By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
We are less than a week away from the 2017 NBA Draft and for the majority of the time leading up to next week's draft, it's been widely considered that Markelle Fultz will go to the Celtics at number one. Not so fast. According to The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski, Philadelphia is in serious talks with Boston to acquire the top pick in this year's draft.
The Philadelphia 76ers are engaged in advanced talks to acquire the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft from the Boston Celtics to draft Washington point guard Markelle Fultz, league sources told The Vertical.
In the proposed deal, Boston would acquire Philadelphia’s No. 3 overall pick in 2017 in a package that includes a future first from the 76ers, sources said. Philadelphia’s 2018 unprotected first-round pick that was acquired from the Lakers has been part of the discussions, sources said.
The Sixers are one of the only teams that could make this happen as they own their own pick in 2018, the Lakers unprotected 2018 first rounder, their own 2019 pick and the Kings 2019 first rounder, which is also unprotected. So, if they part ways with one of those, they are still in a good position moving forward.
Friday evening on ESPN, NBA beat writer Zach Lowe clarified the potential deal, which would include just one future first rounder and indicated the trade is indeed close to happening.
.@ZachLowe_NBA said on SportsCenter about trade: "terms are essentially agreed on..this is really likely to happen." BOS gets one future 1.
— Andrew Porter (@And_Porter) June 16, 2017
.@ZachLowe_NBA said on SportsCenter about trade: "terms are essentially agreed on..this is really likely to happen." BOS gets one future 1.
— Andrew Porter (@And_Porter) June 16, 2017
Fultz was supposed to be in Boston for a meeting on Saturday, but Wojnarowski reports that he could be headed to Philadelphia instead. The 6-foot-4 guard out of Washington averaged 23.2 points, 5.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game, shooting 47.6 percent from the floor and 41.3 percent from beyond the arc.
The Sixers may have some competition though. Apparently Josh Jackson's workout with the Lakers didn't go well and Magic Johnson is very intriguied by Markelle Fultz and LA could potentially put together an offer for Boston's No. 1 selection as well.
Multiple sources have told me that Magic "is in love" with Fultz. May try to move up to #1, possibly with a Julius Randle + #2 pick offer.
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 16, 2017
The Lakers offer still may not be enough to outdo the Sixers, but things are bound to get interesting in the coming days as the draft nears.
