Markelle Fultz Discussion

[Chris76]

Anyone else cynical and read that as Fultz has bulked up - so the PR spin is 'yeah we asked him to' instead of 'weight concerns'?

Many perimeter players stay lean and dominate - Imagine if Durant bulked up too much

I doubt it's PR spin. Brown probably did ask Fultz to bulk up. Veteran guards beat up on Rookie guards. Fultz's​ only chance to compete is to bulk up so he can be physical. His whole game is making contested shots, so he has to be strong enough to get up these contested shots against bigger defenders.

Agreed. His game isn't quickness.

He can shoot already. I think that he has the basic natural scoring ability too.

Added strength should help him to finish in traffic.

Strength and team defense are things he should get better at. For example, Stauskus was stronger last year and it helped his defense and confidence, some.

Fultz has a deceptive quickness, his hesitation moves are difficult for defenders to react to. Especially 3pt shots, defenders have to respect his driving capabilities. He quickly pulls up and theirs not much a defender can do, but hope he misses.

[Negrodamus]

I'm not expecting much in the way of scoring from Fultz this year. I think his real value will be as a passer. I believe he was scoring by necessity last year, but have exceptionally underrated vision. I think there's no way he finishes the season at one of our top 2 scorers with Embiid, Simmons, Covington, and Redick on the team.

I do think it will be close between Simmons and him in terms of most assists.

[Chris76]

I'm not expecting much in the way of scoring from Fultz this year. I think his real value will be as a passer. I believe he was scoring by necessity last year, but have exceptionally underrated vision. I think there's no way he finishes the season at one of our top 2 scorers with Embiid, Simmons, Covington, and Redick on the team.

I do think it will be close between Simmons and him in terms of most assists.

Simmons should have 2 main weapons.

Embiid down low, he could be a dominant post up scorer.

Fultz on the perimeter, he could be deadly with open looks. He should have some games of 30 or more.

I agree that Fultz should be a very good passer, too. I can see him giving the ball back to Simmons or Embiid in better position. He did have some good passes in college, but his teammates didn't always finish them.

[LloydFree]

I'm not expecting much in the way of scoring from Fultz this year. I think his real value will be as a passer. I believe he was scoring by necessity last year, but have exceptionally underrated vision. I think there's no way he finishes the season at one of our top 2 scorers with Embiid, Simmons, Covington, and Redick on the team.

I do think it will be close between Simmons and him in terms of most assists.

I think there is a chance Fultz will score, if he gets the minutes. He's going to get a couple baskets a game just off the fast break, playing with Simmons. If Simmons is defending the PF and Fultz is defending the PG, Fultz should get a couple leak out buckets per game. Redick and Covington aren't fast break players so somebody has to get the benefit of Simmons outlet ability.

I don't think the assists will be particularly close. If Fultz is playing SG much of the time he's on the floor, he's not getting more than than 3-4 assists per game. If the 76ers we're still in tank/development mode I could see Brown running Fultz at PG, but since they're trying to win, I think they limit Fultz's time as Primary ballhandler.

[Negrodamus]

I'm not expecting much in the way of scoring from Fultz this year. I think his real value will be as a passer. I believe he was scoring by necessity last year, but have exceptionally underrated vision. I think there's no way he finishes the season at one of our top 2 scorers with Embiid, Simmons, Covington, and Redick on the team.

I do think it will be close between Simmons and him in terms of most assists.

I think there is a chance Fultz will score, if he gets the minutes. He's going to get a couple baskets a game just off the fast break, playing with Simmons. If Simmons is defending the PF and Fultz is defending the PG, Fultz should get a couple leak out buckets per game. Redick and Covington aren't fast break players so somebody has to get the benefit of Simmons outlet ability.

I don't think the assists will be particularly close. If Fultz is playing SG much of the time he's on the floor, he's not getting more than than 3-4 assists per game. If the 76ers we're still in tank/development mode I could see Brown running Fultz at PG, but since they're trying to win, I think they limit Fultz's time as Primary ballhandler.

I think limiting Fultz's ball handling would be immensely stupid. What separated him from pretty much all the guard prospects in this last draft was his ability on PnR. It would be an unbelievable waste to having him become a spot up shooter or play mainly off the ball when he is better attacking the basket.

Regardless of how you feel about him, he put his team in the position to score frequently; they just failed to finish.

[Unbreakable99]

I'm not expecting much in the way of scoring from Fultz this year. I think his real value will be as a passer. I believe he was scoring by necessity last year, but have exceptionally underrated vision. I think there's no way he finishes the season at one of our top 2 scorers with Embiid, Simmons, Covington, and Redick on the team.

I do think it will be close between Simmons and him in terms of most assists.

I think there is a chance Fultz will score, if he gets the minutes. He's going to get a couple baskets a game just off the fast break, playing with Simmons. If Simmons is defending the PF and Fultz is defending the PG, Fultz should get a couple leak out buckets per game. Redick and Covington aren't fast break players so somebody has to get the benefit of Simmons outlet ability.

I don't think the assists will be particularly close. If Fultz is playing SG much of the time he's on the floor, he's not getting more than than 3-4 assists per game. If the 76ers we're still in tank/development mode I could see Brown running Fultz at PG, but since they're trying to win, I think they limit Fultz's time as Primary ballhandler.

I think limiting Fultz's ball handling would be immensely stupid. What separated him from pretty much all the guard prospects in this last draft was his ability on PnR. It would be an unbelievable waste to having him become a spot up shooter or play mainly off the ball when he is better attacking the basket.

Regardless of how you feel about him, he put his team in the position to score frequently; they just failed to finish.

I CAN'T WAIT until the first game when Simmons is handling the ball the majority of the time and Fultz not as much and the fans get split in half arguing about who should be the primary ball handler . That would make the Okafor vs Noel debate look like child's play. One group of fans will say Simmons should not be bringing the ball up the court and he should get down low and let Fultz run the show. The other group will say Fultz can't run it as well and Simmons should be the guy running it. Then reporters will interview both Simmons and Fultz after the game asking them if they were happy with the how they played within the offense and if they think they should be handling the ball more than the other lol. Players will be divided and the reporters will love throwing fuel on the fire. Then they will ask Brown if it's smart to not let Fultz handle the ball more with Simmons on the court. Then they will ask Embiid who he thinks should be handling the ball. Then reporters will ask Simmons if he views himself as a PG or PF and if he is stunting the PG growth of Fultz. I CANNOT WAIT!

[Negrodamus]

I think there is a chance Fultz will score, if he gets the minutes. He's going to get a couple baskets a game just off the fast break, playing with Simmons. If Simmons is defending the PF and Fultz is defending the PG, Fultz should get a couple leak out buckets per game. Redick and Covington aren't fast break players so somebody has to get the benefit of Simmons outlet ability.

I don't think the assists will be particularly close. If Fultz is playing SG much of the time he's on the floor, he's not getting more than than 3-4 assists per game. If the 76ers we're still in tank/development mode I could see Brown running Fultz at PG, but since they're trying to win, I think they limit Fultz's time as Primary ballhandler.

I think limiting Fultz's ball handling would be immensely stupid. What separated him from pretty much all the guard prospects in this last draft was his ability on PnR. It would be an unbelievable waste to having him become a spot up shooter or play mainly off the ball when he is better attacking the basket.

Regardless of how you feel about him, he put his team in the position to score frequently; they just failed to finish.

I CAN'T WAIT until the first game when Simmons is handling the ball the majority of the time and Fultz not as much and the fans get split in half arguing about who should be the primary ball handler . That would make the Okafor vs Noel debate look like child's play. One group of fans will say Simmons should not be bringing the ball up the court and he should get down low and let Fultz run the show. The other group will say Fultz can't run it as well and Simmons should be the guy running it. Then reporters will interview both Simmons and Fultz after the game asking them if they were happy with the how they played within the offense and if they think they should be handling the ball more than the other lol. Players will be divided and the reporters will love throwing fuel on the fire. Then they will ask Brown if it's smart to not let Fultz handle the ball more with Simmons on the court. Then they will ask Embiid who he thinks should be handling the ball. Then reporters will ask Simmons if he views himself as a PG or PF and if he is stunting the PG growth of Fultz. I CANNOT WAIT!

I mean, if PnR is the way we're going (which it appears to be the case), I'm going to guess Fultz is handling with Simmons or Embiid picking and rolling. Simmons isn't a threat to shoot the three pointer, so teams would just sink on him. OTOH, if he's the roll man, he has infinitely more to work with in terms of passing (hitting Cov or Redick on the wing) or scoring. I don't think that's too debatable.

I definitely want Simmons to have the ball in his hand quite a bit, but I'm guessing Fultz is going to run the meat of the offense. Who is bouncing the ball past half court is irrelevant to me.

[LloydFree]

I'm not expecting much in the way of scoring from Fultz this year. I think his real value will be as a passer. I believe he was scoring by necessity last year, but have exceptionally underrated vision. I think there's no way he finishes the season at one of our top 2 scorers with Embiid, Simmons, Covington, and Redick on the team.

I do think it will be close between Simmons and him in terms of most assists.

I think there is a chance Fultz will score, if he gets the minutes. He's going to get a couple baskets a game just off the fast break, playing with Simmons. If Simmons is defending the PF and Fultz is defending the PG, Fultz should get a couple leak out buckets per game. Redick and Covington aren't fast break players so somebody has to get the benefit of Simmons outlet ability.

I don't think the assists will be particularly close. If Fultz is playing SG much of the time he's on the floor, he's not getting more than than 3-4 assists per game. If the 76ers we're still in tank/development mode I could see Brown running Fultz at PG, but since they're trying to win, I think they limit Fultz's time as Primary ballhandler.

I think limiting Fultz's ball handling would be immensely stupid. What separated him from pretty much all the guard prospects in this last draft was his ability on PnR. It would be an unbelievable waste to having him become a spot up shooter or play mainly off the ball when he is better attacking the basket.

Regardless of how you feel about him, he put his team in the position to score frequently; they just failed to finish.

For one thing the 76ers don't even run a pick-n-roll Offense, so I don't know where this notion that Simmons and Fultz are going to pick-n-roll teams to death became a thing. That's not the 76ers Offense. The other issue is the coach has already said Simmons is going to be the primary ballhandler. Fultz isn't going to be running the Offense, nor should he at age 19 for a team trying to win.

[Mrcrockpots]

I think there is a chance Fultz will score, if he gets the minutes. He's going to get a couple baskets a game just off the fast break, playing with Simmons. If Simmons is defending the PF and Fultz is defending the PG, Fultz should get a couple leak out buckets per game. Redick and Covington aren't fast break players so somebody has to get the benefit of Simmons outlet ability.

I don't think the assists will be particularly close. If Fultz is playing SG much of the time he's on the floor, he's not getting more than than 3-4 assists per game. If the 76ers we're still in tank/development mode I could see Brown running Fultz at PG, but since they're trying to win, I think they limit Fultz's time as Primary ballhandler.

I think limiting Fultz's ball handling would be immensely stupid. What separated him from pretty much all the guard prospects in this last draft was his ability on PnR. It would be an unbelievable waste to having him become a spot up shooter or play mainly off the ball when he is better attacking the basket.

Regardless of how you feel about him, he put his team in the position to score frequently; they just failed to finish.

For one thing the 76ers don't even run a pick-n-roll Offense, so I don't know where this notion that Simmons and Fultz are going to pick-n-roll teams to death became a thing. That's not the 76ers Offense. The other issue is the coach has already said Simmons is going to be the primary ballhandler. Fultz isn't going to be running the Offense, nor should he at age 19 for a team trying to win.

I don't think we're gonna see the same offense we've had over the past couple of years man.

[Unbreakable99]

I think limiting Fultz's ball handling would be immensely stupid. What separated him from pretty much all the guard prospects in this last draft was his ability on PnR. It would be an unbelievable waste to having him become a spot up shooter or play mainly off the ball when he is better attacking the basket.

Regardless of how you feel about him, he put his team in the position to score frequently; they just failed to finish.

I CAN'T WAIT until the first game when Simmons is handling the ball the majority of the time and Fultz not as much and the fans get split in half arguing about who should be the primary ball handler . That would make the Okafor vs Noel debate look like child's play. One group of fans will say Simmons should not be bringing the ball up the court and he should get down low and let Fultz run the show. The other group will say Fultz can't run it as well and Simmons should be the guy running it. Then reporters will interview both Simmons and Fultz after the game asking them if they were happy with the how they played within the offense and if they think they should be handling the ball more than the other lol. Players will be divided and the reporters will love throwing fuel on the fire. Then they will ask Brown if it's smart to not let Fultz handle the ball more with Simmons on the court. Then they will ask Embiid who he thinks should be handling the ball. Then reporters will ask Simmons if he views himself as a PG or PF and if he is stunting the PG growth of Fultz. I CANNOT WAIT!

I mean, if PnR is the way we're going (which it appears to be the case), I'm going to guess Fultz is handling with Simmons or Embiid picking and rolling. Simmons isn't a threat to shoot the three pointer, so teams would just sink on him. OTOH, if he's the roll man, he has infinitely more to work with in terms of passing (hitting Cov or Redick on the wing) or scoring. I don't think that's too debatable.

I definitely want Simmons to have the ball in his hand quite a bit, but I'm guessing Fultz is going to run the meat of the offense. Who is bouncing the ball past half court is irrelevant to me.

Fultz will handle some but I would guess when he and Simmons are on the court together Simmons will be running the show more often than not.

[Negrodamus]

I think limiting Fultz's ball handling would be immensely stupid. What separated him from pretty much all the guard prospects in this last draft was his ability on PnR. It would be an unbelievable waste to having him become a spot up shooter or play mainly off the ball when he is better attacking the basket.

Regardless of how you feel about him, he put his team in the position to score frequently; they just failed to finish.

For one thing the 76ers don't even run a pick-n-roll Offense, so I don't know where this notion that Simmons and Fultz are going to pick-n-roll teams to death became a thing. That's not the 76ers Offense. The other issue is the coach has already said Simmons is going to be the primary ballhandler. Fultz isn't going to be running the Offense, nor should he at age 19 for a team trying to win.

I don't think we're gonna see the same offense we've had over the past couple of years man.

I was going to say, I don't think Brown was concerned with polishing the PnR game with McConnell and Saric.

You don't not only draft, but trade up to #1 overall for Fultz to not run the thing he's best at. It doesn't make any sense.

[LloydFree]

For one thing the 76ers don't even run a pick-n-roll Offense, so I don't know where this notion that Simmons and Fultz are going to pick-n-roll teams to death became a thing. That's not the 76ers Offense. The other issue is the coach has already said Simmons is going to be the primary ballhandler. Fultz isn't going to be running the Offense, nor should he at age 19 for a team trying to win.

I don't think we're gonna see the same offense we've had over the past couple of years man.

I was going to say, I don't think Brown was concerned with polishing the PnR game with McConnell and Saric.

You don't not only draft, but trade up to #1 overall for Fultz to not run the thing he's best at. It doesn't make any sense.

Brett Brown runs the Spurs motion offense. The Spurs don't change their offense for the personnel and Brett Brown hasn't changed the offense since he came here. If they change the offense for Fultz I'll put Fultz's​ face in my avatar.

[Mik317]

yeah I could see Simmons in the role guys like Noel/Hawes/Sims had at times in the half court as the guy with the ball at the top of the key, looking for passes and handoffs mainly to cutters and post guys. The difference being Simmons can drive and is a much better passer than all of those guys and in theory we have actual shooters and down low guys for once too. PNR will probably be more of a secondary set thing with Fultz getting them more so when things break down and shots need to be taken. Brett's offense is still pace and space so I could also see the main idea being whoever gets the board, needs to get out in open court...which is Simmons' specialty.

IN Theory, we should have multiple methods of initiating offense with Simmons and Fultz at the helm of various options...relying too much on PNR isn't viable ATM anyway since only Saric knows how to set passable screens anyway lol.

[Negrodamus]

I don't think we're gonna see the same offense we've had over the past couple of years man.

I was going to say, I don't think Brown was concerned with polishing the PnR game with McConnell and Saric.

You don't not only draft, but trade up to #1 overall for Fultz to not run the thing he's best at. It doesn't make any sense.

Brett Brown runs the Spurs motion offense. The Spurs don't change their offense for the personnel and Brett Brown hasn't changed the offense since he came here. If they change the offense for Fultz I'll put Fultz's​ face in my avatar.

I look forward to the new avatar.

[LloydFree]

I was going to say, I don't think Brown was concerned with polishing the PnR game with McConnell and Saric.

You don't not only draft, but trade up to #1 overall for Fultz to not run the thing he's best at. It doesn't make any sense.

Brett Brown runs the Spurs motion offense. The Spurs don't change their offense for the personnel and Brett Brown hasn't changed the offense since he came here. If they change the offense for Fultz I'll put Fultz's​ face in my avatar.

I look forward to the new avatar.

I like that one.

Honestly, I see the 76ers using Fultz as a secondary facilitator like Manu Ginobli. Ginobli isn't just a spot up shooter. He is a secondary playmaker. Ginobli in that role, has never averaged 5 assists per game in his career and he averaged more like 3 apg as a young player. So back to the original point of this conversation: I don't think Fultz's assist totals will be close to Ben Simmons' assist totals. I do think that Fultz could have a good scoring average for a rookie though.

[Unbreakable99]

I was going to say, I don't think Brown was concerned with polishing the PnR game with McConnell and Saric.

You don't not only draft, but trade up to #1 overall for Fultz to not run the thing he's best at. It doesn't make any sense.

Brett Brown runs the Spurs motion offense. The Spurs don't change their offense for the personnel and Brett Brown hasn't changed the offense since he came here. If they change the offense for Fultz I'll put Fultz's​ face in my avatar.

I look forward to the new avatar.

I can see it now.
Circa October 2017.
I have decided that in order to best utilize Ben’s and Markelle’s skill set that we are going to run a mainly pick and roll offense. I think this will help Markelle get more involved in the offense and make him feel more comfortable. - Brett Brown

LloydFree’s reaction knowing he will have to get a Fultz avatar...

[eagereyez]

Brown isn't gonna change the offense for Fultz (at least not right away), but he will for Simmons. Simmons will be a match-up nightmare as the ball handler in a PnR. .

[Chris76]

yeah I could see Simmons in the role guys like Noel/Hawes/Sims had at times in the half court as the guy with the ball at the top of the key, looking for passes and handoffs mainly to cutters and post guys. The difference being Simmons can drive and is a much better passer than all of those guys and in theory we have actual shooters and down low guys for once too. PNR will probably be more of a secondary set thing with Fultz getting them more so when things break down and shots need to be taken. Brett's offense is still pace and space so I could also see the main idea being whoever gets the board, needs to get out in open court...which is Simmons' specialty.

IN Theory, we should have multiple methods of initiating offense with Simmons and Fultz at the helm of various options...relying too much on PNR isn't viable ATM anyway since only Saric knows how to set passable screens anyway lol.

Simmons sets really good screens, he and Fultz could be a very good PnR between themselves.

Embiid could get the center close to the 3pt line away from the basket.

Simmons likes to start around half court and rush at his defender, like Lebron does. This gives him an advantage with his vision, help defenders react and Simmons decides to pass or dunk.

It should be interesting to see the multiple methods the Sixers could use to initiate the offense. Probably matchups will determine which ones to use.

[Negrodamus]

Brett Brown runs the Spurs motion offense. The Spurs don't change their offense for the personnel and Brett Brown hasn't changed the offense since he came here. If they change the offense for Fultz I'll put Fultz's​ face in my avatar.

I look forward to the new avatar.

I like that one.

Honestly, I see the 76ers using Fultz as a secondary facilitator like Manu Ginobli. Ginobli isn't just a spot up shooter. He is a secondary playmaker. Ginobli in that role, has never averaged 5 assists per game in his career and he averaged more like 3 apg as a young player. So back to the original point of this conversation: I don't think Fultz's assist totals will be close to Ben Simmons' assist totals. I do think that Fultz could have a good scoring average for a rookie though.

I wanted to give you a good tongue in cheek comment.

I disagree, he will average as near or possibly more assists than Simmons. To have Simmons, a freak athlete that scores well near the basket and an elite distributor, and Fultz, an elite distributor with the best pull up jumper in the draft, and not utilize the PnR. This is completely ignoring Embiid's massive potential in the PnR (stretch big; completely enormous and finishes well with space).

Even more confusing than not running the PnR would be using Simmons as the ball handler in the PnR. Unless he has made massive leaps in shooting, the opposing defense will allow him to shoot anything outside of 20 feet.

[LloydFree]

I look forward to the new avatar.

I like that one.

Honestly, I see the 76ers using Fultz as a secondary facilitator like Manu Ginobli. Ginobli isn't just a spot up shooter. He is a secondary playmaker. Ginobli in that role, has never averaged 5 assists per game in his career and he averaged more like 3 apg as a young player. So back to the original point of this conversation: I don't think Fultz's assist totals will be close to Ben Simmons' assist totals. I do think that Fultz could have a good scoring average for a rookie though.

I wanted to give you a good tongue in cheek comment.

I disagree, he will average as near or possibly more assists than Simmons. To have Simmons, a freak athlete that scores well near the basket and an elite distributor, and Fultz, an elite distributor with the best pull up jumper in the draft, and not utilize the PnR. This is completely ignoring Embiid's massive potential in the PnR (stretch big; completely enormous and finishes well with space).

Even more confusing than not running the PnR would be using Simmons as the ball handler in the PnR. Unless he has made massive leaps in shooting, the opposing defense will allow him to shoot anything outside of 20 feet.

We've had versions of this discussion before with different players. What skills players possess that seem elite in college, are not necessarily elite at the pro level. We can bookmark this conversation. At the end of the year (barring injury to Simmons) I guarantee you Fultz will not finish with 5 assists per game or come within​ 2 APG of Ben Simmons