Orlando Magic: Organizational patience is paying off in Markelle Fultz’s real rookie season

The Orlando Magic rescued Markelle Fultz from a bad situation in Philadelphia, and it looks like their organizational patience is beginning to pay off.

You don’t often find a first overall draft-pick given up on by his team before his 21st birthday. Even the infamous bust of Anthony Bennett got a few months past his 21st birthday before the Cleveland Cavaliers shipped him out of town, but no such dignity was paid to Markelle Fultz before the Philadelphia 76ers moved him to the Orlando Magic.

With only 33 games under his belt and still below the legal drinking age in the United States, Markelle Fultz was deemed irredeemable by the Sixers and virtually dumped to the Magic 20 months after being selected first overall in the 2017 NBA draft.

There was a lot of pressure on the young Fultz in Philadelphia. The Sixers swapped with the Boston Celtics to move up from first to third to pick Fultz, even though the Celtics were clearly enamored with Jayson Tatum and probably would have simply drafted him anyway even if they couldn’t trade down, and the Los Angeles Lakers were locked in on Lonzo Ball at two no matter what the Celtics and Sixers did.

Before training camp of his rookie season, Fultz mysteriously became unable to shoot a basketball. Once a 41.3 percent 3-point shooter in college, simply watching him try to shoot the ball was a befuddling experience.

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Over time it became clear that it was a result of thoracic outlet syndrome (read this piece for more information on that), and the combination of a Sixers front office which refused to be straightforward, a medical staff which appears to have been out of its depth with a difficult to diagnose condition, and the pressures of a 19-year-old unable to deliver on the promise of potential to a championship contender spun the situation out of control.

Ironically, it may have been a failure of process that doomed Fultz’s time with the Philadelphia 76ers and led to his trade to the Orlando Magic. Considering the feverish expectations with the Sixers and the reduced pressure with the rebuilding Magic, the timeline for Markelle Fultz to recover both physically and mentally from his ordeal just fit better.

Now freed from the burdens that came from life in Philadelphia, Fultz had the opportunity to start fresh. He doesn’t have to find a way to be the connective tissue that make the duo of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid fit, he just has to work on reconstructing the player he once was and aims to be again.

It remains to be seen just what that player will end up being. Fultz was an excellent shooter in college at Washington and may never be able to recapture that skill on a reliable basis. He’s shooting just 27 percent from 3-point range, but he’s also firing away from distance on only 17.7 percent of his possessions.

While you’re trying to redevelop a crucial skill that you’ve lost confidence in, it makes all the sense in the world to deviate away from putting it to the test as you work your way back. That’s exactly what Markelle Fultz has done.

It’s also worth noting that he’s only taken 12 3-pointers from the corner this season, a paltry amount which could be by design as the Orlando Magic’s coaching and training staffs work him back into shape.

While his 3-point shooting is a long way from being back where he wants it, he still possesses the size, quickness and craft to get to the rim and he finishes well once he gets there. Fultz shoots 58.1 percent in and around the restricted area, a touch better than the league average of 57.9 percent.

Little by little his touch and playmaking are returning as well. He’s averaging 8.6 assists per 100 possessions, and his turnover percentage is a reasonable 15.1 percent.

Markell Fultz is for all intents and purposes a 2019-20 rookie. He played 33 games in his first two seasons with the Sixers and that experience did him far more harm than good. Given the old adage that rookies are never good, especially rookie point guards, Fultz could suddenly be considered to be ahead of schedule.

He even has the rare quality for a rookie (we’re going to consider him thusly from this point forward) of being a solid enough defender. Fultz has played reasonable defense for the Orlando Magic this season and his 2.3 percent steal rate.

The package isn’t fully functional yet, but a lot of the pieces are there. And for Fultz, the best part is that there is no rush and no pressure. He doesn’t have to be the missing link between two title-chasing young superstars, not yet at least.

For now, Markelle Fultz gets to just be Markelle Fultz, in whatever shape that might take.