Tag: Markelle Fultz

Magic: Jalen Suggs reacts to starting next to Markelle Fultz

Jalen Suggs returned after a 10-game absence, and helped the Magic defeat the Cavaliers.

Jalen Suggs on Tuesday returned from a 10-game absence and helped the Orlando Magic defeat the struggling Cleveland Cavaliers to snap a six-game losing streak.

Suggs recorded four points, two assists, one rebound, one steal and one blocked shot in 18 minutes during the 120-115 victory. He went 2-of-5 from the field as the Magic opted to ease him back into action with a minutes restriction.

The fifth pick last played on March 13 after suffering a right ankle bone bruise. The injury came as Suggs battled through a sprain on the same ankle during the early part of the month. He wasn’t sure if he’d return this season, but was ecstatic to get back out onto the court.

It was amazing. I was a little jittery getting back out there. It feels like it has been forever since I played 5-on-5 and then not knowing if I was going to come back at the end of the season. I was just grateful, really happy especially to get the win, that’s what it’s all about at the end of the day.

Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley opted to insert Suggs back into the starting lineup versus the Cavaliers. But with starter Cole Anthony nursing a toe injury, Mosley switched up his backcourt pairing and elected to give Markelle Fultz his first start of the season.

Of course, Fultz made his season debut on Feb. 28 after missing over a year of action due to a torn ACL. He produced 16 points, six assists, two rebounds and two steals in a season-high 24 minutes of action to lead the Magic to the win.

The former No. 1 pick has performed well as of late, averaging 14.2 points, 5.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds and two steals over his last six games. Fultz has often been commended by his teammates for how efficiently he can run the offense while also creating for himself.

Suggs has learned quite a bit by watching Fultz this season.

He makes things so easy. I’ve been able to sit and learn from him the past 7-8 games. I think just the pace he plays at and the way he gets to his spots and pullups at his own time and is never rushed, we’ve really been dissecting the game and working with each other off the court and I think it has helped me big time. … I can’t wait to get back out there with him again and start getting comfortable and really get this thing rolling. He is a heck of a player and really fun to play aside.

With Suggs back from injury, the 20-year-old will have the opportunity to play the final two games of the season. His rookie campaign has been marred by various injuries but the final two contests will give him the chance to build positive momentum heading into the season.

The backcourt duo of Suggs and Fultz could be a preview of the future. Of course, the starting lineup next season is far from decided but Fultz sees what Suggs brings to the court on a nightly basis for the Magic.

“I think another strong guard,” Fultz said. “I see the work he puts in outside of the gym. He can defend multiple positions but on the other end, can push the pace, get into the paint, mid-range. I think it is going to be something fun to watch in the future.”

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Tobias Harris praises former Sixers guard Markelle Fultz, young Magic

Tobias Harris gives praise to former Philadelphia 76ers guard Markelle Fultz and the rest of the young Orlando Magic team.

The Philadelphia 76ers finished a sweep of the Orlando Magic on Sunday thanks to the heroics of Tobias Harris in overtime. He knocked down a 3 from the corner to lift Philadelphia, 116-114, in overtime.

Harris had a big game, 26 points, but some attention was given to the young and pesky Magic and former Sixers guard Markelle Fultz. The No. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA draft had eight points on 3-for-6 shooting. He knocked down a 3 and finished with 11 assists and four rebounds off the bench for Orlando.

It was Fultz’s sixth game after returning from an extended absence caused by a torn ACL he suffered early in the 2020-21 season.

“Markelle’s always somebody that has the sky’s the limit with his talent coming back from injury, but I love his game just because of resilience,” said Harris. “When you see him out there moving, he’s moving with the same explosiveness and same power that he had before the injury. You really don’t see that in a lot of guys, but in the minutes that he was out there playing, he looked comfortable.”

Besides the play of Fultz, the rest of the Magic have given the Sixers problems. Philadelphia won all four matchups, but it had to scrap and claw to win. Harris acknowledged that while singling out Fultz.

“What game back is that for him? A couple games back?” Harris asked. “Yeah, so he’s just gonna continue to find rhythm and find balance. He’s a young talent and a great young talent, and, honestly, the whole Orlando team has a lot of young talent and a lot of great pieces for sure.”

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Magic: Franz Wagner reacts to playing with Markelle Fultz

The Magic believe Wagner and Fultz can develop a strong two-man game in the future on the court.

Orlando Magic guard Markelle Fultz missed over a year because of injury and hadn’t even played with most of his teammates prior to this season, but the group welcomed him back with open arms this week.

Fultz suffered a torn ACL in his left knee on Jan. 6, 2021, and went through a rigorous rehabilitation to return to the court. He eventually was cleared to play this week and made his season debut on Monday in a win over the Indiana Pacers.

The former No. 1 pick recorded 10 points, six assists and two rebounds in 16 minutes of action on Monday. He showed little signs of rust in that outing and looked to be as explosive as ever in getting into the paint and setting up his teammates.

Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley expected that performance from him.

He’s always been capable of that. His creativity, vision, passing, selflessness — being able to find his teammates — is always something that he has always been able to do. He has got such unbelievable vision at knowing what is going on in the game.

Fultz had only been alongside five Magic players previously in a game with the rest of his teammates joining the team after he was injured last season. The newcomers were warned to constantly be looking for the ball given his elite court vision.

“A lot of people told me: ‘Whenever he’s driving to the hole, just put your hands up. The ball may be coming,'” Wendell Carter Jr. said. “You might not think you’re open but he’ll find a way to get you the ball. When that’s the problem, I feel like that’s a really good problem to have. Everybody understands what kinda player he is.”

Fultz produced 11 points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal in 15 minutes of work on Wednesday in a loss to the Pacers. He once again found success penetrating into the paint, while also creating for himself in the right situation.

The outing was the second of the season for Fultz and the newcomers. He appears to have found a nice two-man game with rookie Franz Wagner in the early going. Fultz has hit Wagner on a few occasions already on the move, a connection that Mo Bamba believes will continue to flourish.

“I think one underrated duo that no one is talking about probably is Franz and ‘Kelle,” Bamba said. “The type of passer that ‘Kelle is and the type of cutter that Franz is, it’s a lot of easy baskets for guys.”

Said Wagner:

He can get into the lane pretty much whenever he wants to. He is really crafty in there. You gotta have your hands ready. I’m going to look to cut. We gotta look to spray it out and be ready to shoot from the outside. I think it is going to be a lot of fun.

The connection between Fultz and the Magic will only continue to grow. The team is keeping him on a minutes count in the early going as he has mostly played with the second unit. He will continue to see a heavier workload, and could even return to the starting lineup.

Fultz had been playing some of his best basketball prior to his injury last season, and appears to be nearing that level once again. He has endured a path filled with plenty of twists and turns to this point, but looks to be once again on the rise and his teammates couldn’t be happier for him.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Magic guard Markelle Fultz reminisces, gives love to Sixers fan base

Orlando Magic guard Markelle Fultz gives love to the fan base of the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Markelle Fultz era for the Philadelphia 76ers will always be one remembered for missed opportunities. Fultz was the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA draft and there were a lot of expectations on him after the Sixers traded up with the Boston Celtics to grab him.

Fultz was expected to team up with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons and get the Sixers back towards contention. Instead, it was filled with a lot of injuries and drama as he played only 33 games due to a bizarre shoulder injury and he was traded to the Orlando Magic midway through his second season.

Fultz joined former NBA player Etan Thomas on “The Rematch with Etan Thomas” and he said this about Sixers fans and his time there as most believe that Fultz was hated in Philadelphia:

I didn’t feel like hate or anything. I felt love even from the fans. I think a lot of people get confused because they hear people in the media talking about how the fans treat me bad, but I never felt like the fans treated me bad. I felt like, they always showed love when I was in a game, they’re very supportive. They’re very happy. I got a standing ovation when I came back, you know, and I understand that Philly love. They die and breed their team so they’re gonna get on you when you’re doing bad, they’re gonna love you when you’re good and that’s kind of how my mom raised me, you know? Like, you’re gonna get that tough love of you need to do what you need to do and that’s like coming from the area of DMV, like, that’s all we breed so that never bothered me. I think a lot of people got confused with the media talking about ‘Oh the Philly fans do this, do that’, but I always felt love when I was there.

It’s good to see Fultz come out and speak like this. Especially with the stigma surrounding the fan base of Philadelphia and the report that Simmons does not want to play in front of the fan base anymore. The people in this city are tough, but they will love any athlete that gives an honest effort.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Sixers draft in review: Markelle Fultz selected with the No. 1 pick

We look back at the 2017 NBA draft where the Philadelphia 76ers selected Markelle Fultz with the No. 1 overall pick.

As the Philadelphia 76ers continue with their draft preparation for the 2021 NBA draft on July 29, now is the time to look back on past drafts as we lead up to this one from Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

In this edition, we take a look back at the 2017 NBA draft when the Philadelphia 76ers made a big trade with their rival, the Boston Celtics. The Sixers held the No. 3 pick in the lottery, but they made a trade with the Celtics and they moved up to the No. 1 pick where they selected Washington guard Markelle Fultz.

Fultz was expected to be one of the top players in the draft and help the Sixers continue to move forward. However, he suffered from a bizarre shoulder injury that required a lot of time off and treatment for the injury. He  played only 33 games for the Sixers across two seasons before he was traded to the Orlando Magic at the 2019 deadline.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbxoYGCvTlk

In two seasons with the Magic, Fultz has found his footing. There is less pressure to perform in a small market like Orlando. He helped the team make the playoffs in 2020 while playing in 72 games. He averaged 12.9 points, 5.4 assists and 3.1 rebounds to begin the 2020-21 season before suffering a torn ACL after eight games.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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The Orlando Magic trolled the Sixers with a Markelle Fultz tweet and NBA fans loved it

Was this petty? Absolutely. Was it funny? Yuuuuup.

The Philadelphia 76ers began their offseason today after losing Game 7 at home to the Hawks last night.

It was an abrupt end to the season for the No. 1 team in the East and it could lead to big changes to a lineup that has been trusting a failed process for a few years now.

Ben Simmons, who was roasted for passing up an easy two points late in the game, didn’t do enough offensively throughout the series. That play late in the game left many Sixers fans wondering why the team kept Simmons and got rid of Markelle Fultz, the former No. 1 overall draft pick who was traded to the Magic in the middle of the 2019 season.

Fultz was trending on Twitter this morning because of all that talk and it didn’t take long for the Magic to weigh in with this:

Is that petty? Sure. Is it fun? Absolutely.

Twitter loved it.

Magic guard Markelle Fultz ‘thankful’ for time with Sixers, helped him grow

Orlando Magic guard Markelle Fultz is blessed and thankful for his time with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Markelle Fultz has had a very tumultuous career at the start of his time in the NBA. The Philadelphia 76ers made a big move in the 2017 NBA draft to trade up to the number 1 pick to select him out of Washington and he was expected to make a big impact.

Instead, he only played 14 games as a rookie due to a bizarre shoulder injury and there was a lot of action going on behind the scenes that confused a lot of people. He was then given an opportunity to start in his second season, but the fit next to Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid was not good.

The team acquired Jimmy Butler, Fultz played a few more games off the bench, and then he left the team to go see a shoulder specialist in New York. He played his final game with the Sixers on Nov. 19, 2018 and the team sent him to the Orlando Magic at the trade deadline after 33 games across two seasons.

Fast forward to the present day and he is the starting point guard in Orlando and he is having a fast start to the 2020-21 season. He’s averaging 18.3 points and 5.8 assists while working on his 3-point game. He has continued to persevere and he has credited his time in Philadelphia for his progression.

“Just blessed for it,” said Fultz on Thursday morning. “I think without going through what I’ve been through, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today. As much as I learned, not only about basketball but just about life, you’re gonna have bumps and bruises that go through in your life at some point in life. I was just fortunate to go through early in my career.”

His time in Philadelphia was not easy. There were a lot of expectations placed upon the shoulders of a 19-year old kid who was looking to just begin his NBA career. There were talks of him completing the “process” and due to all of the injuries and adversity, he was never able to live up to those expectations.

“It helped me with my mindset,” Fultz continued. “It helped me with my strengths and weaknesses and being able to grow so I’m just thankful for everything that I’ve been through. Just not in Philly, my whole life and that’s really all it is. I’m just blessed to be able to go through that and just keep looking forward and keep moving forward and that’s all I have.”

Now that he is in Orlando, he has a lot more confidence and it is due to the fact that he is finally healthy and he has his teammates to fall back on. The Magic are presenting him with the chance to put the ball in his hands and make plays and the rest of the team is on board with that.

“I just think I have an opportunity to be comfortable doing that,” Fultz added. “I think my teammates have helped me as well, I think the biggest thing about it is just being healthy and just have the opportunity to have the ball in my hands and play free with it.”

The Sixers will be looking to slow down Fultz and the 4-0 Magic in Orlando with tipoff set for 6:30 p.m. EST from the Amway Center.

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Markelle Fultz showing rookie Cole Anthony ‘the tricks of the trade’

The former No. 1 overall pick has been offering advice to Anthony in an effort to give him the best chance of being successful this season.

Orlando Magic guard Markelle Fultz is far from a seasoned veteran but the former No. 1 overall pick has taken rookie Cole Anthony under his wing this season in an effort to give him the best chance of being successful on the court.

Fultz, who is entering his fourth season in the NBA, often speaks with Anthony regarding certain coverages he will see from opposing teams and ways to work around them. He gives Anthony tips and pointers but admitted that the best way for him to learn is by experience.

“I want to give him the best chance to be successful and help our team,” Fultz said on Sunday. “We are going to need him this year. I think he is going to be a big part of it. I have just been talking to him, anything that he needs defensively. I’m just trying to help him make easier reads, things that helped me kind of pick it up quicker. I’m just trying to give him all the tricks of the trade to try to help him out.”

The advice from Fultz, plus some film study on Saturday, allowed Anthony to bounce back from what he deemed a terrible performance in his preseason debut. Anthony scored 16 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals in a 116-107 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday and looked to be more comfortable on the floor.

Following his debut, Anthony criticized his performance in all aspects of the game. Most notably, he was upset with himself for not finding his teammates better on the court and not choosing his spots better on offense. He rated his overall performance in his debut very poorly but earned a higher grade from himself on Sunday.

“We didn’t win so that’s one thing that’s bringing [my grade] down,” Anthony said. “Other than that, I just had some careless turnovers. I just gotta keep my head up. I think I really can find my teammates, I just gotta get into a rhythm a little bit more. I’m still getting comfortable out there. The game still hasn’t fully slowed down for me yet but I’m getting comfortable that’s for sure.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEGO6w-N_K8

Orlando selected Anthony to inject the offense with another ball-handler that can run the floor and penetrate into the paint. The Magic are better with movement and Anthony gives the team another offensive threat at the guard position behind Fultz.

The combination of Fultz and Anthony projects to give opposing teams problems containing their penetration. Fultz scored a team-high 21 points on Sunday and showed the aggressiveness that will present challenges on a nightly basis. Whether or not they play together, the two could eventually play similar roles once Anthony can pick things up.

“I think we can be really good,” Fultz said. “Our tempo is a big thing that Coach is trying to emphasize this year so being able to have two guards, I can be interchangeable and he can be interchangeable. We have two guys that can put pressure on the rim and also play pick and roll, that’s always a plus. I think it’s going to be very hard to guard down the road as we continue to learn each other’s games.”

After splitting a pair of games with the Atlanta Hawks, the Magic will return to Orlando and host the Charlotte Hornets for two games to close out the preseason.

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Former Markelle Fultz trainer says he wasn’t hurt, Sixers did not believe in him

Trainer Keith Williams says the Philadelphia 76ers did not believe in Markelle Fultz and that he was never injured.

The Markelle Fultz saga for the Philadelphia 76ers is always a strange one. The Sixers traded up in the 2017 NBA Draft and selected the young man out of Washington with the number 1 overall pick. His career was then riddled with a lot of bizarre moments.

He only played in 14 games as a rookie playing the first four games before he was out for a substantial amount of time with a shoulder injury. He then returned and he played the final 10 games of the regular season and got some good experience.

He then was an opening night starter in his second season as coach Brett Brown was trying to instill some confidence in the young man. He played in 19 games, starting 15 of them, but then he left the team and he went to go see a shoulder specialist and was later diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome which ended his season and he was then traded to the Orlando Magic.

Fultz’s former trainer, Keith Williams, joined The No Particular Hurry podcast with Dave Early and he was asked if he believed Fultz ever had a physical injury:

Nope…I think he got caught up in doing what people around him told him to say and do. He’s a young person. It had to be strange for him, because up to that point, in terms of basketball, he only had to listen to my voice so now he had to listen to numerous voices and my voice wasn’t there so I think it was almost a comfort to him to kinda hide. To almost become a different person.

Williams had been training Fultz since he was 7-years old and has known him for, obviously, a long time. The quote suggests that maybe this was all in Fultz’s head and that there was too much going on off the floor. He worked with him on his jump shot and he said in the past that when he saw Fultz’s new release he noticed it quickly and that Fultz told him “it feels like somebody’s holding my arms down”.

Former Sixers assistant general manager Marc Eversley, who is now the general manager of the Chicago Bulls, was high on Fultz and he wanted to bring him here. However, when times got tough, Williams added that the team did not believe in either Eversley or Fultz:

I just don’t think when the chips got down, I don’t think people believed in him or Markelle…for all we talk about Markelle averaging 13 or 14 this year, that’s what he would’ve averaged in Philly if he just played a lot. He averaged six or seven coming off the bench, it’s the same thing. He’s not a better player. He’s just playing more minutes and Orlando’s been gracious. Everything I’ve heard is that they don’t deal with negativity. If somebody ask him a question, they pretty much just walk away from it. For him, that’s a great thing, but I think he owes them that much to actually try and figure out what his problems are and make the best of it.

Fultz averaged 12.1 points and 5.1 assists as a starter for the Magic this season and he played well in the playoffs, but it’s looking like there was too much going on around him to really succeed in Philadelphia. A place like Orlando is good for him to focus more on basketball and fixing his own issues right now. [lawrence-related id=37843,37953,28070]

Draft Rewind: Sixers trade up to draft Markelle Fultz number 1 in 2017

We take a look back at the 2017 NBA Draft as the Philadelphia 76ers traded up for Markelle Fultz.

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The Philadelphia 76ers entered the 2017 NBA Draft coming off a promising season. Joel Embiid just finished up a promising rookie season, Ben Simmons was set to begin his career after missing the whole season with an injury, and there was some momentum around the team to finally breakthrough.

So, they pulled the trigger on a deal with the Boston Celtics to move up from the number 3 pick in the draft to the number 1 pick to select Markelle Fultz out of Washington. The hope was that he would come in and run the offense and form a Big 3 with Embiid and Simmons.

Unfortunately, Fultz’s Sixers career was filled with bizarre moments and a rare shoulder injury that limited him to a grand total of 33 games in 1.5 seasons with Philadelphia before being sent to the Orlando Magic. He averaged 7.7 points and 3.4 assists in those 33 games and the Sixers tried to make him a starter in his second season to try and jump-start his development, but it did not work out as he was limited to 19 games due to thoracic outlet syndrome.

He did have a few good moments during his time in Philadelphia. He had a triple-double in the season finale in his rookie season against the Milwaukee Bucks that got everybody excited about his future.

During his time with Orlando, Fultz has taken over the starting point guard job and he performed admirably in the playoffs for the Magic. He averaged 12.0 points and 5.2 assists Round 1 as Orlando fell to Milwaukee in five games after the Magic took a 1-0 lead. It was good to see him have a few nice moments to try and get his career going after a rough start. [lawrence-related id=37727,37723,37720]