NBA: Fultz at the Sixers: A single big pile of broken glass

Markelle Fultz makes headlines again with his absence at the Philadelphia 76ers. The No.1 pick from 2017 continues to raise questions. What goes wrong and who can you believe? A review and a search for answers.

Does the Markelle Fultz case ever get any rest? The latest developments in Philadelphia prove that wishful thinking remains. The former No.1 pick is currently no longer with the Sixers, rumors are circulating that Fultz wants a new start with another team. What’s the matter with you?

Before the season, optimism prevailed in the city of brotherly love. In the preseason, Fultz, who had a more than disappointing rookie season behind him, made a better impression and even sank a threesome from time to time. Much more important: The confidence in one’s own litter was (apparently) there, even if it was only a delicate plant.

This was no coincidence, after all Fultz got himself on board in the off-season, probably on the advice of Joel Embiid, throwing doctor Drew Hanlen, with whom he spent the whole summer. “He had completely forgotten how to throw”, Hanlen reported later, but also assured that Fultz had made enormous progress with his litter.

That damn throw. Ever since Fultz first entered an NBA court, it has been a recurring theme. Where did he go, that smoothe Jumper the Guard used in college to terrorize enemy defenses? It was no coincidence that this boy was unanimously considered the best prospect in the country.

Even before Fultz was drawn to One, he trained voluntarily with a coach from his childhood, Keith Williams. The release should be adjusted a bit for the NBA trio, so that less energy would be needed for the throw. But: According to The Athletic, a workout with the Celtics did not go well. Something was wrong with Fultz, they say, if you had a deal in Boston.

But Fultz is not Anthony Bennett, who happened to be number one in 2013. What Cleveland thought at that time with this pick, many experts asked themselves already at that time.

It’s different with Fultz. When the Sixers traded up for the Washington Guard from 3 to 1, it was not Philly but the Celtics and Danny Ainge who were criticized for carrying out the trade. Now the Celtics have the Kings-Pick (not as valuable as expected) for the upcoming draft and in Jayson Tatum perhaps the best player of this vintage in their ranks. The sheet has turned 180 degrees.

Fans of the Sixers are likely to have this kind of stomach ache in their mind. Didn’t the past playoffs lack such a wing player, who defends solidly and hits the open throws in front? Would have, would have, …

The reality is different. The Sixers had Fultz firmly planned to form the new Big Three with Ben Simmons and Embiid, instead he only played 14 games in his rookie season due to continued shoulder problems. Now the next attempt: Head Coach Brett Brown tried to implement the Guard into the Starting Five before the beginning of the new season. The hope was that Fultz would acclimatise and actually find confidence in his litter in the summer and that they would get used to it, but this also remained a pipe dream.

Of course Fultz shouldn’t have started purely for performance reasons, but he’s also the first pick, a big Sixers investment that should determine the future in the city of brotherly love. The experiment, if you like to call it that, however, failed with a crash.

In the meantime, the stats for the trio were simply devastating, there was no shooting, so the three stars constantly stood on each other’s feet and cut each other off from their strengths. Coach Brown has the Herculean task of finding enough shooters for his team every night. Fultz obviously isn’t one of them.

The Sixers fans weren’t very helpful either, as they are always euphoric and make the Wells Fargo Center partly a witch’s cauldron, but also act very emotionally. For a player with little self-confidence, it won’t help if everyone screams ‘Shoot’ first and then roars up noticeably if he doesn’t take the roll.

Also the recurring viral videos of strange free throws, the drilling questions of the reporters don’t make it easier for Fultz, even if they are definitely justified – it’s a small vicious circle out of which the 20-year-old can only get himself out.

But has Fultz simply forgotten how to throw? It is hard to imagine, there are no comparable cases in the long history of the NBA. Fultz has separated from Hamlen again in the meantime. The shooting coach then hinted that his former apprentice was still not fit. The Sixers denied this and stuck to their position when Fultz’s advisor and lawyer Raymond Brothers declared his client injured and withdrew him from circulation. A doctor’s appointment with another specialist in New York is scheduled for next week.

In Philly one might have fallen from all clouds whether this action, accordingly General Manager Elton Brand expressed himself surprised. “From a medical point of view, we didn’t see anything that wouldn’t allow him to play,” Brand told reporters. “He played yesterday and he also played two days ago.” Consequently, Brand did not give any date for a possible return.

It is and remains bizarre. Now The Athletic also reported that something was wrong with Fultz’s wrist. Should this be the explanation for the fact that he uses a technique on the free-throw line that is more than questionable to say the least? Is this an explanation that it looks like hard work when Fultz ties his shoes?

According to The Athletic, the wrist wounds affect him. The Guard is said to have already met with some specialists to strengthen the wrist – but so far without success. Sometimes the pain is there, other days he can play liberated.

Whether this is true or not is difficult to assess. There are now too many rumours flying through the media, many of which are contradictory. Perhaps the best thing is for the 20-year-old to be taken a little out of the line of fire. In his last match against Phoenix, coach Brett Brown gave up the Guard in the second half and preferred T.J. McConnell.

Fultz then withdrew himself from the market, even though Brown described his action as spontaneous. “We needed an impulse, and that’s what happened. But I don’t know yet if McConnell will replace Fultz as a backup in the future.”

The Camp des Point Guards took this decision off the coach’s hands. Trade rumours also came up that Fultz would like a new start with another team. But this was denied quite fast by Brothers.

Probably the Sixers wouldn’t be so averse to a trade anymore. At the moment the schedules of both sides are not right anymore. The Sixers are a team in Win-Now mode, they can’t afford to drag a project like Fultz – which he is definitely with his ups and downs – through the season.

The Salary Cap is also burdened by the sophomore, considering how little impact Fultz actually has. Sure, he’s in his rookie deal, but next season the former top pick will earn about 10 million dollars. That’s a huge chunk of money for a player who can’t be assessed at the moment.

The same therefore also applies to Fultz’ trade value. It would probably take a desperate team to enter such a Gamble (Washington, Detroit, Phoenix, just to give a few examples). There probably wouldn’t be much to get for Philly.

So Fultz, his health, his litter, remains a permanent theme, which hovers like a dark cloud over the franchise. “It’s a crazy situation. I have the feeling that I experienced something similar in my first two years, but this is different,” said Embiid, who is Fultz’s biggest confidant in the 76ers squad.

There is helplessness in Philadelphia, there is only little sign that it will have a good ending with Fultz and the Sixers. The fact that Agent Brothers now calls himself the Guard’s lawyer is just another alarming sign that the relationship is more than tense. The signs point much more to separation. However, it remains completely unclear what these will look like and when they will be implemented. Like so much at Markelle Fultz.