By Jack Fritz, Sports Talk Philly editor
My guess is, if you've seen any people opposed to trading up for Markelle Fultz, that their main argument against the move was that Fultz went 9-22 in college thus proving that he's not a winner and will never win in the NBA. Boom, roasted. End of story.
While yes, Fultz lost in historically bad fashion for a consensus number one overall pick, the notion that this will predict his NBA future is downright absurd and a laughable point to bring up.
My main problem with this take is that it's pure laziness. It's laziness from the standpoint that these people didn't watch those games and laziness from the standpoint that they haven't done any research on the kid and his background.
Fultz chose to go to Washington because when he was on junior varsity they were one of the first teams to believe in him. Fultz is a loyal cat and he rewards loyalty. So yes, he chose to go to Washington because 1.) they had produced some good NBA players, 2.) they were one of the first schools to recruit him and 3.) he had planned on playing with eventual first rounders, Marquese Chriss and Dejounte Murray. Fultz didn't de-commit or nothing, he went to Washington to try and make a team with little talent good– a task that didn't seem possible.
Here's another thing.
If Fultz takes the easy way out and commits to Duke, Kentucky, UNC or Kansas no one gives a crap about this false narrative that is being thrown out there. He wins 30+ games with superior teammates and Boston probably doesn't even think about trading this pick. I actually respect him more for trying something different and even though it was a trying year for Fultz, I bet he learned a lot more playing at Washington than he could have playing at one of the blue bloods.
The whole "Fultz isn't a winner" thing can be debunked even more.
Check out this tweet from Draft Express's Mike Schmitz:
Fultz: 5-0 @ '16 FIBA Americas, 33-5 as a SR @ DeMatha, 4-0 @ '15 Adidas Nations. Chriss/Murray unexpected 1& dones https://t.co/l1kvpf4bCD
— Mike Schmitz (@Mike_Schmitz) June 18, 2017
He was the best player on that FIBA World Championship team that included the likes of Josh Jackson and Jayson Tatum. He was named MVP of the tournament, averaging 13.8 points, 5.2 assists and 3.2 steals per game, and would routinely take over when the USA team needed it the most.
Here's what B.J Johnson the Assistant Director of USA Basketball had to say about Fultz:
"There's a couple guys I've seen over the years who get better when there's more pressure and more at stake, and he's one of them," BJ Johnson, assistant director of USA Basketball, told SB Nation. "I heard a comment on the bench from one of the players to just put the ball in his hands. When you have that level of respect from a group of kids that can really play, he's in a great situation to be a natural leader."
Again, HE'S NOT A LEADER OR A WINNER.
If you're still questioning whether or not Fultz "gets it" read this profile on TheRinger.com from March.
Markelle Fultz is not Ben Simmons, although their situations may appear similar to an outsider. Fultz has been considered the top 2017 NBA draft prospect for most of this season, one in which he’s averaging 23.2 points, 5.9 assists, 5.7 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game while his Washington team has registered an abysmal 9–19 record, including a 2–14 mark in Pac-12 play, heading into Wednesday night’s matchup with UCLA. Knowing this, it may be tempting to think that Fultz is counting down the days until he can leave Seattle in his rearview mirror and jump to the NBA. If you’ve never seen him play, you might even think that the Huskies are bad due to Fultz (and a presumed prima donna attitude) and not in spite of his greatness. If you have seen him play, you might come away thinking his calming demeanor borders on lackadaisical. No matter how you slice it, Fultz is a potential no. 1 pick who plays for a team that sucks, which means there’s nothing he can do to win over college basketball fans.
And that’s a damn shame because Fultz didn’t choose Washington with an indifference toward his pit-stop season and the rationale that he might as well play somewhere he could do whatever the hell he wants. The opposite, in fact, is true: He chose the Huskies because he did care. He cared that Washington was the first program to really believe in him, back when he was on DeMatha Catholic High School’s junior varsity team as a sophomore. (Get ready to hear that story a million times between now and June.) He cared that Washington’s coaching staff talked to him about more than basketball during the recruiting process and took his aspirations to be an accountant seriously, because he thinks getting his degree is important. He cared about trying to lead Washington to the Final Four for the first time since 1953, a goal that was always outlandish but provides some insight into how he approached this season.
This talking point is so absurd and it's a point that we should really be talking about.
Why must we put down good things that happen in this city?
The final point I want to make is that if you think Fultz isn't a winner or can't make anyone his team better just go watch a full game of his. He would routinely be coming off screens and immediately be double or triple teamed. When he would show off his impressive vision the ball would just clank off his teammates hands. You should watch him and salivate at what he can do with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons cutting to the rim and not be like, "well, he doesn't make anyone around him better."
Getting Markelle Fultz is a godsend to this city.
He's the perfect fit around Ben and Joel and guess what? He really, really wants to be here.
Let's celebrate that. Let's be excited about what this kid can do with actually competent players around him. And finally, let's watch this thing grow into something special.
Let's not point out the lazy narrative that he's not a winner because that's simply not true.
