If given the chance, the Philadelphia 76ers would love to reverse many of the franchise’s poor decisions in hindsight. One recent one was trading Jayson Tatum’s rights to the Boston Celtics for Markelle Fultz’s draft rights in 2017.
This trade may have been the difference between the Sixers being ousted year after year in the second round and winning the NBA championship. Tatum has gone on to become one of the NBA’s best players and is coming off a title run while Fultz is currently a free agent.
Fultz proved himself good enough that the Sixers could entertain bringing him back, but it’s fair to say that Tatum-for-Fultz was one of the most lopsided NBA trades in recent memory.
However, even if that deal ended in snake eyes for the Sixers, Bleacher Report was a little harsh on it compared to some other trades that fit a similar description over the last 25 years.
The infamous Tatum-Fultz ranked No. 14, one spot ahead of the Celtics setting back the Brooklyn Nets for years when they traded Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett for the Nets’ future in 2013. In other words, they considered that more important
Why the Fultz trade wasn’t as bad
On the one hand, it was a bad deal for the Sixers since Tatum panned out phenomenally as he has. On the other, it’s not like this trade ruined the Sixers. They still consistently made the playoffs and even had the best record in the conference at one point. The same cannot be said about the Nets when they made their trade with the Celtics.
Because of that Celtics-Nets trade, Brooklyn endured miserable seasons with no immediate upside because they agreed to give up high lottery picks for multiple years to Boston and Cleveland.
Because of that trade, the Celtics would have never been able to get Tatum had it never happened. Fultz may have been a dud, but he didn’t set the Sixers back. Pierce and Garnett were past their primes when the Nets got them, proving to set the Nets back for a long time.
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