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A day after indicating they're all in on another deep playoff run by landing Tobias Harris from the Los Angeles Clippers, the Philadelphia 76ers stole the show yet again on Thursday, reviving everyone's favorite NBA mystery just minutes before the 2019 trade deadline with a deal involving you-know-who -- Markelle Fultz.
As ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski first reported, the Sixers are sending their former No. 1 overall pick to the Orlando Magic.
The return is decent, considering Fultz is closer to being an absolute unknown than he was when he entered the league: Jonathon Simmons, a first-round pick and second-round pick. But it's not the trade value that has everyone talking. It's the mere fact that Fultz's story has taken its most dramatic turn yet. Twitter, predictably, exploded as soon as the news dropped:
Fultz, of course, may go down as one of the Sixers' most prominent first-round busts in team history. Either due to shoulder injuries or mental hiccups, both of which had drawn blame for a viral regression in shooting technique, the former Washington Huskies star went No. 1 overall to Philadelphia in 2017, when the 76ers traded up two spots to select him, but played in just 33 total games for the team. He became the NBA's youngest player to ever record a triple-double as a 19-year-old rookie and opened 2018-19 as Philly's starting shooting guard. By November, however, after a series of additional on-court lapses, including an incredibly awkward free throw, he removed himself from action in order to tend to ongoing shoulder issues.
