NEW YORK — The Philadelphia 76ers selected guard Markelle Fultz on Thursday night with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.

The Los Angeles Lakers followed by taking Lonzo Ball as the draft started with a pair of freshmen point guards from the Pac-12 Conference.

After a busy stretch of trades around the NBA, the draft got off to a familiar start with the same top-four picks as last year: Philadelphia, the Lakers, Boston and Phoenix.

Fultz averaged 23.2 points last season at Washington, tops among freshmen, and added 5.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game, the only Division I player to reach those stats. He walked across the stage Thursday night at Barclays Center wearing red sneakers made of basketballs.

The 76ers had the No. 1 pick for the second straight year after trading with the Boston Celtics on Monday. Now they add Fultz to a promising young core that includes Rookie of the Year finalists Joel Embiid and Dario Saric, plus Ben Simmons, the top pick from last year who sat out all season with a foot injury.

Ball then got the wish he and his father, LaVar, wanted all along by staying in Los Angeles, where he starred last season at UCLA. LaVar Ball had said his son would only play for the Lakers, and it was clear that would happen when Lonzo got a phone call with the Lakers on the clock.

As Lonzo walked on stage to meet Commissioner Adam Silver and put on a purple Lakers hat, LaVar put on a gold and purple Big Baller Brand hat, the company he has started.

The Celtics then took Duke's Jayson Tatum at No. 3 after moving down two spots in the trade with Philadelphia, drawing cheers from a large contingent of their fans at Barclays Center wearing green. The run of freshmen continued when the Suns took Josh Jackson of Kansas.

Toronto Bound

The Toronto Raptors believe they landed one of the most versatile defenders in Thursday night's NBA draft when injured forward OG Anunoby fell to No. 23.

The six-foot-eight, athletic combo forward averaged 11.1 points and 5.4 rebounds in his sophomore season at Indiana, but his college career was cut short when he tore his ACL in January.

"There were a lot of teams right behind us that were salivating to get him and we were lucky he fell to us at 23," said Raptors coach Dwane Casey.

"He can guard one through five, easily. He's a P.J. Tucker clone, practically. That's something that gives us some toughness and ability to switch things defensively. His size and strength and athleticism is a huge plus for us."

Anunoby met with the Raptors in Toronto a couple of days ago, and was in Brooklyn for draft night, dressed in a smart blue plaid suit and blue bow tie.

When asked what he could bring to a Toronto team that made the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season, and is perhaps a piece or two away from an Eastern Conference championship, he said "I bring a versatile wing defender that can defend multiple positions, and on offence hit open shots, cut to the basket, and then just create havoc on defence."

Anunoby, who boasts an impressive seven-foot-two wingspan, played just 16 games this past season, and the injury added plenty of mystery around Anunoby's stock heading into the draft.

The injury prevented him from participating in any pre-draft workouts, but said his rehabilitation is "two months ahead of schedule.

"I'm starting to do a lot more on the court, I started running," Anunoby said. "I should be back full go (in) October, November."

Casey said he'll head to Los Angeles in the next couple of days to work with Raptors' director of sports science Alex McKechnie.

Anunoby gives Toronto some breathing room with forwards Serge Ibaka, P.J. Tucker and Patrick Patterson all becoming unrestricted free agents as of July 1.

The 19-year-old Anunoby — whose full first name is Ogugua — was born in London, but moved to Missouri at the age of four. His older brother Chigbo is a defensive tackle who has been signed by several NFL teams, including Cleveland and Minnesota, but hasn't yet played a regular-season game.

Anunoby confirmed that he would continue to wear his trademark short shorts next season in Toronto.

The Raptors acquired the pick in 2015 from Milwaukee, acquiring the draft rights to Norm Powell along with a future first-round pick in exchange for Greivis Vasquez. The Raptors sent their 25th pick to Orlando in February as part of the trade for Ibaka, and their second-round pick to Phoenix in February as part of the trade for Tucker.