Sixers, Celtics plot court domination
Philadelphia gets top draft pick, likely to take Markelle Fultz to complement Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid
Thought the NBA was going to go into a bit of a lull after the Warriors won the rubber match against Cleveland?
The NBA world rarely stays quiet for long. And so, ahead of Thursday’s draft, the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers have pulled off a rare pre-draft mega-deal.
The Sixers move up and will surely select Washington point guard Markelle Fultz with the top pick, the Celtics get the No. 3 pick and a future first-rounder, either via the Los Angeles Lakers next summer, or Sacramento in 2019.
This is a move that will have a ripple effect around the league, especially in the Atlantic Division, which includes the Toronto Raptors.
For Philadelphia and new boss Bryan Colangelo, it finally feels like the culmination of the process, started years ago by the deposed Sam Hinkie.
And how incredible is it that Hinkie basically got the Sixers Fultz, in exchange for Michael Carter-Williams, who is now a non-factor, and a future first?
Last year’s top pick Ben Simmons will be surrounded by a perfect complementary piece in Fultz, an athletic lead guard who can shoot, pass and defend, as well as Joel Embiid (assuming he can finally stay healthy), arguably the best player of his own draft class, Dario Saric and other pieces and future picks. In time, and with good health, this could be a special group, with three of the brightest talents in the entire NBA on the same squad.
For Boston, this feels like a foolish gamble. As if Danny Ainge has morphed into the dragon Smaug from the Hobbit, hoarding over his golden war chest, always looking to add more. Why not just take Fultz? The math has been pretty simple over the years: The best way to compete for a championship is to land a generational talent or two and the best way to do that is to have the good fortune of picking first in the draft in a good year.
Maybe the Celtics land a similar standout at three and hit on that future pick. Or maybe, as the rumour mill indicates, they’ll use the nice bonus pick as part of a package to land an existing star (like Jimmy Butler of Chicago or Paul George of Indiana). This also avoids the team needing to figure out whether Fultz and fellow Washington product, all-star point guard Isaiah Thomas, would be able to coexist. Instead of awkwardly playing them together or even moving on without an All-NBA player who led the league in fourth quarter scoring, the Celtics can max out Thomas and add other pieces (Gordon Hayward or Blake Griffin are the rumoured targets), staying competitive now, while maintaining future flexibility.
Boston’s collection of future first-rounders is now bordering on comical. The team has the No. 3 pick this year, Brooklyn’s first next season (the Nets could well be the NBA’s worst team again), potentially the Los Angeles first (and the Lakers likely stink again, too), 2019 firsts from the Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies (and from Sacramento if the Lakers pick doesn’t come their way in 2018).
This is a franchise that has made a splash, but still has plenty of pieces to take further dives into the pool.
Meanwhile, Toronto has to be happy with the move. Rival Boston declines to add the player considered the premier talent in the draft (with many pundits ranking Fultz far ahead of the rest of the class) and commits to Thomas, who is defensively challenged, which can hamstring the Celtics in the playoffs.
As well, one of the few potential landing spots for top Raptor Kyle Lowry now appears to be out of the mix. Yes, Philadelphia is home for Lowry and the team, which has many huge Lowry fans in its brain trust, has the cash to sign him and is now closer to being competitive than it has been in years, but Fultz plays his position. Age-wise, Lowry doesn’t fit there.
Deals of this magnitude, involving the No. 1 overall selection, are rare. Most recently, Cleveland drafted Andrew Wiggins in 2014, but moved him with Anthony Bennett (also a Canadian-born, top pick) to Minnesota for Kevin Love under the orders of LeBron James once he returned to Cleveland a month or so later.
Back in 1993, it wasn’t clear if Shaquille O’Neal and Chris Webber could coexist in a frontcourt (and Shaq was a big fan of Penny Hardaway), so No. 1 Webber switched hats with No. 3 Hardaway and Orlando also received three future first-round picks. In 1986, Philadelphia moved the No. 1 selection (Brad Daugherty, who made five allstar appearances in eight seasons) for veteran Roy Hinson, who didn’t move the needle, and cash.
It also happened a couple of times in the 1950s (including a Bill Sharman heist by the Celtics), but the most famous iteration of this type of deal came in 1980, when Boston sent the top pick, Joe Barry Carroll, to Golden State for No. 3 (Kevin McHale) and Robert Parish, who both went on to become members of the Hall of Fame.
It will take some time before we can determine whether Boston has once again cleaned up, but the betting here is that Philadelphia won’t regret landing Fultz, despite the cost.