#Danny eventually goes from having 2 arms to 4 in those three years

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 184

“Well damn.” 

Jason wrenched his gaze from the mess of red and green spattered across the room, searching for the source of the voice. His head hurt, he wanted his Dad. He wanted Bruce. He… his head hurt. His everything hurt. 

“Honestly, didn’t expect them to find another half-breed. Didn’t think there was another halfa out there…”  

He tore his gaze away from the floor- when had it gotten there- finally finding the other… person? The person giving him an empty smile through some sort of muzzle and missing an entire arm. Well, he couldn’t judge, he’d torn his nails off while digging out of his grave before… this. 

“Hey, kid, don’t sweat it, it’ll grow back,” the man apparently noticed where he was staring, shoulder twitching as he shrugged and more green pouring out. Jason couldn’t stop staring, eyes slipping from the growing pool to the rest of the chains apparently keeping the person on that side of the… room? Cage? Cell? 

“Shit, hey, kid, kid, don’t cry, uh, fuck, shh, kid don’t cry-” the person made a noise, some sort of hum or croon that caused him to relax. To his already brain-damaged confusion. “C’mere, away from the door now, shh…” 

Oh, when had he started to move? It was like he blinked and was stumbling away towards the chained person, practically tripping over a limb before the person managed to catch him. “Ope, oh you’re just a little baby-” a hand, clawed, carefully ran through his hair, tucking him against a rumbling chest that nearly made him tear up again. He wanted Bruce. 

“It’s alright kid, shh, they won’t get you,” the man rumbled, everything about him green to his rapidly closing eyes. Pale skin like a corpse, black scales like rot, hair white like snow, all stained green with blood.  “They’d have to kill me again for that.” 

[wolfpawn]

I Hate You, I Love You, Chapter 12

Chapter Summary - Danielle reacts to the article by hiding at Paul's, but she has to go home eventually, meaning she has to face Diana.Tom goes through with the fashion show with Taylor, seeing first hand how she can manipulate situations to suit her.

Previous Chapter

Rating - Mature (some chapters contain smut)

Triggers - references to Tom Hiddleston’s work with the #MeToo Movement. That chapter will be tagged accordingly.

authors Note - I have been working on this for the last 3 years, it is currently 180+ chapters long.  This will be updated daily, so long as I can get time to do so, obviously.

If you wish to be tagged, please let me know.

tags: @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog  @jessibelle-nerdy-mum @nonsensicalobsessions @damalseer @hiddlesbitch1

The article made Danielle sick to her stomach, she could not believe what that manipulative little harpy had stated. She could not bring herself to even go home, and had, for three days, stayed at Paul’s apartment. As a result, their relationship had progressed a slight bit faster than she would have elected for otherwise, but it felt better to have someone comfort her and try and show her affection than to be alone. The words repeated over and over in her head throughout the morning as she attempted to sleep, with Paul’s arm around her as she lay staring at the far wall.

“I can hear you thinking you know.” His voice was heavy with sleep.

“I…”

He pulled her in against him. “It’s all lies Danni, you know that, and I know that, nothing else matters.”

“My job…”

“The only ones who realise it is you being talked about know that it’s bullshit, so come here.” He turned her so she was lying with her head on his chest, her fingers sliding over the t-shirt he had put on getting into the bed. “Just get some rest.”

“It’s not that easy.” She whispered, but she gripped him tightly.

“I know sweetheart, I know.” He kissed her forehead and played with a few strands of her hair that had fallen out of the ponytail she had thrown it in.

Desperate to forget everything, she leant up and kissed him, trying to initiate his interest; when he responded, she seized her opportunity and put her hand down to toy with the hem of his boxers, grateful that for a few minutes at least, she would forget her woes.

Paul was called to work a few hours later; leaving Danielle with four hours alone in his home before she had to go to work. She was walking Mac Tíre outside to allow the dog relieve himself, cursing the text she received from the other paramedic she was going to be working with that evening, asking her to return the book she had borrowed on terrorist attack procedure, which unfortunately was at her home. She knew she would have to bring it with her, meaning she had to risk seeing Diana, something she had been avoiding, so after she grabbed her things from Paul’s, she packed Mac Tíre into her car and headed back to her home. She groaned when she saw not only Diana’s car, but Emma’s one also in the neighbouring driveway, she contemplated driving on and telling Graham that she forgot it, but the youngest Hiddleston had been getting something from her car, noticed Danielle and purposely stood in the road outside her mothers’ driveway, forcing Danielle to a halt.

“Are you out to kill yourself?”

“You weren’t going fast enough to kill me, and let’s face it, you are the person to call in such emergencies anyway.” Emma joked, but her face was solemn. “You haven’t been home in days.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“Yeah, I know. I saw you and your boyfriend the other day, all kisses and holding hands on the beach.” She smiled, “When are the four of us going out for a meal?”

“What?”

“Oh come on Elle, mum’s met him and she adores him, and you look so cute together, and you have been staying at his place for days, so that tells me you are sleeping together, which with you never having a boyfriend in all the time you were here means it’s serious. I want to meet him.”

“Emma, with…”

“Yeah, I saw.” There was a disgusted look on her face. “Tom rang, apparently he has some sort of ‘explanation’ but mum didn’t even listen, she went off on an absolute rant about it to him, about all your hard work, everything you sacrificed, how you were never anything but nice to him, and he allowed you to be dragged through the dirt like this, seriously, I was getting second-hand fear from her.”

“She didn’t need to do that.”

“Well, she feels like it is some bit her fault,” Emma stated sadly.

“How the fuck is any of what that cow does your mum’s fault?” Danielle snapped.

“She allowed her into the house, it’s her son she is dating.” Emma began to list.

“This isn’t her fault, it never was her fault.” Danielle shook her head.

“Well, only one person can tell her that in a way she’ll listen.” Emma smiled, opening the car door.

“My car is in the middle of the road,” Danielle argued.

“Elle, please, she feels so bad,” Emma begged.

Unable to think of Diana being upset because of her, Danielle nodded slightly, causing Emma to close the car door and for Danielle to reverse into her driveway. Emma had the gate to the back garden open, so Mac Tíre trotted in happily as you got out. “I really should get some clothes sorted.”

Emma grinned widely. “Really?”

“I did not sleep with him.”

“So what, you played monopoly all day?”

“Well, we did stuff, just not everything.” She blushed, causing Emma to snigger. “You are such a child.”

“I am not the one getting all bothered about doing things with her boyfriend.” Emma retorted, linking her arm with Danielle’s. “So, when am I meeting him?”

“I’m not sure I want you to.”

“Spoil sport, I won’t be too embarrassing, I swear; I mean, I would never tell him about the time we got drunk and you started singing Mariah Carey, and of course I would never show him the video I took of it, that I still have.”

“I hate you.” Emma erupted in laughter at those words as they got to Diana’s front door.

“Emma?” Danielle froze when she saw Diana standing in the hallway in front of her. When the older woman saw her, her face became a mixture of delight and shame all at once. “Elle.”

“Hi.”

“I…I’m so sorry.” She had tears in her eyes.

Danielle did not even stop to think; she rushed over and embraced her. “It’s not your fault. I am sorry this is even happening, I should never have pissed her off.”

“Has Tom tried speaking to you?”

“Not since the day of the car accident.”

“I could not bare to even speak with him, he began by saying not to judge after the article came out, can you believe that?”

“I don’t…I can’t talk about it.” Danielle stated.

“Of course, I understand.” Diana nodded solemnly. A moment later, her face became one of interest. “Why do you smell of men’s shower gel?”

“Because someone has been staying with a handsome doctor the passed few days.” Emma sang from behind her, going into the kitchen to put on the kettle.

Diana’s eyes lit up at that information. “Really?”

“Oh God, not you too.”

“Well, as a surrogate for your mother, I have to say, I approve.”

“Of course you do, it was you that thought to try and set us up, to begin with,” Danielle stated.

“So, is he nice…”

“Mum, if you are asking Elle what he is like in bed, I swear to God, I will drop dead here and now of mortification!” Emma shouted from the kitchen. “Besides, I already asked, sort of.”

“I need to get new people to talk to, Brit’s are mental.” Danielle shook her head as she walked passed Diana and into the kitchen.

*

Automated voice - You have fourteen new messages. This message was left on the eighth of September at 4:30 am.

“Elle, its Tom, I…fuck I need you to call me back, as soon as you get in. Please.”

This message was left on the eighth of September at 6:30am.

“Elle, its Tom again, I never even thought, you might not even be working these few nights, but anyway, please, ring me when you get this.”

This message was left on the eighth of September at 9:05 am.

“Elle, I know you are finished work or awake if you didn’t have work last night, please ring me.”

This message was left on the eighth of September at 2:30 pm.

“Please Elle, look I know you are probably pissed about that piece, I am…I am trying to have it dealt with.”

This message was left on the eighth of September at…

The messages went on and on, all fourteen had been from Tom, and after a while, his tone became shorter, until the final one, left that morning. “I am just trying to make this right.” He had snapped on it. But the article came to her mind once more. She thought for a second that he had seen through that bitch, but when she Googled his name, she regretted it immediately, the first result was an article, from that day’s Daily Mail, declaring the pair to be the hottest thing in New York for that evening's fashion show.

Annoyed, Danielle decided to erase all the messages and went to get ready for work.

*

Tom looked at his phone, three missed calls but none from Danielle while he had been out for lunch with Taylor, having gone over everything with her over what they would say to the reporters that evening, making sure it was crystal clear that nothing ever happened between him and Danielle, and that the ‘source’ the magazine had was false.

“Ready?” he turned to see Taylor standing behind him, looking beautiful in a pair of shorts and high boots. He knew now that behind that beauty, there was a coldness that could rival that of a boardroom CEO that would fire every last subordinate, just because he could.

“Yes.” He gave as good a smile as he muster.

“After this, she’ll be cleared so try to make that smile more believable.”

“She never did anything to be cleared of, she is not on trial, she did nothing.” He stated.

“Whatever, she will have her sad pathetic life back, and we will get on with ours.” She smiled.

Tom frowned, the way Taylor was speaking, she seemed to think they were still in a good place in their relationship. “I just need to talk to Luke for a moment.”

“Chop chop.” She ordered.

Tom bared his teeth after she left the room, scrolling to Luke’s name and pressing the call button. “It’s nearly midnight, this better be good Tom.”

“Hey.”

“Hello,” Luke replied curtly, “Now what is it?”

“Luke…just don’t start.”

“Look, we spent years making you the nicest guy in Hollywood, remember that. No having public flings, no acting the fool, no drunken incidences and you are now the laughing stock of the free world, so after everything I sacrificed to make sure you got ahead, I really am not interested. Whatever it is, ask ‘PR Barbie’s’ people to deal with it.”

“I am going to a fashion show with her.”

“Because of course, you love those things,” Luke replied sarcastically.

“It’s all done as soon as the show finishes.”

There was silence on the line for a moment. “Why not before?”

“I have her agreeing to rubbish what was published about Danielle.”

“And she will willingly do that? I don’t buy it, Tom.”

“What else can I do, Danielle…?”

“There is no need to tell me about Ms Hughes, I have spent the passed week of my life trying to stop leeches getting anything on her, including photo’s.”

“I never thought to ask…”

“No, you didn’t; your mum did, though. Not that she had to. I was already on it.” The publicist snapped.

“Luke, I fucked up.”

“Thank you for stating that, I was not aware before now.”

Tom sighed at his friends’ sarcasm. “You were right.”

“Yet another obvious statement of fact.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah well, next time a narcissistic bitch who writes countless songs on his legion of ex’s sniffs around, will you listen to me?”

Tom could not help the smile on his face. “I think I can do that.”

“Good, now what are you doing about this statement?”

*

“Mr Hiddleston, please, Mr Hiddleston, this way please.” Tom turned obediently to face the photographers, their lights blinding him as he did. “Mr Hiddleston, have you anything to say about the claims being made that you forced your ex-girlfriend to get an abortion?”

Even hearing those words made Tom’s jaw clench. “Yes, actually, I do. I have not now, nor have I ever made such a request to any woman much less the woman in question. She has never been anything but a close family friend, and she is one of the most honourable women I have ever had the good fortune to befriend. These claims are wholly untrue and have been terribly hurtful to her, for which I can never apologise to her enough. Whoever put about that story is lying and is doing so to hurt a hard working and good woman.” He stated clearly.

“Taylor,” the same reporter looked to the blonde songstress, “the article stated it was a source close to you that leaked this story, and that you received the email, what have you to say?”

Tom had to force himself to remain calm at the manner in which the reporter had dismissed what he had just said, but he looked to Taylor to see if she would do as she had promised.

Taylor gave a small laugh. “Well, its rubbish of course, I mean, how would this person have even get my email address? My squad and I don’t need to talk about people we don’t know; our lives are interesting enough to occupy us. People just like profiting off my name, it’s something I have had to get used to sadly.” She gave a sad puppy face at that, trying to sway the journalist to see her as as much a victim in the situation as Danielle. Tom had to give her credit, Taylor knew how to play reporters and public image, and that worried him.

[alchemine]

even more time-travel fic

In which Jo comes up with a plan of sorts. 

previously on:  part 1 | part 2  | part 3 | part 4

They hadn’t gone far along the road before Jo pulled him off the pavement, up a shallow set of steps, and into the vestibule of a building, its marble floor cracked with age and fouled with wet, muddy footprints. A row of cloudy glass globes hung on chains from the ceiling overhead, casting a muted yellow light down on them both.

“What’s this?”

“Sshhh. It’s a library. We need someplace to talk where no one will see us, or tomorrow it’ll be everywhere and I’ll have half a dozen frustrated Catholic schoolgirls asking me if my older boyfriend’s got a friend for them.” Jo pointed to a set of double doors with diamond-paned windows. “If you go through there and past the reference library, you’ll come to another door with a flight of stairs behind it. Go right down them, and at the far end of the corridor, there’s a little room the library staff hire out for meetings and things. Wait for me there.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Gather up some books for the look of it,” Jo said. “You’re not very stealthy, are you? I see why you’re a researcher and not part of the Security Service. Go on.” She gave Danny a little push, and he went obediently, marvelling at the fact that his first instinct was to do as Jo had told him, even when she wasn’t exactly Jo.

On the other side of the doors, he was greeted by a comforting billow of the familiar old-book smell of paper and ink that had been the same for as long as he could remember, and no doubt would have been much the same if he’d been thrown back to the library at Alexandria. He imagined trying to ask some Ptolemaic scribe if there were any papyri that told you how to reverse accidental time travel, and grimaced to himself. All things considered, he could have done much worse than the Eighties, where at least he spoke the language and understood more or less how to behave.

No one so much as glanced at him as he walked through the library’s vaulted entrance hall, passed the reference library with its rows of long tables, and opened the stairwell door, which was just where Jo had said it would be. The stairs had rough metal plates on the treads to stop people slipping, and his steps echoed hollowly through the white-painted stairwell and into the long corridor that lay below. Glass-fronted display cases lined both its walls, full of signed first editions and carved bookplate stamps and antique reading specs that at another time he would have liked to examine more closely. Instead, he kept going all the way to the end, mindful of the need to get out of sight. 

He opened the door to the meeting room cautiously at first, but found it dark and deserted, and after he’d located a light switch, empty except for a round table and a few low-backed, leather-padded chairs. He sat down in one of them to wait for Jo, and almost at once was swamped with a wave of fatigue: he’d barely stopped moving ever since he woke this morning, and between the hours of walking, the cold rain, and the shock and fear of the whole situation, he was utterly knackered.

As he was wondering whether he ought just to put his head down on the table for a moment, the door opened halfway and Jo slid through the gap, a small pile of books clutched in her arms. Setting them down on the table, she dropped into the chair opposite his and regarded him, forehead creased with concern.

“Are you all right? I mean, I only met you this morning, but you didn’t have those massive black circles under your eyes then.”

“It’s all just a bit–well–”

“Yes,” Jo said, “I can imagine it is.” She pushed back the sleeve of her blazer and looked at her watch. “The library closes in an hour, and I’ll be expected home not long after that, so perhaps you ought to tell me a bit more about how you got here. You didn’t really just wake up in the past this morning, did you?”

“More or less,” Danny said. “I know, you’d expect it to be more dramatic–like I’d fallen through some sort of glowing portal or bumped into an old magician who put a curse on me–but it wasn’t. I came in late from work last night and Scott wasn’t home–”

“Who’s Scott?”

“I forgot, you won’t have met him yet either. He’s my brother. We live together–well, I kind of live with him. Anyway, he wasn’t there, and I thought I’d just have a sandwich and then go to bed, but I sat down to watch a bit of the news first. I still had my coat on because it’s brass monkeys in Scott’s flat until the heating’s been going for at least an hour, and…I think I must just have nodded off there.”

“And?”

Danny chewed his lip, remembering it. “Then next thing I knew, it was morning, and the flat was the same–I mean the windows and doors and fixtures were all in the right places–but everything in it was different. All of Scott’s furniture was gone; even the sofa I was sitting on had changed. I was still half asleep, and I thought, This is a dream, and if I go outside I’ll wake up, so I went stumbling downstairs and out the front door. It was pissing down outside, just the way it is now, and that woke me all the way up in a flash, and I saw things weren’t just wrong in the flat, they were wrong everywhere.”

Jo let out a long breath. “Then what?”

“Then,” Danny said, “it was a lot like one of those films where some poor idiot finds himself in the past and goes crashing around trying to work out what’s happened, right down to the bit where I saw a newspaper full of headlines about the miners’ strike and hostages in Beirut. I pinched myself nearly black and blue, trying to snap out of it, but I was still here. That’s when I started thinking about who I could go to and decided to look for you.”

“Christ.”

“I said that a few times as well.”

“I’m sure.” Jo frowned and nibbled at a fingernail. “Had you seen me the night before?”

“Yeah, of course. I see you every day and night during the week unless one of us is travelling. Sometimes at the weekends too. We practically live in each other’s pockets, Jo, especially since–” He broke off, remembering that he didn’t want to burden her with the troubles she’d had the previous year.

“Since what?”

“Erm, since things got busy at work,” Danny said, hoping she wouldn’t press for any more details. He shuffled her stack of books around, looking at the titles, which were so eclectic she must just have taken one from the end of every shelf she passed: Viking Age Burials in Northern England, Field Guide to the Butterflies of Europe, The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry. “So, what do you make of it all?”

“Well,” Jo said, clearly thinking furiously as she spoke, “there’s always a possibility that it might just work in reverse, isn’t there? I mean, if you fell asleep in 2008 and woke up in 1985, then you might fall asleep in 1985 and wake up again in 2008. It would make sense.”

“Does any of this make sense?”

“Not really,” Jo said, “but you may as well try the simplest solution first. If you go to sleep tonight and you’re still here when you wake up tomorrow, then you’ll know that falling asleep’s not the thing that made you slip back in time. And if you are back where you belong, then your problem will be solved, and you can go and ask Future Me what the hell she was thinking, keeping this from you for years and years.” She paused. “Speaking of sleeping, I don’t suppose you’ve got a place to do that, have you?”

Danny shook his head. “I can’t go back to Scott’s flat–well, what’s going to be Scott’s flat eventually. I didn’t bump into the person who lives there, thank God, but someone obviously does, and they’re not going to be pleased if a stranger turns up asking for help, any more than you were at first.”

“No room at the inn.”

“Exactly.”

“Well…” Jo looked uncomfortable and a little embarrassed. “I’d take you home with me if I could, but my parents would go spare, so that’s right out. But you can’t sleep in a doorway or under a tree in the park in this weather, either. Aren’t there hostels for people with no other place to go?”

“Yes,” Danny said, thinking back to the report he had written for her in the future, “but you can’t just turn up there unannounced either, you’ve got to be referred. No Room at the Inn, Part Two.”

Jo played with the band on her watch, unbuckling it and buckling it again, and then turned it over and looked at the face. “We’ll have to leave soon, they’ll be closing. Or–hang on a minute.”

“What?”

“Suppose you just stay here for tonight? In this room, I mean. If you lock the door, the library staff might try the knob to check it without actually looking inside, if they come down here at all. It is a bit out of the way.”

“What if they do open the door and I get caught?”

“Tell them you came in to read and fell asleep.” Jo nodded at the books spread out between them, in the circle of light from the hanging lamp. “I’m sure you wouldn’t be the first person to have done that, and the worst they can do is tell you to leave, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but…”

“Oh, come on, Danny. Are you always such a rule follower?”

“Most of the time,” he said truthfully. “It annoys you in the future too.”

She laughed. “Well, you’ll have to get over it for one night. If you’re still here in the morning, just wait until the library’s been open for a bit and walk out like an ordinary patron, and then come and find me. I’ve got some money saved from birthdays and things–I can’t get at it just now, but I can tomorrow. It’s not much, but it should be enough for you to find a cheap room somewhere until we can work this out.”

“Oh God, Jo, I can’t take your money.”

“You’ve got twenty-three years to pay me back,” Jo pointed out. “And you’ve asked me for help, so now you’ve got to let me help. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be lucky and it won’t come to that, anyway.”

Danny flailed about desperately for any other course of action that might work, but came up with nothing. He wasn’t sure why he was surprised really; this was exactly the sort of thing he ought to have expected from Jo, who was a firm believer in ends justifying means in their shared future as well. At last he gave in and accepted it, as he usually did.

“All right, we’ll try it.”

“Good,” Jo said, smiling. She pushed back her chair and picked up her bag. “Don’t be offended, but I hope I won’t see you again for another fifteen years, give or take a few.”

“Don’t be offended, but I hope the same thing,” Danny said. “December 1998. Be ready for it.”

“I’ll put it in the diary,” Jo said, giving  him another dizzying rush of déjà vu. She rooted around in her bag, pulled out a scrap of paper, and scribbled something on it. “Address and phone number. Come round in the morning if you’re still here. Both my parents are gone by nine.”

“Thanks,” Danny said, taking the paper and deciding not to mention that he’d already got this information on his own; he didn’t want to start her thinking he might be a stalker again. “Haven’t you got to go to school, though?”

“There you go following the rules again,” Jo said. “I’ll be there. Now lock the door behind me and try to get some sleep.”

“Okay. Thanks again.” He would have liked to hug her, but put out his hand instead, and she gave it the firm shake he’d seen her future self administer a thousand times to diplomats and constituents and other politicians, both friend and enemy. As soon as she’d let go, she slipped back through the door into the corridor, and Danny turned the lock and tried various ways of arranging the chairs into a bed before realising that he was too tall and would have to spend the night half sitting up. Oh well, at least he was under a roof.

He switched off the lights in the room, and in the dark, he flipped open his mobile and browsed through a few photos: Scott giving a two-fingered salute to the camera, Kirsty pouting prettily behind her desk, a few snaps he’d taken of scenery on a trip up north, and the various views of Future Jo with expressions ranging from coolly amused to forcing a smile through distress. 

It was comforting to see these scenes from his real life, but he only allowed himself a minute or two to enjoy them before switching the phone off to save the battery. Settling down in one chair, he put his feet up on another, spread his coat over himself as a makeshift blanket, and waited for the previous night’s accident to repeat itself in reverse.

[junker-town]

NBA mock draft 2017: The 76ers complete ‘The Process’ with Markelle Fultz

Philadelphia found their man by trading up to No. 1.

The Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics rocked the NBA this week by agreeing to the first trade for the No. 1 overall pick since 1993. This means Markelle Fultz is going to Philly and it sets the rest of the draft in motion.

The draft really starts at No. 2 with the Lakers on the clock. Lonzo Ball has been the presumptive favorite since the lottery, but Josh Jackson has been rumored to be making a strong run. Then there’s the Celtics at No. 3, where the choice looks like it will be between Jackson and Jayson Tatum.

The Suns have to be thrilled with the Celtics-Sixers swap because it appears to give them a better shot at Jackson, who would offer the two-way versatility they need. The Kings are sitting at No. 5 just hoping De’Aaron Fox is still available.

We’ll finally know how it all shakes out on Thursday. Until then, here’s our latest mock:

1. Philadelphia 76ers - Markelle Fultz, G, Washington

The trade up to No. 1 is a no-brainer for the Sixers. After drafting approximately 200 big men in a row, Philadelphia gets the best guard prospect to hit the draft since at least Kyrie Irving in 2011. Fultz is at his best with the ball in his hands, but he also has the size, scoring instincts and shooting range to play off the ball alongside Ben Simmons. A core of Fultz, Simmons and Joel Embiid has the potential to be absolutely special. The Process is over; long live The Process.

2. Los Angeles Lakers - Lonzo Ball, PG, UCLA

The Lakers are thinking small if they really take Josh Jackson over Lonzo Ball. That’s where I’m at now. Jackson is a great fit on paper: he’s the type of big, versatile wing every team wants, and he’d also be superior defensive presence next to Brandon Ingram and D’Angelo Russell. Jackson will be a good NBA player. Lonzo Ball can be a great one.

Our guy JZ Mazlish wrote a compelling contrarian case for Ball over Fultz as the best player in the draft last week. My favorite point from that: Ball’s dominance is so unique that it’s hard for a lot of people to comprehend. Stephen Curry and Draymond Green were once the same way.

3. Boston Celtics - Jayson Tatum, SF, Duke

The Celtics knew they would be drafting a player out of the high school class of 2016 from the minute they made their now infamous trade with the Nets in 2013. Tatum sat at or near the top of those class rankings since they first developed. My guess is Boston has been closely tracking Tatum for years and had him as 1B (or possibly 1A) on their board with Fultz. From that perspective, the chance to take a player they love while adding more premium future picks is the process is a no-brainer.

I’m not the biggest Tatum fan — I had him No. 6 overall on my big board — but he looks like a great fit next to Jaylen Brown in Boston. Brown is the superior athlete with a higher defensive ceiling while Tatum projects to offer true go-to scoring ability. Personally, I’d rather have Fultz, but there’s a chance this ends up eventually looking like a brilliant trade for Danny Ainge.

4. Phoenix Suns - Josh Jackson, G/F, Kansas

No one is more jacked up about the 76ers-Celtics trade than the Suns. Josh Jackson seemed likely to go No. 3 before the trade. Now he should be available for Suns at No. 4. Jackson is exactly what Phoenix needs: a high-motor, two-way wing next to Devin Booker and the developing young front court of Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss.

5. Sacramento Kings - De’Aaron Fox, PG, Kentucky

If Jackson is falling to No. 4, that all but assures De’Aaron Fox will be there for the Kings at No. 5. That was always the best case scenario for Sacramento. The Kings badly needed a new face of the franchise following the DeMarcus Cousins trade, and Fox can be that. He’s a blur with the ball in his hands in the open and competes on both ends of the court. If is jump shot comes around like Mike Conley’s did after leaving Ohio State — a player he’s often compared to — he’s going to be a really good player.

6. Orlando Magic - Jonathan Isaac, F, Florida State

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Magic could go in any direction with this pick. I think Isaac is a strong possibility because of the way new GM John Hammond targeted long and raw athletes during his time in Milwaukee. The difference here is Isaac doesn’t really fit the mold of a traditional boom-or-bust pick: his defensive upside is so unique that whatever he gives you on offense is basically gravy. Imagine an Aaron Gordon-Jonathan Isaac front court. That sounds like the future.

7. Minnesota Timberwolves - Lauri Markkanen, PF, Arizona

Ideally, the Wolves would love to add Isaac. Markkanen is a very different player to slide in between Karl Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, but he should still be effective nonetheless. Markannen is a truly elite shooter at 7-feet tall who should give the Wolves’ fleet of athletes plenty of room to make plays. Who knows, maybe Tom Thibodeau can even find a way to make him productive on defense.

8. New York Knicks - Frank Ntilikina, PG, France

The Knicks need a guard and there are three great ones on the board in Malik Monk, Dennis Smith Jr. and Ntilikina. The Knicks have been scouting Ntilikina for months and he looks like the best fit in the Triangle of the three. Ideally, he turns into a 3-and-D lead guard a la George Hill.

9. Dallas Mavericks - Dennis Smith Jr., PG, NC State

This is the best case scenario for Dallas. The Mavericks need a point guard, and Smith could be drafted in the top five based on his talent. He’s a relentless rim attacker who averaged more points, assists, rebounds and steals than Fox in his one season of college basketball. He also shot the ball a lot better from three-point range. NC State was just a strange and bad team last season, but that was in spite of Smith, not because of him.

10. Sacramento Kings - Malik Monk, G, Kentucky

This isn’t a perfect fit. The Kings already have a young shooting guard they love in Buddy Hield who profiles as a similar player to Monk. I just think Monk is by far the best player left on the board, so why not take him? The Fox-Monk backcourt was so much fun at Kentucky. Let’s run it back in Sacramento for the next 10 years.

11. Charlotte Hornets - Luke Kennard, G, Duke

Kennard has reportedly become one of the draft’s biggest risers. He’s coming off a breakout sophomore season at Duke, where he posted scoring numbers that were way more efficient than Tatum’s. His shooting ability (44 percent from three) should be attractive to a Charlotte team that’s been looking for more shooters.

12. Detroit Pistons - Donovan Mitchell, G, Louisville

Mitchell reminds me a bit of Avery Bradley: he’s short for a two guard (6’3), but he has long arms, a 40-inch vertical and serious defensive upside. He made major strides as a shooter as a sophomore at Louisville, and that part of his game will have to be for real to warrant a lottery pick. This would give Stan Van Gundy a nice stable of young wings alongside Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Stanley Johnson.

13. Denver Nuggets - Zach Collins, C, Gonzaga

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Collins broke out in the NCAA tournament as arguably Gonzaga’s best player on its way to the NCAA tournament title game. He offers a combination of shooting and shot blocking that should be attractive next to Nikola Jokic in the front court. A player like OG Anunoby would also be a nice fit here, but taking Collins would be a case of going for the best player available.

14. Miami Heat - OG Anunoby, SF, Indiana

Anunoby is on the short list of the best defensive prospects in this class. He’s long armed, athletic and strong, theoretically giving the Heat a player who could defend up to four positions. He and Justise Winslow would be trouble on the wing if their jump shots come around. Granted, that’s a big if.

15. Portland Trail Blazers - Justin Jackson, SF, North Carolina

The Blazers could use a big wing to put next to Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. Jackson fits that mold. He made incredible strides as a shooter during a junior season with North Carolina that ended in a national championship. He also defended Malik Monk as well as anyone all season in UNC’s dramatic Elite Eight victory. He’s older than any other prospect taken to this point, but he feels like a safe-ish bet to at least carve out a rotation spot in the NBA.

16. Chicago Bulls - Justin Patton, C, Creighton

It feels like the Bulls could go in any direction with this pick. Jackson would fit the front office’s longheld preference for productive, veteran college players, but he goes one pick too soon in this mock. If that happens, I wouldn’t be surprised if Justin Patton is a player they like. Doug McDermott’s dad was his college coach at Creighton and he fits the “younger and more athletic” mod the front office has been preaching, but not practicing.

17. Milwaukee Bucks - Harry Giles, C, Duke

The Bucks hit the jackpot on a boom-or-bust draft prospect with Giannis Antetokounmpo back in 2013. Thon Maker fit a similar profile last year and already looks like a good pick. Will Milwaukee continue to follow this strategy without departed GM John Hammond? Why not? If so, someone like Giles could make sense. He was a former No. 1 overall recruit before repeated knee injuries left him largely ineffective during his one season at Duke. If he can regain his previous form (another big if), this could be another quality pick for Milwaukee.

18. Indiana Pacers - T.J. Leaf, PF, UCLA

The Pacers are in an impossible spot in this draft without knowing the future of Paul George. When in doubt, just draft a shooter. It was Leaf — not Lonzo Ball — who was UCLA’s leading scorer as a freshman. He’s also a 46 percent three-point shooter. Pairing him with Myles Turner could give the Pacers premium spacing.

19. Atlanta Hawks - Jarrett Allen, C, Texas

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Allen has ideal length (7’5) and impressive foot speed for an NBA center. The Hawks would be wise to use this pick on a young big man to develop behind Dwight Howard after drafting two wings in the first round last year.

20. Portland Trail Blazers - Terrance Ferguson, SG, Adelaine

Terrance Ferguson is a perfect pick for a team like Portland with three first round selections. There’s a lot to like about his physical tools: great positional size (6’7) for a shooting guard with explosive leaping ability and a good three-point stroke. It’s all about feel for the game and committing on the defensive end for him.

21. Oklahoma City Thunder - Kyle Kuzma, F, Utah

Kuzma is a versatile 6’9 forward who can defend and pass. His three-point shot (32 percent last season) will determine exactly how high his ceiling is.

22. Brooklyn Nets - John Collins, PF, Wake Forest

Collins does a lot of things well. Namely: score efficiently inside and clean the glass. That helped him produce the highest PER of anyone in this draft class. His game also has two major question marks: rim protection and shooting range. He reminds me a bit of Enes Kanter. The Nets need productive players anyway they can get them, and Collins is a safe bet to put up numbers as a pro.

23. Toronto Raptors - Jonah Bolden, F, Australia

Bolden was a top-50 recruit out of high school who left UCLA after one season to play professionally in Serbia. He’s 6’10, 230 lbs. with good athleticism and a nice jumper. Everyone would have known his name if he decided to stick with the Bruins another season to play with Lonzo Ball.

24. Utah Jazz - Derrick White, G, Colorado

White put up big numbers in his DI debut at Colorado. He’s been a star of the post-draft circuit and could very well be a first rounder now. He can play either backcourt spot and has the ability to shoot, pass and dribble. That’s a good fit anywhere, especially for a Utah team that could lose George Hill and/or Gordon Hayward in free agency.

25. Orlando Magic - Ike Anigbogu, C, UCLA

Anigbogu reminds me a bit of Bismack Biyombo and is a whole lot cheaper. I think he’s got the most upside of anyone left on the board at this point.

26. Portland Trail Blazers - Isaiah Hartenstein, C, Germany

Hartenstein is a try hard big man with a developing face-up game. He was also born in Oregon so he should fit right in with the Blazers.

27. Brooklyn Nets - Semi Ojeleye, F, SMU

Ojeleye has three level scoring ability and the strength to battle with bigger players. The question is his lateral quickness defensively. He’s still one of my favorite sleepers in the late first round.

28. Los Angeles Lakers - DJ Wilson, F, Michigan

Wilson has great size (6’10, 240 lbs.), a nice shooting stroke and some shot blocking potential. He could be a major steal if he lasts to this point in the first round.

29. San Antonio Spurs - Tony Bradley, C, North Carolina

Bradley is an elite offensive rebounder with nice touch around the rim. The question is whether he is quick enough to defend the pick-and-roll.

30. Utah Jazz - Anzejs Pasecniks, C, Latvia

Pasecniks is 7’2 with a good shooting stroke. He had a solid season playing professionally in Spain and feels like he could go 10 picks higher than this.