Philadelphia 76ers: Markelle Fultz’s shot progression, Summer League updates
By Derek Hryn
After acquiring three new guards in the 2018 NBA Draft, the Philadelphia 76ers shift their attention back to the offseason progress of Markelle Fultz.
Over the weekend, videos of Philadelphia 76ers guard Markelle Fultz showing off his ball-handling ability (via SnapChat) surfaced on the Internet.
As the video shows, Fultz can do some serious damage when putting the ball on the floor. He averaged 7.1 points, 3.8 assists, and 3.1 rebounds in 18 minutes played per game last season — a pretty adequate showing in a measly 14 games played, but certainly not eye-popping numbers for a No. 1 overall pick.
Fultz’s name was rumored to be in trade talks last week leading up to the 2018 NBA Draft. Whether they were true or not, the Sixers still have high expectations for Fultz as they hope for his breakout campaign to come in year two.
Although it is encouraging to see Fultz working on his craft in what seems to be fantastic health, he still hasn’t swayed any concerns about his future in the NBA. Fans would much rather see a few snippets of how his shot is coming along — one that he so abruptly lost before the beginning of last season.
Philly.com’s Keith Pompey caught up with head coach Brett Brown on his recent visit with Fultz in Los Angeles.
Brown speaks highly of Fultz’s development at this stage of his career, but the possibility of him being the Sixers’ headliner for the team’s upcoming NBA Summer League session doesn’t sound too promising.
The 20-year-old combo guard saw very little time on the floor this past season, and not much more in the playoffs. So it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if he received some quality in-game minutes to reconcile with that killer scoring mentality. In fact, it could be the best therapy for him right now.
The kid needs to get his swagger back — sooner rather than later. The question now is, can he get it to where it was last summer?
The Fultz from about a year ago clearly doesn’t exist at the moment — whether that is a positive or negative remains to be seen.
One thing is for sure though. You can’t improve if you don’t play.
Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid are the only untouchable members of the Sixers at this time. In the beginnings of what will undoubtedly be a very aggressive offseason, Fultz could quickly be in trade talks if he hasn’t been already. It would be in his best interest to take advantage of these games coming up in July.
The Sixers believe Fultz can still become the player that they envisioned when they selected him first overall a year ago. It will all begin with the help of Fultz’s trainer Drew Hanlen, who has also worked closely with Joel Embiid and other notable players over the years.
Hanlen recently relayed his synopsis on Fultz’s status to the “Talking Schmidt” podcast.
https://twitter.com/JeffSkversky/status/1011061419608039430
If Hanlen can follow through on his promise to successfully mend the shot of Fultz, the people of Philadelphia will owe him a great deal of gratitude.
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Until then, Fultz and the Sixers must carefully consider every option before making any rash decisions — from now until next season.