Orlando Magic: Will Markelle Fultz get his career back on track?

The breakout?

In the summer of 2018, Markelle Fultz became one of the league’s hottest talking points.

Everyone was wanting to know how the point guard would bounce back from such a perplexing rookie campaign and if he could still live up to his No. 1 pick potential.

And the first positive sign came when Fultz teamed up with renowned basketball trainer, Drew Hanlen and began working out with him (a lot) in the offseason…like a lot! Reportedly, the pair were working out together two or three times a day.

Despite the news and encouraging signs, fans and media weren’t really getting a look at the progress they were making. Everything was being kept under wraps.

We did get a couple of Instagram videos of Fultz showing off his crazy handles and finishing ability but we weren’t getting anything regarding his jump shot.

And although that wouldn’t change, Hanlen did Tweet a couple of times, telling fans to “get excited”, that Markelle was making the significant process we were all hoping he would.

Then the preseason rolled around and we got to see first hand, what changes Fultz had made to his game, his jump shot in particular.

It was looking good!

The two most notable changes you could see were:

• A much more fluid and natural shooting form, which already appeared to be much more effective than the year prior.
• A noticeable increase in confidence on the court which had Philly fans excited.

Then came the regular season.

Things started off okay, with Fultz showing definite signs of improvement and there was a much greater sense of hope, even if he wasn’t producing like a star quite yet.

But then, seemingly out of nowhere, his shooting form reverted right back to where it was in his rookie year. Suddenly he wasn’t playing with any confidence again and his baffling free throw routines began to change on what seemed like a nightly basis.

Another unexpected turn would come in December of 2018 where Fultz would be ruled out for the rest of the season and we weren’t really given a reason why – although many assumed that he was still dealing with the same issue/injury that caused him to miss the majority of the prior year.

It then came out that he’d been dealing with something called “thoracic outlet syndrome” which is basically a condition that affects the nerves and blood vessels around about the shoulder area which makes it difficult for one to lift their arm above their head.

This would explain the diminished shooting ability. It would account for the drastic altering of Markelle’s shooting mechanics.

And it would also provide a potential explanation for why he was playing with so little confidence.

So now that the problem had seemingly been clearly identified, the Sixers were now going to take their time in making sure their second-year guard got the proper help and began making a proper recovery so that he could return fully healthy at some point in the future (hopefully not too far down the line).

Nope, they traded him to the Orlando Magic before the trade deadline.

Yet another twist in the Markelle Fultz saga. But was there actually a chance that a change of scenery could have actually been just what he needed?