All signs point to point guard Markelle Fultz from Washington as being the top overall pick by the Celtics in the NBA Draft. Fultz’s only workout to this point has been with Boston and most every mock draft projects Fultz to the Celtics. Fultz is the best scorer of the point guard prospects in this year’s draft and his upside is tremendous, making him the consensus top pick for most draft analysts.
Fultz will likely hear his name called when the Adam Silver announces the Celtics’ pick at the top of the draft, but while he’s the consensus top pick, there are some questions about him. Defense is his biggest on court weakness, but scouts believe he can improve that. What’s of more concern to some scouts are the intangibles.
On Seth’s Draft House, Seth Davis’ new website, Davis spoke with five NBA scouts who offered up their thoughts on most of the top prospects for the NBA Draft, including Fultz. The biggest concern that they had about the top prospect is his commitment to winning.
“I’d take him number one. His main weakness is defense, but he has some ability to play defense when there’s something at stake. He needs to be around a winning culture to get the best out of him. The most complete player in the draft. I don’t like that he cruises sometimes. He’s almost like Daryl Strawberry. Is he loafing or is he just that smooth? I don’t know that winning has ever been important to him. I’ve talked to friends who recruited him, and they said even when they watched him in open gyms or playing AAU, his team hardly ever won. That scares the crap out of me.”
Fultz’s Washington squad went 9-22 last season, and scouts questioned why his teams in AAU ball or even open gym runs didn’t win more. The questions about why the top NBA Draft prospect’s team didn’t win more isn’t exclusive to Fultz — we heard similar criticism about Ben Simmons a year ago coming out of LSU. Scouts’ jobs are to dig for any weakness, so for a prospect with the physical talents of Fultz, it’s not surprising that they’d dig for something in the intangibles department.
What works best for Fultz in this regard is that he’s likely headed to the Celtics, who just landed the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference this past season. So, for the scout concerned of him going to a winning culture, the Celtics — out of all the teams at the top of the draft — would seem to make for the best situation for Fultz.
As for Lonzo Ball, the other star point guard at the top of the draft, Davis’ scout sources were highly complimentary of him in spite of any distractions his father, LaVar, might cause.
“I couldn’t care less about the dad. This isn’t Little League. Everybody loves playing with players who get them the ball where they like it and control the pace of the game. He’s stronger than people give him credit for. I’m not really sure how he’s going to get a pull-up jumper off the dribble. The only way he can get that jumper off is with a stepback. Obviously, he’s a really good passer. What makes him so good is his mind. If he’s the best player on your team, you’re in trouble, but if he’s the second or third best, you can win big with him. He’s going to have a hard time guarding point guards, but his defensive instincts off the ball are unbelievable.”
The biggest question about Ball from the scouts is his ability to handle defending point guards, but they all seem very high on his talent translating to the NBA.
