Philly Front Office

The reigning #3 pick in the NBA Draft has been tearing it up for the Philadelphia 76ers. VJ Edgecombe has been a godsend. Frankly, we deserved it. For a whole generation, the #3 pick in the NBA Draft was in some ways more revered than any other. All of us 80’s and 90’s children correlate the #3 pick with greatness, specifically Michael Jordan. It wasn’t until LeBron James restored the glory to the #1 pick that things changed. Unfortunately, other than Joel Embiid, the #3 pick has a sad recent history for us and I mean specifically in reference to the Boston Celtics.

Friday, October 31st, 2025 at 7:00p – Sixers vs Boston Celtics

XFinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, PA

On June 28, 2013, the Brooklyn Nets screwed up the NBA by trading for Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Jason Terry and sending 3 future first round picks (2014, 2016, and 2018) and a pick swap (2017) to the Celtics. Two of those four picks ended up being two of the best players in the NBA and, no, we are not talking about James Young and Colin Sexton.

Before we get to them though, the Sixers were selecting third overall in the 2015 draft. After Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell went #1 and #2, that unfortunately left Jahlil Okafor for the Sixers. Okafor’s time in Philly went terribly, but people forget that he had a solid rookie season. In fact, it was so successful that the Celtics came calling for the former #3 pick at the 2016 Trade Deadline. Apparently, they were incredibly close to making a deal for the 2016 Brooklyn pick Boston owned. Rumor has it that the deal was done, but it was vetoed by Sixers ownership due to the seemingly bleak state of the franchise in the Process years. No deal was made. The pick ended up at #3 and the Celtics selected Jaylen Brown. Okafor got himself into a lot of trouble, lost his way and his job, and is now out of the league.

The following year, the Sixers owned the #3 pick themselves thanks to a previous trade with the Sacramento Kings. Back in 2015, the Kings wanted to shed salary and traded a future first round pick and a pick swap to the Sixers. Flash ahead 2 years and the Sixers landed the 5th spot in the draft. However, the foresight to include that pick swap in the trade paid off with these picks swapping. Boston had a nice swap of their own. The Nets had won the lottery, but their pick was controlled by the Celtics. Boston would have the #1 pick.

The consensus top prospect that year was Markelle Fultz. Fultz was a 3-level scoring point guard who seemed to fit like a dream next to Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid with the Sixers. Too bad there was no way to get him at #3. This is a good time to remind everyone to, as always, be wary of Danny Ainge’s bearing gifts.

I don’t know if Ainge called up Sixers GM Bryan Colangelo first or it happened the other way around, but a few days before the draft, the framework of a deal for the Sixers and Celtics to swap the #1 for #3 pick was agreed upon. The Sixers would have their man, Markelle Fultz and Armageddon would reign down upon the internet.

How come none of us, from Sixers fans to Sixers brass, stopped to think about why the Celtics would make this trade? At this point, the Celtics had met with Fultz in person, and, for some reason, after that meeting they were ready to deal. That’s a HUGE red flag! The Sixers eventually met with him too, but only after the trade went down.

At this point, there are only two possibilities. Either the Sixers didn’t see anything amiss with Fultz or they did and drafted him anyway. I’m not sure which is worse. If they didn’t see what the Celtics saw (and what everyone else would come to see throughout his career), then they are horrible at judging talent. If they did see it and still selected him just to save face, that’s malpractice.

It’s my firm belief that there was simply no way the Celtics were taking Fultz at #1. It was Tatum or bust for them, but they rolled the dice that they could fleece Colangelo and the Sixers for #3 and Jayson Tatum. They were right. If only Colangelo had the guts to be Sonny Weaver in Draft Day (I reference this movie way too much). He screwed up by trading for the #1 pick, but he knew a bad prospect when he saw one and refused to pull the trigger. That lack of professional honesty cost the Sixers everything and won the Celtics a title.

On two different occasions with the #3 pick in back-to-back years, the Sixers and Celtics crossed paths. One year they made a trade and one year they didn’t. It turned up roses for the Celtics both times and it made all the difference.