The Philadelphia 76ers made a big move in the 2017 NBA draft when they sent the No. 3 pick to the Boston Celtics to move up to the No. 1 pick and select Markelle Fultz out of Washington. The idea was he would help the Sixers move closer to a championship.
Unfortunately, Fultz dealt with a bizarre shoulder injury and played 33 games across two seasons in Philadelphia before being sent to the Orlando Magic at the 2019 deadline
Now healthy, Fultz is one of the reasons the Magic are considered a team on the rise, joining Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner.
[lawrence-related id=74583]
Fultz is thankful for his time in Philadelphia, but he wishes they were more patient with him. The former No. 1 overall pick hopped on “The Knuckleheads Podcast” with former NBA players Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles and said:
I had my supports and stuff like that, you know, and I’m thankful for the Sixers organization and everything they did for me, but I don’t know. It was a weird situation. Again, I understand that it’s a business and again, I understand now the business and in and outs of everything so again, I was thankful to be able to be moved to somewhere where I had a second chance and an opportunity to grow and they wanted to win. I wish I had a chance to to help them because I really feel like I could’ve helped them win if they were patient and let me get healthy, but at the same time I’m thankful for everything that they did for me, and everything worked out good.
Fultz isn’t lighting the world on fire in Orlando, but he is a legitimate starting point guard in the NBA. He averaged 14 points, 5.7 assists and 3.9 rebounds while shooting 51.4% from the floor in the 2022-23 season. Joel Embiid offered respect to Fultz after he made his return to Philadelphia as an opponent in January.
[lawrence-related id=80550,80564,80547]