Process Comes Full Circle As Sixers Land #1 in Celtics Trade

Fultz Working Out for Sixers on Saturday.  Image Courtesy: PhillyInfluencer.com

University of Washington Guard Markelle Fultz will most likely be donning the Red, White, and Blue this coming Thursday night and the city of Philadelphia has erupted into absolute pandemonium!  But how did we get here? For 4 years now the city of Philadelphia has been using the phrase “Trust The Process” in regards to their basketball team and on Monday June 19th, 2017 it became official that trusting the process had finally payed off in the biggest of ways!  Sure, in 2014, did the Sixers potentially luck out by nabbing the loveable Cameroonian big man, Joel “The Process” Embiid, who took the NBA by storm in only 31 games after missing his 1st two seasons?  Yes.  And did the Sixers strike gold by landing the 1st overall pick in last years draft by selecting a potential generational talent in Ben Simmons, who was once held in current Head Coach Brett Brown's arms as a child?  Correct. But it seems the time has come where all of the real dirty work done by estranged former General Manager Sam Hinkie has paid off. Trades, pick swaps, Euro-stashes, buy-outs, 10-Day contracts, Jakarr Sampson, Hollis Thompson, so on and so forth we’ve finally reached what the process was all about.

Friday evening Adrian Wojranowski, basketball's version of Adam Schefter, along with Marc Stein and Zach Lowe revealed the Sixers, who own the number 3 pick in Thursday night's draft and the Boston Celtics, who own the top spot via the Brooklyn Nets had been discussing a potential trade that would send the Celtics’ first overall selection to the Sixers for a package of picks including Thursday's third overall selection.  I'm surprised Twitter didn't crash cause in such situations since it usually does.  Here are the details of the trade:

• Sixers acquire the first overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft (G Markelle Fultz)
• Celtics acquire the third overall pick in this year's draft AND either the Lakers 1st Round Pick next year if falls between picks 2-5 OR Kings first round pick in 2019 as long as it is not the 1st overall pick. (I believe would then receive the Sixers 2019 1st Runder, not 100% on that though).

Here’s what to know about Washington Universiry One-And-Done Freshman Phenom Guard Markelle Fultz:

• From Upper Marlboro Maryland.
• Measurables: Stands at 6-4, Weighs 195 lbs. and has a 6-9 wingspan.
• Fultz is a perfect compliment to the Sixers.  He is the only Combo-Guard who plays both positions extremely well coming out in this year's draft.  Fultz can run the offense AND he can play off the ball if the Sixers really believe Ben Simmons will be the team's Point Guard (in which I still have a hard time buying and you can read my opinion in my last blog post  (UNPOPULAR OPINION: Ben Simmons Not a PG/Can Coexist with De'Aaron Fox)
• Fultz in his Freshman year at Washington averaged 23.2 PPG, 5.9 APG, 5.7 RPG, 1.6 SPG, 1.2 BPG.  Fultz had a FG% of 47.6, 3P% of 41.3, FT% of 64.9 while playing 35.7 MPG.
• Washington went 9-22 but like Ben Simmons last year the rest of the team was terrible and made coaching changes throughout the year.
• Went to DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Maryland, in which he will be the 18th player drafted in the NBA Draft from the school, as well as was the HS Alma Mater of Eagles HOF FS Brian Dawkins...Good Company!
• Fultz was cut from DeMatha’s Varsity Basketball squad in his sophomore year for being undersized.
• Had offers towards the end of HS from the likes of UNC and Kentucky but chose Washington because they noticed him and took to him back when one of the scouts happened to get to DeMatha early and caught Fultz’s JV game, where the scout said along the lines of if this kid grows not only will he be an NBA Player but a star in the league.
• Fultz recently signed a Sneaker deal with Nike but he did consider signing with Crazy MadMan LaVar Ball’s Big Baller Brand, headlined by his oldest son Lonzo Ball who very well could go 2nd Overall in the draft behind Fultz.
• Won Gold with the 2016 USA National Team in the FIBA Americas U18 Championship.

I will break down more of Fultz’s game in a post next week as well as how it affects the rest of the team and what they should do in Free Agency, beginning July 1st.  But just know this was Sam’s plan the whole time when it came to trusting the process, acquire assets for the day you need the best player in the draft or a top level talent under contract that will finalize the squad to compete for a NBA Championship.  Right now is a time to rejoice because things MAY finally be looking up, but once Free Agency is over it is time for the team to get healthy, get on the court, and put the next phase of the process in motion.  Again, on behalf of all of the true Sixers fans who trusted the process from Day One, THANK YOU for this opportunity!

• Continue to” Trust The Process”!!!

UNPOPULAR OPINION: Ben Simmons Not a PG/Can Coexist with De'Aaron Fox

Kentucky PG De'Aaron Fox. Image Courtesy: NBA.com

76ers F Ben Simmons.  Image Courtesy: ESPN.com

• Okay! First let me address the elephant in the room (or on the screen in this case)...If this isn't your first time reading my work, you know that around this time last year I was clamoring for the Philadelphia 76ers to draft Duke SF Brandon Ingram with the 1st Overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft over former LSU and current 76ers SF Ben Simmons.  One thing that I know I have going for me is that I will admit when I am wrong and reassess any situation if necessary.  That sounds like me back tracking, even though we did not see Simmons on the court for an official NBA game this year, we were all amazed by his court vision in summer league, where Ingram did not impress in a full season with the Lakers, so with that being said yes, yes I am back tracking!  Moving on...

• The 76ers have another lottery pick in this year's NBA Draft but they are picking 3rd Overall this year and not 1st.  Before I continue, there are a couple wrinkle's that need to be unfolded before I get to my main point so just bare with me as I address them.  Similarly to last year, this draft in my opinion, has one player that is in a league of his own compared to the rest and that is Washington Huskies G Markelle Fultz (the apple of my eye).  I'm going to stop there on Fultz, because barring a trade with the Boston Celtics, who own this years 1st Overall Pick (Thanks Brooklyn! #SMH), the Celtics would be stupid not to take the talented multi-dimensional Guard who would fit in perfectly with this 76ers roster without a doubt as he can play both Point and Shooting Guard as well as on or off the ball as he can create his own shot successfully.  

• So that leaves us with the Los Angeles Lakers picking at 2 and our Philadelphia 76ers picking at 3 and here is where the conundrum begins.  Many believe this is a two-player draft, ranking UCLA's G Lonzo Ball right alongside Fultz, but I would disagree and I am not discrediting Ball by any means.  I'm not going to go in depth on all of the Ball Family controversy/hoopla, but besides the fact Big Daddy Ball LaVar is a distraction for his talented son, Ball has a shot that I have compared to Former University of Florida Heisman-winning Quarterback Tim Tebow's throwing motion that was not successful in the NFL.  I believe Ball has a wonderful all-around game, as he does everything well, but to me his shot is so far fetched that elite defenders in the NBA will not let Ball score at will as he did in college, but again I could be wrong.  Via the media and LaVar Ball, it seemed like a forgone conclusion that the Lakers would draft Ball at 2 and Kansas SF Josh Jackson, who before last season was slated as the best player coming out of college, would essentially be left there for the 76ers to nab at 3.  Even though the 76ers seem to be loaded in their front court with a couple of rising talents such as F Ben Simmons, F Dario Saric, F Robert Covington, C Joel Embiid, and F/C Jahlil Okafor, who could play any of the SF/PF/C positions essentially, a player like Jackson with his elite defensive skills, play-making ability, and transitional game in an up-tempo NBA under Head Coach Brett Brown's scheme would be more than ideal.  The issue is there are RUMORS the Lakers do not like Lonzo Ball and instead are in love with Josh Jackson and they may have given Jackson their promise they will take him at 2.  With that being said, if the Lakers take Jackson, an unhappy ball-dominant Lonzo Ball and company would be sitting there for the 76ers at 3 OR my 2nd favorite player in this draft Kentucky G De'Aaron Fox would be just happy to play basketball alongside 76ers rookie phenom Center Joel Embiid.  There are many other options and possibilities the team could go at 3 or further down if they decided to trade back, but for my argument's sake I am going to leave it between Ball and Fox.

• De'Aaron Fox is an ultra-speedy, athletic PG who stands at 6'4, 187 pounds and can drive to the basket at will, while being an elite defender similarly to the aforementioned Kansas SF Josh Jackson.  Fox was not mentioned as a Top-5 talent most of the season until it came down to tournament time as he stepped his game up, when to me it seemed that his back court buddy, Kentucky SG Malik Monk who is also making the leap into the NBA this year, did not show up when it mattered most.  Fox essentially made his mark in Kentucky's Sweet 16 demolishing of UCLA while holding G Lonzo Ball to only 10 points with his superior defensive skills, which many believed Fox was capable of going into the game.  That being said not only did he shut Ball down, but he exploded for 39 points, which was not predicted by many at all, even me.

• Here is where I will elaborate more on Fox's game and make my conjoining point that Ben Simmons is not/should not be the 76ers Point Guard moving forward.  The one thing DeAaron Fox and Ben Simmons are both lacking is a shot and the team needs a shooter or two who they can rely on.  De'Aaron Fox has shown in moments he can shoot (the Elite 8 game verse UNC for example), but is not as consistent as many would like, but there are two reasons why I think this can change.  The first and main reason why I think that Fox can improve his shot is that he had to defer to Malik Monk who in my opinion has an NBA comparison to Cleveland Cavaliers G J.R. Smith, a streak shooter who can be extremely hot or cold on any given night and does not have much else of an all-around game, which is something the 76ers can't afford at this time.  The other reason I believe Fox can improve is shot is because he has the size and physical skills and youth to where he can be molded into a better shooting Point Guard. To me Fox's abilities are rare for his size at the PG position, especially defensively and I think that type of talent is hard to pass up.  In regard to Simmons, I have gone against myself of last year and have realized the potential of what Simmons can do on the court is unlike many others who have ever played the game of basketball, let alone any type of talent that has called Philadelphia home.  Fortunately, but unfortunately with Simmons' ankle surgery that kept him sidelined for all of his rookie campaign, Simmons had time to work on his shot and hopefully there has been improvement, but I think we all know that he most likely will never be an elite shooter, especially from beyond the 3-point line and that is okay.  

• The problem here is that many are already assuming that Simmons will never get injured again after this and he will stay here and not be tempted to leave in 3 years when his rookie deal is up.  Now we don't know what the future will bring for any of us in life or in basketball, I mean we only have gotten 31 games out of Joel Embiid in three seasons so we know nothing is guaranteed, but that being said I don't think a talent like De'Aaron Fox should be passed up because he "may" not mesh with Ben Simmons who "may" not be on the court from time to time or "may" not be here in 3 years when the process is in stride.  The overall thought is that the almost 7 Foot tall Simmons will be the teams PG, potentially on both side of the ball as HC Brett Brown and GM Bryan Colangelo have both alluded to on multiple occasions.  Here is the thing, I trust Brett Brown more than I probably should and that is ok, but I do not agree that Ben should be the PG and that we should draft around him.  To me Simmons has the ability to be a much more dominant Draymond Green, because his skill set shows he can push the ball up the floor after getting a rebound by facilitating or driving to the basket with his size and speed.  Many have also said that Fox is ball-dominant such as Lonzo Ball and that neither can coexist with Ben Simmons, but Fox has shown he can defer to others or himself whenever necessary and knows how to play his role.  As high as a basketball IQ that Simmons is said to have Fox has shown me to have just as high of an IQ on the court and he knows and is confident in his strengths and weaknesses.  I believe Fox can run the offense from the point based off of what I've seen and think the team would be much better suited to have a traditional PG such as Fox run the offense from the top of the key compared to Simmons, who could do damage down low with his mid range game and getting to the basket alongside Joel Embiid who would cause a match-up nightmare for many smaller teams in the league.  The rule of thumb when it comes to drafting a prospect in any sport is BEST PLAYER AVAILABLE and DeAaron Fox is the "BPA" in this situation because he is a player in every sense of the word and the 76ers would be foolish to let him slip as his potential hasn't even been tapped yet in my opinion.