The Markelle Fultz situation is something that has been unprecedented in sports. The Philadelphia 76ers’ first round draft pick, the first overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, has only played four games this season because of what the team called “right shoulder scapular muscle imbalance.”
For months, it appeared Fultz lost the ability to do the one thing that he was able to better than any other player in his draft class: shoot a three-pointer. After a strong NBA Summer League performance, Fultz came into training camp with a completely different shot.
After Fultz was sidelined for months to try to rebuild his shooting form, fans and media alike were skeptical, speculating that his shoulder was still hurt or that his problems were strictly mental. The team never ruled him out for the season although general manager Bryan Colangelo hinted that shutting him down was a possibility.
All of a sudden, though, Fultz’s shot has improved tremendously and looks about the same as his form from when he was playing college basketball at the University of Washington in the 2016-2017 season.
The question now is whether the Sixers should bring him back for the rest of the season.
Head coach Brett Brown was non-committal towards Fultz’s availability for the rest of the season.
“I truly don’t know,” Brown told Philly.com last week.
While some argue that Fultz returning to the lineup at this point in the season could hurt the team, since he is a rookie who needs the ball in his hands and would be joining a set rotation that is in rhythm just weeks away from competing in the playoffs.
But the Sixers have looked a bit tired down the stretch and Fultz would, without question, give the lineup a spark that they desperately need.
They do not have to worry about falling out of a playoff spot, since, as of this writing, their magic number to clinch a playoff spot is four— that is a combination of Sixers wins and Detroit Pistons losses. They also play just three teams that currently find themselves in playoff positions in their remaining 13 games.
They are going to be playing bad teams, so this is the perfect time to give Fultz an opportunity to get acclimated to game speed so he can contribute in the playoffs. By doing this, the team could give players such as Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid fewer minutes in their remaining games so they can be well-rested for the playoffs.
Going into the season, many fans would tell you that if we didn’t see players like Fultz, Simmons and Embiid continue to develop, regardless of what their record would be at the end of the season, the year would be a failure.
Hopefully the Sixers do not lose sight of that sentiment.
