Had to look twice when skimming the NBA box scores this morning.

Orlando Magic 119, Los Angeles Lakers 118.

At Staples Center.

And then you scroll down to see:

Markelle Fultz – 21 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists. His second career triple-double in a road win against the best team in the Western Conference.

He was doing stuff like this:

Did the Sixers give up on him too early?

I don’t think so.

First of all, he’s better playing point guard and creating with the ball in his hands. Keeping him here as an off-ball two-guard with Ben Simmons was always going to be questionable, and his best performances as a Sixer were when he played backup point guard was able to drive play in his own way. He’s not shooting well enough from three this year to be a quality SG on the Sixers’ roster.

Second, his salary would have really affected how the squad was built this year. Not sure both the Al Horford and Josh Richardson moves would have been possible with Markelle’s contract on the books, and while we can argue retroactively whether or not Horford made sense, the point is that Elton Brand would have had less flexibility when factoring in Fultz’s salary. There were question marks in multiple spots.

Plus, maybe he just needed a change of scenery. Maybe the Sixers needed a clean break, too. If the situation was untenable, but still amicable, then the trade probably helped both parties in the end.