Checking in on Markelle Fultz since his return to the Orlando Magic

Checking in on Markelle Fultz since his return to the Orlando Magic: Team effect

In fact, since Fultz has come back, the Magic rank seventh (110.1) in defensive efficiency. As much as Fultz has always looked like a potentially elite two-way guard, this isn’t all because of him. Carter Jr. is having a career year and looks like an ideal long-term solution as the man in the middle for the franchise.

Fultz might not quite be back up to speed as a one-on-one defender, but his basketball IQ means he has fit seamlessly into what the team is trying to do as a whole on that end. Whereas Anthony is tenacious and Suggs is still very much offense first, Fultz silently goes about this business shifting across the court and diligently trying to guard anybody that he can.

He doesn’t always succeed and the sample size is small and has other variables playing a part, but it is worth noticing. If head coach Jamahl Mosley is going to build a roster full of athletic freaks who can hound opponents right across the court, Fultz and his way of going about defending in a team scheme will be huge to their ultimate success defensively.

So after less than a dozen games, it is as you were with Fultz, and that is excellent news. The Magic don’t look like a team that will take a guard with their lottery pick this summer, and on the basis of the players available to them, they won’t need to. Markelle Fultz is back, is the same as he ever was, and is already contributing in positive ways on both ends of the court.