Now What?

Philly is happy, good for you guys, you got your guys in Jimmy Butler. But now it’s time to discuss your #1 draft pick, Markelle Fultz. What happened? Is he ok? I cannot and do not want to speak harshly about a young guy who has more talent in his bad shoulder than I will ever have in my entire life. Looking at him this year is tough, he looked pretty good at the nine-game mark and was hitting shots and looked like he was in a flow. It is currently the 16th game and Fultz just had a bad night against the Heat, going 5-2-5 on 25% shooting. His defense looked sluggish, and Goran Dragic took advantage of his weak looking footwork. Right now, I do not see him continuing to start, and with Jimmy in town, it is almost guaranteed that Markelle will not start. Fultz has been erratic to start the season, scoring 5 to 9 points, on very poor shooting, or scoring 10 or more, on average shooting. This is all being done while playing 24 minutes a night.

The lineup the Sixers rolled out against the Orlando Magic last night was Ben Simmons, J.J. Reddick, Jimmy Butler, Wilson Chandler, and Joel Embiid. They played well, I’ve got to hand it to the Sixers, they played well and had a lead, but blew it and lost. Was the loss all their fault? You could argue if Terrence Ross didn’t come back from the dead and drill the game-winner they probably would’ve won. I just think that if Fultz does not sort out what is going on, he may be out of Philly entirely by next year.