4. Traded for the No. 1 overall pick AND selected Markelle Fultz (2017)
Danny Ainge held the cards ahead of the 2017 NBA Draft. His team owned the Brooklyn Nets’ first-round pick that year from the Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett trade, which became the No. 1 overall pick that year. The Lakers owned the second pick. The Philadelphia 76ers had the third pick.
Most draft experts expected the first pick to be between the University of Washington’s high-scoring combo guard Markelle Fultz, 6-6 UCLA point guard Lonzo Ball, and talented Duke swingman Jayson Tatum. Ainge wanted Jayson Tatum the whole time.
He knew how badly the Sixers wanted Fultz. Philly needed a guard. Ainge also knew that the Los Angeles Lakers would get killed if they didn’t take UCLA’s Lonzo Ball. “Trader Danny” then struck a deal that would make the late-Red Auerbach proud.
He traded the No. 1 overall pick to the 76ers for the No. 3 pick and Philly’s first-round pick in 2019 (Romeo Langford). The Sixers took Fultz, the Lakers selected Ball, and Ainge got his guy in Jayson Tatum at No. 3.
Most draft experts thought Fultz had the ability to be a perennial All-Star. Fultz was said to have suffered a mysterious shoulder injury four games into his rookie season that kept him out until the last ten games of that year. It looked like Fultz had a case of the “yips” and lost his ability to shoot the basketball.
Fultz played in only 33 games over two seasons in Philadelphia before being traded to the Orlando Magic. Jayson Tatum helped lead the Celtics to within one game of the 2018 NBA Finals in his rookie season and has been a perennial All-Star since.
The 76ers may have ended up taking Fultz if they stayed at No. 3 anyway. Or, they could have selected a different guard – like DeAaron Fox OR Donovan Mitchell.