Celtics are still laughing at how they duped their rivals who are still suffering

It has been almost a decade since one of the most critical trades in the history of both the Celtics and 76ers, and yet both teams are still feeling the impact. Boston famously scored the top pick in the 2017 NBA draft, but flipped it to the 76ers for the third overall pick and another first-rounder the next season.

The rest is history as the Sixers happily took Markelle Fultz with the top pick, while the Celtics “settled for” Jayson Tatum at number three. Celtics fans should never stop relishing this stroke of mastery by Danny Ainge and the team’s front office, while fans of the Sixers will likely never live this down.

And as if they needed more reminders, they got one again on Monday as Fultz popped back into the news, being signed to a 10-day contract by the Raptors after spending time with their G League team recently.

It’s a sad story for Fultz, who looked like an all-time guard prospect, but was hampered by one issue after another, never coming close to reaching his NBA potential. It would be nice, on a personal level, to see him find success in the league and rebuild his once-promising career, but sadly, this may be his last chance.

Joyous memories for Celtics are agonizing for Sixers

Hearing Fultz’s name will always elicit joy from Celtics fans who thought for sure that Markelle was coming to Boston to resurrect the franchise. Instead, Ainge had it right all along, targeting Tatum, who has become one of the best Celtics of all time.

For Philly, on the other hand, this was a complete disaster for the franchise. Fultz was supposed to be the final piece in a young core along with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. But he quickly struggled with his shot and developed a bizarre shoulder injury that never allowed him to get off the ground in Philadelphia. 

In just his second season, the 76ers gave up on the guy who was supposed to be the franchise superstar of the next decade and dealt him to the Magic. In Orlando, he started to become a solid role player, but a torn ACL in 2021 derailed things even further to the point where he’s now struggling to stay in the league at just 27 years old.

Meanwhile, the 76ers are still trying to recover and still haven’t found that right mix of players to get them past round two of the playoffs for the first time since Allen Iverson was leading the way. Then we have Boston, who just got JT back from a torn achilles and is looking to make the Eastern Conference Finals for the sixth time in nine seasons since the legendary 2017 draft.

This is just the latest example and reminder about how badly Ainge and the Celtics played the Sixers, and how both teams are still feeling the effects. It’s also a reminder for Celtics fans to be grateful for what we have and how things very easily could have turned out a lot differently.