In the lead up to the 2017 NBA draft the Philadelphia 76ers traded a top 1 protected 2019 Sacramento Kings 1st round pick as well as their own 2017 1st pick slotted at #3 for the #1 overall pick from the Boston Celtics. Markelle Fultz was the clear guy they targeted as he had been almost, certainly not entirely, the consensus top pick. If you watch his college highlights, it’s easy to tell why. Fultz shot the 3 ball at a 42% clip in college, had a smooth pull up game, got to the basket with ease and projected as a good defender as well. When Bryan Colangelo pulled that trade off, Fultz was considered the Sixers missing link, the final piece of the puzzle that would connect their already young core in Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.
You probably know by now, but Markelle Fultz has largely been a bust. He quite literally forgot how to shoot a basketball, which, in fairness to Bryan Colangelo, nobody could have predicted. If you watch his highlight reel from college you almost can’t recognize the player you see taking the court in the NBA, they are that different. I still believe Fultz has talent and potential, yet I largely doubt his ability to maximize it at this point. Even if he never figures his shot out to the point it was at in college, he has shown glimpses of his ability to push the ball in transition, get to the basket, defend well and make some plays. However, much more than that is expected of a number one overall pick.
This leads me to the main point of this article, the Sixers have to trade Markelle Fultz. I don’t know if they can even get anything back for him or if they would have to dump picks just to get this guy off the roster, but the bottom line is that Fultz will never work in Philly. Even if he could be a useful backup to any degree, Philadelphia isn’t that place. Expectations are too high and he has brought far more drama than the team needs.
Additionally, Philadelphia is no longer in the same situation as they were when they drafted Fultz. At that point in 2017, Joel Embiid had only played 31 NBA games and Ben Simmons hadn’t played 1. Development was still very much the name of the game at that juncture. However, a season and twenty games later, the stakes have changed drastically. Philadelphia not only made the playoffs last year, but won 52 games and a playoff series. The expectations have skyrocketed. This year, the team is getting MVP type production out of Joel Embiid and given his injury history, nobody knows how many seasons like this they will get out of the young center. That MVP type play forced the Sixers to speed up their timeline even more and cash in their chips for Jimmy Butler, a clear win now move by the team. So the time to develop Fultz is gone. This team wants to contend in the Eastern Conference and with another addition or two, they probably can. However, this also means they can’t sacrifice wins in order to develop Fultz. Even if it’s only one or two games, that could be the difference between getting extra home games come playoff time.
There is also one major elephant in the room that has yet to be discussed, the money. People tend to think rookie contracts aren’t too expensive and that is true to a certain degree, but Fultz was the number one overall pick. The Sixers chose to pick up his option before this season, which means he is on the books for roughly 10 million dollars next year. To put that in perspective, some people making around that total this year, Terrence Ross, Robert Covington, Rudy Gay, Danny Green, Josh Richardson, Rajon Rondo, E’Twaun Moore, Fred Vanvleet and Julius Randle. That amount of money could be the difference in a tight playoff series when the Sixers are one rotation piece short. Add in the fact that going into this offseason, even with the cap hold on Jimmy Butler, the team will have 20 million in free cap space. This means with the current free space, plus Fultz’s contract, they could have 30 million in free money this offseason. That is close to the value of a max player. Imagine adding another max type player to Jimmy Butler, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. That could be a team that challenges for a title.
Simply put, it would be irresponsible for the team to not try and trade Fultz for an expiring contract, even if it costs them a draft pick. At the very least the 30 million in cap space could be used to sign 2-3 useful rotational players, something Fultz can’t be at a consistent level yet in his career. Teams make mistakes when they double down on bad decisions. The advantage that Sixers GM Elton Brand has is that Fultz wasn’t his bad decision, it should be easier for him to move on from it than it would have been for Bryan Colangelo. End the drama, trade the kid, focus on and enjoy winning basketball games.
By Peter Gumas
1204 Sports 