics. That's why it was obvious that this promise would be chosen first.

In addition, the Celtics took Jayson Tatum from Duke with the third pick, receiving a loud ovation from a huge contingent of Boston fans at the Barclays Center.

The streak of first-year players continued when the Phoenix Suns selected forward Josh Jackson (Kansas); the Sacramento Kings picked shooting guard De'Aaron Fox (Kentucky); and the Orlando Magic chose forward Jonathan Isaac (Florida State).

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NBA teams seem to have one eye on young prospects like Markelle Fultz and Lonzo Ball in the draft, and the other eye on finding established veterans. Current and future first picks have already changed hands this week in what looks like a chaotic combination of trade deadline, free agency, and draft.

"This shows what the NBA is like. You can be traded in the blink of an eye without knowing it," said Fultz. "It shows you how this business works, and as I said before, you have to go with the flow. I have the opportunity to play basketball and that's all I ask," said Markelle Fultz from the University of Washington, who is projected to be the number one pick in the NBA Draft 2017.

Although Fultz leads what is considered a solid group of prospects, young stars have had to share the spotlight this week with veterans who may or have changed teams. Stars and Olympic champions like Paul George and Jimmy Butler are taking center stage in trade rumors, which usually aren't as intense until February comes around.

Dwight Howard was traded and D’Angelo Russell (who just two years ago was the second pick in the draft) was traded by the Los Angeles Lakers, in a move that is presumed to have been intended to clear the starting point guard position for Ball and free up some salary cap space for the future.

The situation is expected to calm down, at least a little bit, with the first two picks. The 76ers will have the first pick for the second consecutive year and must take Fultz before Magic Johnson selects Ball for the Lakers, again in the second spot, which is exactly what UCLA point guard Ball and his father, LaVar, want.