The Sixers have traded the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft and one of two future picks from either the Lakers (2018) or the Kings (2019) to the Celtics for the No. 1 overall pick this year in order to select Markelle Fultz out of Washington. Fultz seems to be a great fit for what the Sixers need, as a scoring point guard that figures to fit nicely alongside Ben Simmons — a facilitator more than shooter — in the backcourt.
The trade has been generally accepted by most draft pundits as a either fair to both sides or even possibly leaning towards the Sixers, considering the unknown of the future pick being sent to Boston. However, Bob Brookover isn’t a fan of the move for Philly.
Brookover is a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, and my man Bob decided to fire up the hot take cannon with regards to the Fultz trade by blasting Fultz for not being a winner. This has been floated as one of the reasons the Celtics were willing to pass on him, but the real reason this take is so scalding hot is what Brookover opens with in his lead.
Maybe someone should tell him Markelle Fultz was the MVP of the @usabasketball U18 gold medal team last summer pic.twitter.com/lRuQ2LFATv
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) June 19, 2017
I confess that I have never seen Markelle Fultz play a basketball game and I was not at his 76ers workout Saturday in Camden. Still, it is hard to stamp a seal of approval on what the franchise is about to do.
That’s the real good stuff right there. Openly admit that you’ve never seen a single second of Markelle Fultz playing basketball in the first line of a column about Markelle Fultz, the basketball player, and his value. I love that he has the audacity to do this, and, to be honest, it’s appreciated.
I don’t want to paint newspaper columnists with a broad brush and slam them all, because there are some that do legitimately good work. However, there are plenty that pop in to write an assertive column about a team that they hardly ever go watch or talk to.
Usually, they act as though they’re an authority on the subject, even if they aren’t, but Brookover doesn’t even bother with the lie. He’s up front with not knowing a lot about the subject he’s been tasked with writing about, but he’s a professional, dammit, and he’s gonna bring the fire takes whether they’re ready to be pulled out of the oven or not.
Trading for Fultz might end up not working. Fultz might struggle in the league and never pan out as the final piece in The Process that leads the Sixers to the promised land, but if that happens, it’s probably not because he “isn’t a winner” and it most certainly won’t prove someone that threw a half-baked take against the wall correct.
