Are we done quibbling now? Because this really has nothing to do with the point of my comment.
Come on, man. You know me
I'm never quite done quibbling.
But the real answer to your question is, you can of course add Fultz and sign Howard, but this means you're preparing to let Thomas go next season.
Ha ha!
Another false dichotomy!
Because, no, there is no reason we can't draft Fultz, sign Hayward and re-sign Thomas.
The 'dichotomy' or trade-off with Thomas is against neither Fultz nor Hayward. It is really between Thomas, Avery, Marcus and the luxury tax threshold.
No rule prevents us from signing all of them. But it will cost. And the reality is that we likely won't retain all three.
But it seems to me if you are choosing who to keep between IT, AB & MS, letting go of the guy who in the last two seasons racked up more total Win Shares than the other two combined for their entire careers wouldn't be the smartest thing. But we'll just have to see how it all plays out.