Markelle Fultz had a SOLID SUMMER LEAGUE OUTING last night, dropping 23 points on 9-16 shooting and 4-8 from three, along with 5 rebounds and 5 assists in 26 minutes. I’d say he played pretty well, though – Bob Brookover alert! – I fell asleep for the second half and only saw his numbers and the highlights later on. His first three quarters were lukewarm, but apparently he boiled over in the fourth.

Of course, that almost point-per-minute output and over 50% shooting wasn’t enough for former 97.5-er Jason Ashworth, who wins the First To Make Sweeping and Irrelevant Conclusions About Markelle Fultz’s On-Court Demeanor award™. Here’s Mr. Ashworth, with a special appearance from his podcast co-host0, Ron Burke:

Not trying to overreact…. but Fultz looks lost in his 40th professional minute at age 19 in his second competitive game in four months. I’m not sure what was more ridiculous– that, or the straw man argument about fans “bypassing” learning and growth. Somehow, calling someone out for a dumb hot take about Fultz’s calm approach was misconstrued into fans planning the parade next summer.

Here’s what I wrote yesterday about Fultz’s demeanor:

First of all, Fultz is so smooth and effortless that I’m concerned people are going to think he’s not trying out there. If you thought Ben Simmons looked casual last year, Fultz looks like an orca going through his routine for the 3,029th time at SeaWorld. Just so graceful and pure. But don’t let that calmness fool you– there’s a killer instinct in there me thinks, and just when you least expect it, boom, the hesitation pull-up, or, if you prefer, DRAGGING THE TRAINER UNDERWATER AND MAULING THEM TO DEATH.

To be honest, I’m kind of shocked that we already got here. I expected concerns over this sort of thing wouldn’t rear their fat, sweaty heads until John Smallwood was assigned a home game or Marcus Hayes needed something to write. But nope, congrats to Jason Ashworth for being the first to boldly take a stance on Fultz’s fluidity. Let’s revisit this sometime this season.


Also, Fultz moves really well without the ball.