The Markelle Fultz Renaissance Looks to be Over
Not sure if anybody gives a shit at this point, but after the disaster of an “era” he had in Philadelphia, Markelle Fultz was starting to turn things around and get back on track in Orlando. My boss, who is a Magic season ticket holder (he’s the only one I know), put this on Twitter earlier:
The Markelle Fultz regression this season compared to last season when he was quite good. He’s UFA after this season. Gone, IMO. pic.twitter.com/YfdH6qNlUn
— Kevin Duffey (@KevinDuffey) March 20, 2024
Markelle posted career highs across the board last season, when he was 24 years old. He averaged 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists, shooting 51.4% from the field. He only turned the ball over 2.3 times per game, playing 29.6 minutes on average and starting all 60 of the contests he appeared in. His three point number was 31%, but he was only trying 1.5 per game, so that’s negligible. He plays an Allen Iverson-ish combo guard type of game for the Magic, working from inside the arc and/or getting to the rim.
Fultz has only played 31 games this season. He had left knee tendinitis and sat out almost the entirety of November and December. Since returning on January 7th, he’s averaged about 7 points per game and his assist and shooting numbers have dropped to 1.3 and 42.9% in the month of March. He’s reached double-digit point totals just 10 times in the 26 games he’s played since returning. Coincidentally, the Magic are doing really well, and have climbed all the way to 5th in the East, but they’re doing it on the strength of Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner while guys like Cole Anthony and Moritz Wagner and Jonathan Isaac contribute off the bench. Markelle has been chipping in, but he doesn’t look to be a crucial piece moving forward.
After Markelle was traded, he got a three year, $50 million contract with Orlando, which runs out this year. If he had continued with what he showed last year, he would have been extended already. A nice reclamation type of story, yeah? I’m not gonna lie, I was kind of pulling for the kid to turn it around. He had some nice things to say about Philly fans and didn’t have any hard feelings about the way things went down here. The knee issue during a contract year may have ended the renaissance prematurely. Does he sign a new deal with Orlando in free agency or go elsewhere?