Projecting Where Markelle Fultz Will Be Selected After 2017 NBA Draft Lottery

The Boston Celtics secured the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA draft during Tuesday night's lottery, which means they've earned the right to select Washington Huskies combo-guard Markelle Fultz when June 22 rolls around. 

Pick	Team
1	Boston Celtics
2	Los Angeles Lakers
3	Philadelphia 76ers (via Kings pick swap)
4	Phoenix Suns
5	Sacramento Kings (via Sixers pick swap)
6	Orlando Magic
7	Minnesota Timberwolves
8	New York Knicks
9	Dallas Mavericks
10	Sacramento Kings (via New Orleans Pelicans)
11	Charlotte Hornets
12	Detroit Pistons
13	Denver Nuggets
14	Miami Heat

Long regarded as the top player in this year's class, Fultz has the on-and-off-ball skills necessary to thrive at the next level as a key member of the Celtics' backcourt should they keep the pick. 

During his lone season with the Huskies, Fultz averaged a whopping 23.2 points, 5.9 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals while shooting 47.6 percent from the field and 41.3 percent from three. 

To put those numbers in perspective, Fultz is one of 12 players since the start of the 1992-93 season who has averaged better than 20 points, five boards and five dimes over the course of an entire campaign. He's also one of just two freshmen to achieve that feat in the same span, per Sports-Reference.com. 

Based on that production, it's not hard to see why Fultz is locked in as the No. 1 playmaker in this year's draft on the big board of Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman. 

"A crafty ball-handler, Fultz effortlessly splits screens," Wasserman wrote. "And once inside the arc, he can thread the needle with advanced passes or drop-off dimes to finishers. He also uses his vision and size to find and cleanly hit shooters across the floor."

Based on those traits and his ideal frame (6'4", 195 pounds), Fultz projects as an immediate difference-maker who should be the odds-on favorite to earn No. 1 status next month.

The other players in contention for that label figure to be Kansas' Josh Jackson and Duke's Jayson Tatum because Boston is overflowing with guards in Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley and Terry Rozier, but the Celtics would be spurning conventional wisdom if they opted to pass on Fultz's sky-high ceiling. 

Ball and Jackson are certainly worthy of consideration for the top pick, but Fultz is the kind of modern NBA playmaking prototype who can operate as a foundational piece and spearhead an offense for years to come.