Did Danny Ainge Dodge a Bullet with Markelle Fultz?
As we all know, the Celtics won the draft lottery last summer. It appeared they were a lock to select Markelle Fultz with the first overall pick, however, that didn’t end up being the case. They traded down with the 76ers to the three spot and selected Jayson Tatum out of Duke, who has been a solid contributor so far this season. Markelle Fultz on the other hand, not so much.
To start the season, the Sixers decided to have Fultz come in off the bench, as he had been dealing with some shoulder problems. With those shoulder problems came a weird new shooting style that we didn’t see from him in college:
Markelle Fultz’s free throw might need some work asap. Hack-A-Fultz?#TheProcess #TrustTheProcess pic.twitter.com/T2PjXd6QRf
— Sports Replay (@SportsReplayRT) October 19, 2017
Wait… RT @NOTSCTop10PIays: Markelle Fultz free throw shot is getting uglier and uglier. pic.twitter.com/G0dK2fBOZl
— Zack Rollins (@ExZackly4This) October 22, 2017
Granted, Fultz wasn’t a strong free throw shooter in college, but this is just ugly. Why would you change your shot once you get to the league unless you physically can’t move your arms correctly? It just doesn’t make much sense. So Fultz, clearly playing hurt, is now getting fluid drained from his shoulders:
Markelle Fultz had fluid drained from his shoulder, “can’t raise his arms to shoot,” per @wojespnhttps://t.co/nRsmceLZbipic.twitter.com/N2y5ydiI74
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 24, 2017
Philadelphia, the team who is all about “trusting the process”, rolled out their number one overall pick in the draft while they knew he was hurt. And if they continue to do so it could seriously ruin his confidence, because he hasn’t been all that good this year. He isn’t playing like himself, which is sad to see.
It might be early, but is this an indicator that Ainge won this trade with Philly? Jayson Tatum has shown little struggle adjusting his game to NBA level. Fultz on the other hand still looks like he’s in college.
Written By: Nick Cherico (@NickCherico2)