25-under-25: Markelle Fultz at No. 16

The Step Back is rolling out its 25-under-25 list over the next two days. Follow along with our rankings of the top 25 players under the age of 25.

With apologies to Michael Carter-Williams, T.J. McConnell and Ish Smith (among others), the 76ers haven’t trotted out an above-average point guard since Jrue Holiday ran the team back in 2012-13.

Thanks to Markelle Fultz, that’s all about to change.

After years of shameless tanking, the 76ers pivoted toward competitiveness this offseason. Former general manager Sam Hinkie eschewed a short-term focus on wins to assemble an unmatched collection of young talent, as the league’s current contract structure makes it imperative for franchises to unearth their own stars via the draft. Once Joel Embiid demonstrated flashes of being one such cornerstone this past season, current team president Bryan Colangelo felt comfortable cashing in some of the chips Hinkie assembled to move up two spots in the draft to get Fultz.

Although an ankle injury cut short the Washington product’s time at Summer League, he justified the 76ers’ investment during his limited time on the court. The creativity he demonstrated generating offense for himself and his teammates drew praise from none other than reigning NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant, a fellow Maryland native.

Lonzo Ball, Jayson Tatum or Josh Jackson may have more long-term upside, but it isn’t difficult to understand why the 76ers preferred Fultz at No. 1. As Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman noted, Fultz was the only college freshman in the past 25 years to average at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists while shooting north of 40 percent from 3-point range. Though his Washington squad finished a disappointing 9-22 on the year, Fultz still led the Pac-12 in player efficiency rating, assist percentage and points produced per game, according to Sports Reference.

In today’s NBA, shooting reigns supreme. When facing point guards who lack a consistent long-range stroke, such as Carter-Williams, Elfrid Payton or Ricky Rubio, opponents can cheat off of them defensively to provide help elsewhere. Until a point guard proves capable of reliably drilling shots from deep, opposing floor generals will dare them to take those shots, crimping the rest of the team’s offensive spacing.

The 76ers learned that the hard way with MCW and Smith, in particular. While the latter fed a steady diet of lobs to Nerlens Noel, losses began mounting when opponents stopped paying respect to Philadelphia’s non-shooting lead guards. In turn, the team has ranked dead last in offensive efficiency over each of the past four seasons, nullifying whatever gains it made defensively.

With Fultz and fellow de facto rookie Ben Simmons in the fold, that should no longer be the case for Philadelphia.

While head coach Brett Brown has repeatedly insisted Simmons will begin the year as the 76ers’ full-time point guard, Fultz’s ability to operate both on and off the ball will prove invaluable for the up-and-coming squad. Unlike Simmons, who shot just 1-of-3 from 3-point land during his lone season at LSU, Fultz possesses the type of downtown shooting ability that will make him a dangerous catch-and-shoot threat. Asking opponents to stop a Simmons-Fultz pick-and-roll is a pick-your-poison scenario with no correct outcome.

Fultz should also benefit from playing alongside Embiid, one of the league’s highest-upside young players, provided the big man can remain healthy. If a Simmons-Fultz pick-and-roll is unguardable, what on God’s green earth should foes do against a Fultz-Embiid combination? Both players can just as easily step outside and hit a 3 as they can roll to the basket, making that duo damn near unguardable on paper.

With Robert Covington, free-agent signee J.J. Redick and Nik Stauskas spotting up around the perimeter, Fultz will have no shortage of 3-point shooting outlets at his disposal this coming season. If NBA rookies are largely products of their circumstances, Fultz is walking into a far greater bounty of riches than usual for a typical No. 1 overall pick. While he trails Simmons, Ball and Mavericks point guard Dennis Smith Jr. in Rookie of the Year odds, individual accolades aren’t his focus heading into his debut campaign.

“I think we’ve all got the same goal in mind: Get back to the playoffs,” he told Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.com. “That’s good to know everybody’s on the same page.”

Only two of the 39 rookies NBA.com spoke with for its annual rookie survey projected Fultz to have the best career of anyone in this year’s draft class, as his fellow classmates favored Ball, Tatum, Jackson, Smith and No. 5 pick De’Aaron Fox over him. Considering what the 76ers gave up to get him — this year’s third overall pick along with a lightly protected future first-rounder from either the Lakers or Kings — such an outcome would seem disastrous on paper. But with Embiid and Simmons in tow, the Sixers didn’t need to swing for the fences on a higher-risk, higher-upside prospect than Fultz at No. 1.

Even if Fultz doesn’t have the ceiling of Ball, Tatum, Jackson or Fox — and the jury remains decidedly out on that front — his floor is considerably higher. If one were to design a point guard in a laboratory for today’s NBA, he’d look frighteningly similar to Fultz, who stands 6-foot-4 with a 6-foot-10 wingspan. The 19-year-old will need to improve his decision-making offensively and his on-ball defense over the coming years, but no prospect is a finished product at his age. Along with the rest of Philadelphia’s young core, Fultz will have the opportunity to round out his game as he takes his early lumps.

Next: 25-under-25 -- The best young players in the NBA

It’s premature to call the 76ers the NBA’s next great franchise, as question marks abound particularly with regard to health. After all, Embiid and Simmons have played a combined 31 games out of a possible 328 to date, and Fultz couldn’t even emerge unscathed from Summer League. But if all breaks right for Philadelphia, Fultz will be the third leg of a young Big Three poised to make noise throughout the 2020s.

Trust the Process yet?