76ers are headed for another lost rookie season with Markelle Fultz
As “The Process” starts to show some results, Markelle Fultz is on track to give the Philadelphia 76ers nothing in his first season.
If the regular season ended today, the Philadelphia 76ers would be the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. Former general manager Sam Hinkie’s “process” has finally yielded results, with Joel Embiid (23.7 points and 11.0 rebounds per game) and Ben Simmons (16.6 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game) healthy and leading the charge to an above .500 record entering Friday’s action.
But the elephant in the room for the 76ers this season has been the health of 2017 No.1 pick Markelle Fultz. He has only played four games due to an ongoing right shoulder injury, as he may have changed his shooting mechanics in a chicken-or-the-egg scenario involving the injury, and into the new year there was no timetable for his return. More recently, the team has offered no updates on Fultz.
General manager Bryan Colangelo spoke to the media on Friday, and he did not seem to be particularly optimistic about Fultz.
Bryan Colangelo on Markelle Fultz:
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) February 9, 2018
"There's always a chance that he's going to be out there soon, and there's a chance that he's not going to play this year. I can't answer that question because we don't know the answer to that."#sixers
Colangelo: "We hope to see [Fultz] this year. If not, we will wait until he's ready to participate, and help, and put him in a position to succeed. That's going to be a determination that's made at some point in the future."
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) February 9, 2018
Colangelo: "I personally have not seen this injury [before] in basketball." #sixers
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) February 9, 2018
Fultz was captured practicing jump shots left-handed in early November, but Colangelo classified his current shooting range as “within the paint.” That suggests some regression in his rehab and recovery, which makes shutting Fultz down for the season a strong possibility. Colangelo basically said it will happen, without saying the exact words to really cause a stir.
Simmons missed his entire first season last year with a foot injury, while Embiid missed his first two seasons with his own foot troubles and only recently played the first set of back-to-back games in his career. So the 76ers are no stranger to not getting any, or in Fultz’s case very little, immediate production from a high draft pick.
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In light of what the guys drafted immediately after him have done, especially No. 3 overall pick Jayson Tatum, Fultz’s lingering absence looks bad for the 76ers right now.