Philadelphia 76ers choice in draft was not Fultz over Tatum — it was Lonzo Ball

By Stuart London | Aug 13, 2018

Markelle Fultz | Philadelphia 76ers (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

While fans assume the Philadelphia 76ers chose Markelle Fultz over Jayson Tatum in the 2017 draft, the reality is they were avoiding taking Lonzo Ball or someone rated lower.

The one thing most Philadelphia 76ers fans could agree on when Bryan Colangelo resigned as general manager was how ridiculously awful his signature move, trading up for the No. 1 pick in the 2017 draft to get Markelle Fultz, appears right now.

The rationale for dissing the move is obvious: Boston flipped spots with the Sixers, who had the No. 3 selection, and took Jayson Tatum when their turn came. Tatum proceeded to torture the 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals with an array of athletic drives and outside shots, and went on to become a first team All-Rookie selection.

With the first selection, Colangelo took the obvious choice in Fultz, a 6-foot-4 guard whose game seemed to fit perfectly with budding point guard Ben Simmons.

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Except a shoulder injury and … whatever, caused Fultz to totally lose his shooting touch. He ended up playing in just 14 regular season games plus a couple of playoff appearances before coach Brett Brown mothballed him.

So Colangelo comes off, as of now, a complete bozo. Tatum is a star in the making and we by-passed him for a guard who can’t shoot. Oh, and to twist the knife even more, the hated Boston Celtics get Sacramento’s first-round draft pick this year as part of the deal.

Of course the Kings, being the Kings, are making sure it is a high pick by doing King-ish things like pay big bucks for what would have been the Sixers’ third or fourth player off the bench. (The 76ers do keep the pick if it is No. 1).

While it seems to be the biggest error Colangelo made (it wasn’t) there is one problem going with this easy scenario:

The 76ers were never, EVER going to have a chance to draft Jayson Tatum.

The Celtics were going to draft Tatum whether they went first or third, according to general manager Danny Ainge.

They had no need for help at guard. At the time of the draft, Boston still had second team All-NBA player Isaiah Thomas plus Marcus Smart (who they had used the No. 6 pick two years earlier), Terry Rozier, Jaylen Brown (No. 3 overall in 2016) and defensive ace Avery Bradley.

Small forward was a place of need. They had not signed Gordon Hayward in free agency yet and although they must have known they had a good chance, other stars who looked about to leave their team have changed their minds before at the last minute.

Ainge said he considered the players ranked in the top 5-6 of the draft to be almost equal. Tatum killed it when the Celtics worked him out, so they were set on the 6-foot-8 Duke player.

Picking at No. 2 were the Los Angeles Lakers. They had no need for Tatum as they had selected a similar player in Brandon Ingram with the second pick in the previous year’s draft.

But they could use some help at guard. That was a major concern to the 76ers.

This was before the Sixers signed J.J. Redick to be a shooting guard. Coach Brett Brown wanted to experiment with Simmons as the point guard but he had not even played a single NBA game yet. If that experiment did not work they had no one else except T.J. McConnell to run point. And if Simmons did succeed, they still needed someone to play opposite him at two-guard. The 76ers had ended the previous season with Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Nik Stauskas as its shooting guards.

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So Colangelo was looking for a guard who could shoot and create their own shot but, if needed, slide over and play point guard. In other words: Fultz.

The dilemma Colangelo faced was not knowing what the Lakers would do. Fultz was no secret, almost every mock draft had him as the No. 1 rated prospect.

Magic Johnson was under pressure to take hometown hero Lonzo Ball but, if Fultz was still on the board, would they pass him up? And while Ainge and his staff knew they were going for Tatum, no one else did.

Let us also remember the circumstances Colangelo was working under in June, 2017. The Sixers had just won 28 games despite Joel Embiid playing in just 31. Excitement was high and season ticket purchases were skyrocketing. Colangelo’s dad had given Sam Hinkie the boot and Bryan had been put in charge on the promise the 76ers would look to win now.

If Boston went with Tatum and the Lakers grabbed Fultz, that left the Sixers with Ball rated as the best available player. If Simmons was playing point, he was a wasted pick, and daddy would be a problem. On a team obsessed with culture, LaVar Ball was an unneeded distraction.

The alternative to Ball would probably be Kansas small forward Josh Jackson in the minds of most outside experts. A good solid pick but no one would be overly excited about it since he played the same position as Robert Covington, who Colangelo knew they were about to sign to a contract extension.

While Ainge had not told anyone who they would take at No. 1, he did let it be known he was willing to listen to offers.

So he and Colangelo arranged the trade, enticing Ainge with one of the choice draft picks Hinkie had swindled some poor GM out of. Ainge undoubtedly extracted a promise from Colangelo that he would use the first pick on Fultz.

When the Sixers drafted Fultz at No. 1, Colangelo had praise heaped on him. With Simmons and Fultz, the Sixers seemed to have a backcourt of perennial All-Stars for years to come.

Up in Beantown, Ainge was roasted for not taken consensus No. 1 Fultz. Many assumed he wanted the extra No. 1 pick from the Sixers to pull off some big trade, it seemed the only reasonable explanation.

The trade looks awful right now for the 76ers, only Eric Jr. on Twitter might defend his decision. Of course, if Fultz starts draining 3-pointers in training camp the narrative changes again.

But the bottom line is, the Sixers choice was not Tatum or Fultz. Technically they could have double-crossed Boston and picked Tatum, but it was always going to be Fultz at No. 1. The real comparisons should be Fultz to Ball or Jackson, or maybe, if Colangelo drafted on need, Malik Monk or De’Aaron Fox because those were the players the Sixers would have likely taken if they stayed put at No. 3.

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So stop beating yourself up Sixer fans, Jayson Tatum was never coming.