2017 NBA Draft Order: Team-by-Team Selection List for Rounds 1-2

The 2017 NBA Finals are over. Now it's time to see how teams want to build for the future. The Philadelphia 76ers have apparently decided that trading up for the No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft is their best course of action.

Seeing as how the 76ers have spent the last couple of years looking to add an exclamation point to their rebuilding project, it's hard to argue with the decision. We won't know who that exclamation point is until Thursday, but the general consensus is that Washington's Markelle Fultz will be the No. 1 pick.

If Philadelphia feels like its pick is the missing piece to the puzzle, then the team has done what it needs to do.

"We felt like the move from three to one was worth the cost of a first-round pick in the future," 76ers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo said, per Associated Press' Tim Reynolds (h/t ABC News).

Aside from the trade, the entire draft is clouded.

We don't know for sure who the 76ers will select with their pick, and we don't know how the draft will unfold. What we do know is the current selection order, which we'll examine here.

2017 NBA Draft Order

Round 1 

1. Philadelphia 76ers (from Celtics via Nets)  

2. Los Angeles Lakers  

3. Boston Celtics (from 76ers via Kings)  

4. Phoenix Suns  

5. Sacramento Kings (from 76ers)  

6. Orlando Magic  

7. Minnesota Timberwolves  

8. New York Knicks  

9. Dallas Mavericks  

10. Sacramento Kings (from Pelicans)  

11. Charlotte Hornets  

12. Detroit Pistons  

13. Denver Nuggets  

14. Miami Heat  

15. Portland Trail Blazers  

16. Chicago Bulls  

17. Milwaukee Bucks  

18. Indiana Pacers  

19. Atlanta Hawks  

20. Portland Trail Blazers (from Grizzlies)  

21. Oklahoma City Thunder  

22. Brooklyn Nets (from Wizards)  

23. Toronto Raptors (from Clippers)  

24. Utah Jazz  

25. Orlando Magic (from Raptors)  

26. Portland Trail Blazers (from Cavaliers)  

27. L.A. Lakers (from Nets) 

28. L.A. Lakers (from Rockets)  

29. San Antonio Spurs  

30. Utah Jazz (from Warriors)  

Round 2

31. Atlanta Hawks (from Nets)  

32. Phoenix Suns  

33. Orlando Magic (from Lakers)  

34. Sacramento Kings (from 76ers via Pelicans)  

35. Orlando Magic  

36. Philadelphia 76ers (from Knicks via Jazz and Raptors)  

37. Boston Celtics (from Wolves via Suns)  

38. Chicago Bulls (from Kings via Cavaliers)  

39. Philadelphia 76ers (from Mavericks)  

40. New Orleans Pelicans  

41. Charlotte Hornets  

42. Utah Jazz (from Pistons)  

43. Houston Rockets (from Nuggets)  

44. New York Knicks (from Bulls)  

45. Houston Rockets (from Trail Blazers)  

46. Philadelphia 76ers (from Heat via Hawks)  

47. Indiana Pacers  

48. Milwaukee Bucks  

49. Denver Nuggets (from Grizzlies via Thunder)  

50. Philadelphia 76ers (from Hawks)  

51. Denver Nuggets (from Thunder)  

52. Washington Wizards  

53. Boston Celtics (from Cavaliers)  

54. Phoenix Suns (from Raptors  

55. Utah Jazz  

56. Boston Celtics (from Clippers)  

57. Brooklyn Nets (from Celtics)  

58. New York Knicks (from Rockets)  

59. San Antonio Spurs  

60. Atlanta Hawks (from Warriors via 76ers and Jazz)

Why Fultz?

We're assuming that Fultz is going to be Philadelphia's selection now that the team has traded up. Some fans may be wondering, though, why Fultz is a player worth trading up to acquire.

For Philadelphia, the rationale is that Fultz is the type of player who can run an offense, complement his teammates and dominate attention. Philly has talented young players like Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor. What the 76ers don't have is a guy that opposing teams have to fear.

Kyle Wagner of FiveThirtyEight recently explained why Fultz demands so much focus:

"Not just any player commands the sort of defensive attention Fultz saw — even when he is by far the best player on his team. And what makes Fultz special is how good he is shooting off the dribble in traffic. On all pull-up jumpers, he scored 102 points per 100 plays, which is already very good. But when he was working out of the pick and roll, that number shot up to 118 points per 100 plays, as Fultz took advantage of the little bit of daylight created by the screen to get a slightly better look or to a better spot on the floor."

Fultz can set the offensive tone, perhaps better than any other prospect in this draft, which is precisely why he makes sense for the Sixers. The foundation for a good, young team is set, and Fultz is the type of player who can take the franchise to the next level.

How Did Philly Get Here?

The 76ers now own the top pick in the draft, but as of a few days ago, they didn't. They pried the top pick away from the Boston Celtics, who got the pick from the Brooklyn Nets.

The Celtics and the 76ers swapped first-round picks, but Boston earned future compensation as part of the deal. As Matt Pepin of the Boston Globe pointed out, that future compensation could come in the 2018 or 2019 draft, depending on how things unfold next season:

Essentially, Boston's compensation will depend on the campaign put forth by the Los Angeles Lakers this year, which is interesting because the Lakers recently made a deal of their own.

According to The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski, L.A. traded away Timofey Mozgov and D'Angelo Russell to Brooklyn for Brook Lopez and a third first-round pick (No. 27 overall):

There have been some notable ups and downs in Russell's career, but the Lakers' move was meant to clear salary. They'll now have the ability to draft three young building blocks while having enough money to potentially sign some star free agents in the near future.

While the Lakers may build something down the road, L.A.'s long-term plan probably won't pay dividends this season. This is great for Boston, a franchise that continues to stockpile assets.