You’ll be hard pressed to find someone as high on Markelle Fultz’s talent as me.
I believe in the speed, the athleticism, the uncanny ability to get to the rim and honestly, I’m not to the point yet where I’m writing off his ability to ever figure out a jump shot. It doesn’t have to be Dwyane Wade-esque for his jumper to be successful, just…. have one that will get you some buckets from time to time.
In Philadelphia, “Trust the Process” has been the slogan for a very long time. The Process was seeing the 76ers play horrible basketball for a long time and stockpiling top draft picks. The Process did have some duds, don’t get me wrong. For every Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, there was Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor.
In the 2017 NBA Draft, the Process took a new turn. A 19 year old Point Guard from Washington named Markelle Fultz. Some people even said Fultz was a 6’4 Tracy McGrady…. A comparison I really don’t disagree with I might add.
While I still believe in the things Fultz can do, I do have one thing to say about everything with him….. Why in the world was he not on the court for Summer League this year? Were 14 NBA games enough to see what exactly what he can do for a young 76ers team with the doors open to make a run at the Eastern Conference Championship?
Now, I know Fultz was hurt for a lot of time last season, and when he did come back we saw a lot of really impressive tools including a triple double off the bench where he destroyed the Milwaukee Bucks second unit, but this guy also didn’t play at all in the Sixers last playoff series against the Boston Celtics while Jayson Tatum, a fellow rookie and player the 76ers could have had but traded up so they could take Fultz, was terrific for the Celtics playoff run last year.
It’d have been one thing if Fultz didn’t have a ton of videos on social media dunking in gyms with his friends and working on his handles during workouts… If he is healthy enough to be doing that, why isn’t he healthy enough to show how much better he is than probably 60% of the guys that did play in Summer League. Why is Fultz HANGING OUT AT SUMMER LEAGUE EATING CHEESE FRIES instead of being on the court and helping the 76ers while also building chemistry with this years first round pick Zhaire Smith? This was a chance to see what else the 76ers can bring to the future besides just Embiid and Simmons.
I’m rooting for Markelle, no doubt about it. I still believe in the high ceiling, but there’s no reason for Brett Brown and Company to not have him on the court…. 14 games is not enough.
