Reports: Celtics, Sixers Discussing Trade for No. 1 Pick
The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers are
The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers are
N.C. State point guard Dennis Smith Jr. held a Pro Day at his old school on Thursday and six NBA teams attended.
The Knicks attended the workout, as did Charlotte, Dallas, Detroit, Miami and Minnesota.
From there, Smith Jr. left Friday morning for Boston where he was slated to meet with Celtics GM Danny Ainge, a source told ZAGSBLOG.
Ange attended N.C. State’s walk through for their game at Boston College in January and also attended a game in Raleigh.
The Celtics own the No. 1 pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft and have been heavily linked to Washington guard Markelle Fultz.
Smith Jr. also worked out for the Lakers last week and had dinner with Phil Jackson of the Knicks but did not workout, as FanRagSports.com first reported.
His longtime trainer, Shawn Farmer, said that Smith Jr. would love the chance to play with Carmelo Anthony.
“Oh my God, he would love the chance to play with a guy like a Melo,” Farmer told FanRagSports.com. “Those guys are proven, USA (Basketball), Olympic players, I think he would mesh well. And Junior wants to learn now, too. He doesn’t just want to go in and think he knows everything. He wants to get up under those guys’ wing and learn from those guys.”
By JACOB POLACHECK
Kentucky freshmen and NBA Draft prospects De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk have both set workouts with the Philadelphia 76ers this week. The 76ers hold the No. 3 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
The Sixers confirmed that Monk has an individual workout with the team set for Thursday. Fox will work out for the Sixers this weekend, tentatively Saturday per Keith Pompey. Fox and Kansas’ Josh Jackson worked out for the Lakers on Tuesday. You can watch Fox’s interview here.
The 76ers on Thursday will also host Oregon’s Dillon Brooks and Dylan Ennis, Villanova’s Josh Hart and Darryl Reynolds, Davidson’s Jack Gibbs, and Tidjan Keita of Thetford Academy.
“One, Philadelphia right now is on the cusp of a breakthrough because they’re going to have guys healthy,” Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari told FanRag Sports. “Their guard play is good, but that’s probably an area that needs to be strengthened. And you look at Malik, I think the interest in Malik is because he can play both one and two and can score the ball. With Malik, what people have talked to me about, the teams: ‘We didn’t realize he was as good in pick-and-rolls as he is.’ I laughed and said, ‘They said the same thing about Eric Bledsoe.’ Both of those guys played with guys that were truer point guards than they were (Bledsoe with John Wall, Monk with De’Aaron Fox), even though they both play the position.”
By JAKE WEINGARTEN
Former international swingman Terrance Ferguson is expected to have a workout with the Nets on Sunday, per Mike Scotto of Basketball Insiders.
The Nets hold the Nos. 22 and 27 picks in the the June 22nd NBA draft.
The 6-foot-7 Ferguson is currently projected to go at No. 23 to the Toronto Raptors, per DraftExpress.com.
Ferguson has worked out for the Los Angeles Lakers (pick No. 28), Indiana Pacers (18), Chicago Bulls (16) and Denver Nuggets (13) and still has visits with the Charlotte Hornets (11), Miami Heat (14), Detroit Pistons (12) and Milwaukee Bucks (17) in addition to the Nets, per The Oregonian.
Ferguson averaged 4.6 points, 1.2 rebounds and 15.2 minutes while shooting 38 percent from the field and 31 percent from three-point range last season for the Adelaide 36ers in the National Basketball League in Australia.
Washington's Markelle Fultz, UCLA's Lonzo Ball and
