By: Kylan W. Watson

               The Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers, completed a trade that sent the 76ers the number one pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft. The Celtics receive the 76ers number 3 pick for this year’s draft and a very well protected first round pick for 2018’s NBA draft that the Sixers received from the Lakers in 2016. This means that the Sixers will take Washington guard Markelle Fultz. Fultz may just be the missing piece to complete the process for the Sixers and their fans.

This will be the second consecutive year that the Sixers will have the number one pick. They picked Ben Simmons with the number one pick in last year’s draft. Simmons never played a game for the Sixers last year, as he wound up injuring his foot during summer league play last year.

Fultz will be a great complementary player to work with Ben Simmons, he can play with or without the ball, this will help the Sixers who seem very adamant about Simmons’ starting at Point Guard for the 2017-2018 NBA season.

A huge weakness in Simmons game is that he cannot shoot. Simmons is a slasher who is a great paint player, but not a good shooter. During his college career Simmons shot an abysmal 16.8% shooting percentage.  Fultz had a 38.6 shooting percentage. Meaning he is a far better shooter than Simmons and he can spread the floor.

If the 76ers take Fultz with the number one pick, they will officially have a homegrown big three with Fultz, Simmons, and Embiid. The Sixers top three picks from the last three years. The Sixers and their fans are hoping that Fultz can be the first Sixers rookie to play a full year of his rookie season. If Fultz can mesh well with Embiid and Simmons who have injury concerns of their own, The Sixers can be a dominant team  who can challenge for Eastern Conference supremacy.

The Process seems like it is close to being fulfilled, and Fultz might be the player to end the process and start the age of the Sixers.