The 2017 NBA Draft was an exciting time for the Philadelphia 76ers. They were coming off a season that brought the franchise some hope that the worst was over and that they could move forward in their rebuilding plan.
On top of that, they made a big trade with the Boston Celtics to move up and have the top pick in the draft. They had their eyes set on Washington product Markelle Fultz and they made the decision to roll with him with the first overall pick.
What ensued was one of the most bizarre tenures in history. From the shoulder injury to plenty of other off the court issues that made Fultz’s time in Philadelphia a disaster.
Meanwhile, the Celtics went with Jayson Tatum with the third pick, the pick the Sixers gave in order to move up, and Tatum has since blossomed into an All-Star. In a re-draft done by Bleacher Report, the Sixers correct that mistake.
B/R on Tatum:
Through two-plus years, Tatum was an undeniably promising two-way talent. He would have been in the top five of our re-draft if he’d only made marginal gains on the 15.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists he averaged in 2018-19, his age-20 season.
Now that he’s a hyperefficient three-point shooter, an ace ball-handler in the pick-and-roll and a legitimate high-usage, high-volume star who, incredibly, scrapped mid-rangers in favor of threes and layups on a whim, there’s only one draft slot for him: the first one.
Tatum ranks in the 92nd percentile in points per play on 5.8 possessions per game as a pick-and-roll ball-handler this season, up from the 72nd percentile on just 2.4 possessions per game in 2018-19. Among players who have attempted at least 200 pull-up threes on the season, only Damian Lillard (40.1 percent) is more accurate than Tatum (39.9 percent).
The Sixers are still a contender without Tatum, but imagine an efficient 3-point shooter next to Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid–like they should have next to the star duo–rather than a guy who plays the same position as Simmons. The Fultz pick is not the worst draft decision made in franchise history, but it will go down as one of the worst. [lawrence-related id=30944,30923,30930]