Fulton to join Timberwolves for Summer League

CJ Fulton has had workouts with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets

Belfast basketball player CJ Fulton will play for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA's Summer League next month.

The Summer League is a pre-season tournament that brings together all 30 NBA franchises for 11 days in Las Vegas, with teams using it to help prepare rookies and other young players for the regular season's start in October.

Before this week's NBA draft, Fulton had workouts with the Timberwolves and the Denver Nuggets.

The guard played for Lafayette and the Charleston Cougars at college level and, in his senior year last season, averaged 7.8 points and 6.5 assists per game.

The 22-year-old is seeking to become the third Irish-born player to earn the chance to compete at the highest level in the United States, after Pat Burke and Susan Moran.

Burke played for the Orlando Magic and the Phoenix Suns in the NBA between 2002 and 2007, while Moran was part of the New York Liberty squad during the 2002 WNBA season.

Fulton, whose father Adrian Fulton was an Ireland international, was not selected in the NBA draft, but will link up with the Timberwolves - who chose French forward Joan Beringer in the first round and, after trading back, Australian Rocco Zikarsky in the second.

The team have reached the NBA's Western Conference finals in each of the past two seasons, losing best-of-seven series to the Dallas Mavericks and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Timberwolves roster includes three-time All-Star guard Anthony Edwards, the NBA's number one draft pick in 2020.

Their first Summer League fixture is against the New Orleans Pelicans on 10 July.