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Orlando Magic: Grading Markelle Fultz’s 2019-20 NBA season

By Luke Duffy

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA - AUGUST 24: Markelle Fultz #20 of the Orlando Magic brings the ball up court against the Milwaukee Bucks in the first half of Game Four during the first round of the playoffs at The Field House at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 24, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ashley Landis-Pool/Getty Images)
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA - AUGUST 24: Markelle Fultz #20 of the Orlando Magic brings the ball up court against the Milwaukee Bucks in the first half of Game Four during the first round of the playoffs at The Field House at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 24, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ashley Landis-Pool/Getty Images) /
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Orlando Magic (Photo by Ashley Landis-Pool/Getty Images) /

Markelle Fultz’s weaknesses

At the risk of beating Fultz over the head with what has already been a well-established weakness, his shooting stroke and willingness to shoot in general look like they will be the biggest drawback in his arsenal for some time to come yet. Having seen all the good he can do though, this is not the issue it looked like it could be before this season.

Nevertheless, defenders often sag off Fultz because they’re happy with him taking jumpers and in particular 3-point shots. Which doesn’t tell the whole story because, despite having some ugly form much of the time, the midrange of Fultz looks like something that could be a strength in time for him.

His crafty ability to get into the paint and then pull up led to some success for him during the year. Shooting 26.7 percent from deep is ugly though, and while he just about gets a pass for this given his well-documented shooting struggles, that number just has to improve in the future. Fultz will likely never be a consistent threat from deep.

But he needs to do better than that. Much has been made in recent years about the link between free throw shooting and 3-point shooting, and if that is the case then Fultz needs to get better at his percentage from the charity stripe as well (73.0 percent last season). He also needs to get to the line more than 2.2 times per game as well.

If Fultz is going to be known as an elite penetrator, and that looks much more likely than becoming a deadeye from deep, then getting to the free throw line and hitting a higher percentage of shots there is the next step. It will also feed into the other main weakness of his from last season. The pedestrian numbers he posted.

12.1 points and 5.1 assists are fine. To be fair, given where Fultz was at before the season began, fine will do for year one, so maybe we’re being too harsh here. But to watch him play it just looks like he’s capable of giving more pretty much every night but seems to be holding himself back. Becoming more aggressive then is something that needs to be worked on going forward.

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