[The GoatParticipant]

 Fultz is 100% cleared and the Magic have released a couple of tweets of his shot: 

https://twitter.com/OrlandoMagic/status/1176932305803366402?s=09

https://twitter.com/OrlandoMagic/status/1176898340283408391?s=19

What do you think? To me his form doesn’t look to have changed too much, still a bit of a low release, but he doesn’t have that broken hitch midway through and at least he seems confident now.

He may turn this around..

[BeastMode716Participant]

 former GM for Phila who was really a shady hire to begin with forced on Phila by the League & then fired in disgrace just 2 years later – put Fultz in a bad position where he could do Nothing But fail

No one ever talks about that when Fultz was Drafted Simmons had yet to play & there was a huge debate whether Simmons could actually play point guard in the NBA or if Phila still needed a point guard going into the 2017 Draft 

remember – Phila owned the Lakers pick if it landed top 3 & many believe that Colangelo was purposely holding Simmons out for the whole year & Embiid out for the 2nd half so he could get 2 – top Lottery picks 

Everyone said Simmons sat the full year so he could get Rookie of the Year the next season but many people in Phila to this day believe it was entirely Colangelo’s idea & the evidence is that he lied to Embiid about a minor meniscus tear that only takes 4-6 weeks to heal. After his surgery that summer Embiid claimed in an interview that the team told him he had a full meniscus tear & must sit the rest of the season

Embiid was a Lock for 2016 Rookie of the Year as he was Dominant but lost the award b/c after the Jan injury the Sixers delayed in the surgery till April! SO he did not have enuf games played. Furthermore, Simmons became the 1st player in NBA History to miss an Entire season w/ a Single surgery Jones fracture. Simmons was healthy after the ALL Star break & could have played but Colangelo kept playing games to keep the pressure off saying Simmons was close to returning on this date & that date etc…. 

The entire thing was fishy. So fast forward to the NBA Draft. the Lakers landed a top 3 pick (#2) & Phila landed the #5 pick but moved up 2 spots to #3 from a pick swap from a Hinkie trade years earlier to the #3 spot & from there Colangelo traded with Boston to land the #1 pick 

It’s hard to remember how controversial this was back 2 years ago b/c no shot or not Simmons has really been an oustanding PG at both ends of the court. But this was a Raging debate. Phila was on record saying whether Simmons is a Point Guard or Pointr Forward to Offense was going thru him & they’d be looking for a Combo guard in the Draft & to many Fultz was not only the #1 prospect but he was also the only top prospect in the guard category who could play the 1 or 2 (pg or sg)

But if Phila had properly scouted Fultz I believe it was obvious the kid was never a catch & shoot guard & it was absurd to think he could just change what he’d done his entire life at the NBA level. When Fultz played w/ the starters as the Shooting Guard he looked lost immediately & by th eend he looked like a basket case. His entire career high school, college & even summer league he always had a beatiful inside out game where he used a lot of hesitation & the threat of dribble pentration to shoot in Rhthym! 

Shooting off the dribble in rhthym is massively different than posting up outside the 3pt line, catching passes & jacking 3’s – it’s a totally diff skill & it killed Fultz’s confidence. When Fultz played w/ the 2nd unit as the PG he was a smooth, mature, strong decision maker & obvious Natural Point Guard 

What compounded Fultz’s troubles also were the fact that Simmons & Embiid were So advanced for there age it allowed Phila to think about competing immediately so now Fultz has immense pressure to win that most rookies don;t have to deal with – & in Phila, you really don’t get on the court fro Brett Brown unless you are strong defensively – which both Simmons & Embiid are elite. Like many rookies, Fultz struggled big time at the Def end. W/ his length & athleticism Fultz clearly had the chops to Develop into a good defender but it was just too much too soon for a Very young kid who when the Celtics evaluated him he was a little immature to begin with (again Not a big deal for a Rebuilding team) 

Sorry this is super long but I wanted to give some background for my theory – apologies…. I think the change of sceneray was a good thing for both Fultz & the Sixers & Orlando is a good spot for him. I just hope fans are patient – b/c whether Fultz can shoot yet or not the kid can Absolutely play point guard in the NBA at a high level. He’s very unselfish, good decision maker & he can penetrate any time he wants. But he’s miss a lot of time & he’s dealt w/ a lot emotionally, so he’s gonna need to get games under his belt  – I think everyone is pulling for the kid though 

[HitsterParticipant]

 Hopefully Fultz can stay fit and have a solid season. He has been messed about over the last couple of seasons and then the shoulder injury. But if he is clear to play now he can do a full pre-season and hopefully get minutes under his belt.

His workload will need to be managed and built up steadily but he needs time on court to hopefully get his swagger and confidence back. He is the sort of player who needs a big game or two and really get his shooting going, if he gets into the groove, he can prove what a good prospect he is.

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 Remember that the magic got fultz for essentially nothing and a lot of people have already given up on him by now. He won’t have nearly the level of pressure to perform that he did in philly. Anything Orlando gets from him will basically be found money, but they can afford to bring him along slowly. I don’t know if he’ll ever be the player he was projected to be when drafted, but he doesn’t necessarily have to be to have a successful career. I hope he stays healthy, finds some confidence and starts to turn things around. He is still so young and has a ton of potential.

[Arc12345Participant]

It’s still broken. He needs to go back to how he shot the ball at Washington.

He’s still pushing it and shooting it from his chin. It’s still awkward. I hope I’m wrong, but that’s what it looked like in the video.

[cohenbc1Participant]

 A lot of guys’ shot is "broken." Ben Simmons’ shot is broken. Rajon Rondo’s shot is broken. DeJounte Murray’s shot is broken. Jason Kidd and Tony Parker are Hall-of-Famers whose shot was broken for the first several years of their careers even as they were making All-Star teams. 

But they were all really good or great players despite passing up wide-open shots, because they excelled at so many other aspects of the game.

Can Fultz do anything well enough to compensate for poor shooting, and earn him playing time? If he’s healthy, that’s what we’ll find out this season.

[Arc12345Participant]

That’s true about all of those players you mentioned, but when Fultz came into the league he was known as an EXCELLENT shooter. His ability to pull up quickly off the bounce was probably his greatest strength.

None of those guys you mentioned were known to be anything close to shooters. Other parts of their game got them into the league – the same can’t be said for Fultz. Which is why he’s looked so uncomfortable.

[Author]

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