Entering the 2021-22 season, the Orlando Magic had two priorities when it got here to Markelle Fultz, each of which have been going to take time and persistence.
The first was serving to him turn out to be wholesome sufficient to play once more after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in January 2021. Fultz’s 14-month-long journey again on the ground ended when he returned in a house win over the Indiana Pacers on Feb. 28.
“He’s done a phenomenal job of getting his body in that position,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley stated on the season’s finish. “Our performance staff has done a great job with him. Our coaching staff has done a fantastic job of trusting the timeframe of when he was coming back.”
The second precedence was placing him ready the place he could possibly be snug on the ground.
With a brand new teaching workers led by Mosley and a number of other new teammates he hadn’t performed with earlier than the season, Fultz was primarily returning to a brand new crew.
Among the 15 gamers Fultz performed alongside in 2021-22, solely 4 (Terrence Ross, Mo Bamba, Chuma Okeke and Cole Anthony) shared the ground with him earlier than the season. And within the instances of Okeke (46 minutes) and Anthony (15), who have been rookies in 2020-21, the enjoying time with Fultz was minimal final season.
Despite the adjustments, Fultz’s affect was instantly felt when he returned.
Fultz averaged 10.8 factors (47.4% capturing), 5.5 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 20 minutes (18 video games).
He recorded 10 potential assists — passes to teammates who shoot inside 1 dribble of receiving the ball — per sport, which was essentially the most amongst gamers who averaged fewer than 27 minutes.
Fultz persistently created open appears to be like for teammates in a wide range of methods: off drive and kick outs to the perimeter, hit-ahead passes or connecting with cutters.
He additionally scored effectively regardless of making an attempt 0.9 3-pointers per sport.
Fultz made 50.3% of his 2-pointers, 72% of his photographs on the rim and 40% of his lengthy midrange photographs — all of which have been above-average marks for a guard, in keeping with Cleaning The Glass, and have been just like his numbers within the 2019-20 season.
“Markelle just breathes life into the team,” Jeff Weltman, Magic president of basketball operations, stated throughout a current look on FM 96.9 The Game’s Open Mike with the Orlando Sentinel’s Mike Bianchi. “What we noticed was a man who’s exquisitely proficient in creating offense for others, who has a excessive IQ, who has a loopy bodily package deal of dimension and abilities and imaginative and prescient.
“He actually performed at a level that I probably would have not expected right out of the gate. There was a lot of rust there. He’s got a lot of growth and he knows it. But he’s on a track to [being] a high-level player for our team. Very quickly, we played better with him on the court, which isn’t a surprise.”
Fultz can use this offseason to solely deal with additional enhancing his skillset as an alternative of getting to additionally fear about rehab.
As good as he’s turn out to be scoring contained in the arc, his restricted quantity of 3s and share (4 of 14 on non-heaves) are areas that would enhance.
Fultz’s 75.6% free throw share, which is a major enchancment from his time with the Philadelphia 76ers, suggests there’s extra room for him to develop as a shooter.
“I’m honestly the most excited I’ve ever been just to have a summer where I’m not really focused on rehab or recovery and I can really attack my summer head-on,” Fultz stated. “I know I have a few goals I want to hit, but this is the summer I can really focus on my summer and enjoy the process.”
This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Khobi Price at [email protected] or observe him on Twitter at @khobi_price.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com