A “fake first” from the Oklahoma City Thunder and Jonathon Simmons, an eleventh man on an expiring contract who had fallen out of the rotation to Wesley Iwundu: that’s all it took to change the course for the Orlando Magic franchise. Orlando hadn’t had a point guard they could count on night in and night out since Jameer Nelson, unless you’d like to count last season’s career shooting year for DJ Augustin or the never-ending hope of potential that was Elfrid Payton. Over a decade into the hand-check rules era, Orlando’s most glaring position of need was somehow at the deepest position in the league: a point guard.

Leaving the scoring creator role vacant in a time where teams’ backcourts were so talented they’re playing 3-guard lineups to take advantage of the ball-skills, passing, and spacing available in today’s game left Magic fans puzzled. The most common gripe being to ask the new front office , “why are you passing on guard prospect X to draft another lengthy forward?” Even if legitimate criticisms at the time, Orlando’s front office, led by Jeff Weltman and John Hammond, know the type of prospect they believe is likeliest to develop into a rotation player at the next level: High-character, lengthy defenders with basketball IQ who show a team-first mindset on both ends and flash developable ball-skills, whether that be handles, passing, or shooting; or, if nothing else, the longest available wingspan on the board. So far in their Orlando Magic tenure, Weltman and Hammond have brought in Jonathan Isaac, Mo Bamba, Chuma Okeke, Melvin Frazier, Wesley Iwundu, and Justin Jackson through the draft, while notably being the tag-team front office who drafted Giannis Antetokoumnpo in Milwaukee; Magic fans should come to expect this wingspan mindset on draft day for the foreseeable future.

On Feb. 7th, 2019, the gripes were answered; The Orlando Magic traded Jonathon Simmons and a protected OKC first-rounder to the Philadelphia 76ers for their first overall pick from 2017, Markelle Fultz.

How did the former number one pick of a year and a half prior become available at such a low price? Endless speculation led up to this breaking point: questions about his inconsistent role in the rotation, public misunderstanding of what was ailing Markelle to begin with, whether it be physical, mental, or both; and, rumors emerging of what happened to his shoulder. (the motorbike conspiracy was Markelle’s favorite, too) Where was the prospect who hit five triples a game at 41% from downtown in his lone collegiate season at the University of Washington? Fultz found the answer he was looking for when a doctor suggested TOS (thoracic outlet syndrome) as a possible diagnosis, a rare injury usually held for baseball pitchers. Finally with some understanding of the situation at hand, Markelle was ready to begin rehabbing the right way. Reports emerged that Fultz became unhappy with how The Sixers were handling his findings and rehab plans, before the final straw that broke the camel’s back reportedly came in the form of a benching to TJ McConnell, when Philadelphia was determining its playoff rotation. From the outside, it seemed The Sixers were more focused on that year’s playoff run than they were on helping their first overall pick rehabilitate from a devastating injury.

The truth probably lies in the middle; maybe Markelle wasn’t forthright in making his injury rehab plans clear, maybe Philadelphia wasn’t as aware of Fultz’ injury and general concerns as they should have been, maybe the relationship was too far gone, or maybe the Sixers were so focused on the task at hand with their freshly minted core of Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris that they prioritized a win-now mindset over the long-term well-being of their final prize from Hinkie’s Process. Whether Markelle Fultz’ eventual 30-for-30 reveals this reason or not, it didn’t matter to Orlando; The Magic were happy to be the team to take the Markelle and run.

There’s a chance Orlando’s front office caught a glimpse behind the scenes of what Markelle was going through while he was in Philadelphia. Fultz’ agent, Raymond Brothers, happened to also represent multiple Magic players at the time. (DJ Augustin, Jerian Grant, and future Magician Al-Farouq Aminu) Not that Orlando knew some secret that the public didn’t, but it doesn’t hurt to have direct access to a player’s agent who represents a player on another team, especially when the outside world around that player is so noisy. Hearing Fultz’ side of the story, his ideal injury rehab plan, and any other concerns or expectations first-(or, at least, a close second)-hand has incredible value as a resource when evaluating trade value. This communication channel could be seen as a “loop-hole” according to tampering by-laws, but that’s up for the league to decide; Orlando’s front office did the research, liked what they found, and made the call.

The assets given up held little-to-no long-term value, so there was no downside; Weltman and Hammond could have easily had as much blind optimism when making the trade as Magic fans did when reading the news of it. Even if Orlando’s only recon was Fultz’ collegiate profile that earned him “clear-cut first-overall pick” status in his draft class, that potential alone was worth exploring. Markelle’s ceiling was a two-way, scoring, playmaking star; now, not only could he live up to that potential, he’d be filling the vacancy of Orlando’s most glaring position of need while doing so. Orlando’s front office following that trade up months later by accepting Fultz’ team option before Markelle even stepped on a court for the team felt like a move of assured confidence more than blind hope; surely something positive was seen in closed workouts over the summer to make that multi-million dollar commitment. Other than that time where Pat Williams and John Gabriel notoriously swapped Chris Webber for Penny Hardaway and three future first round picks, the Markelle Fultz trade could go down as the biggest heist in Orlando Magic history.