Markelle Fultz Updates Thread

[Def Swami]

So he's still not ready.

[Popsicle1228]

https://www.nba.com/amp/magic/orlando-magic-q-a-steve-clifford-20190916

Denton: With Markelle Fultz, what is he able to do at this point in terms of five-on-five play. And when he’s fully ready, do you almost treat him like an NBA rookie considering that he’s still only 21 years old and has played just 33 games at this level?

Clifford: The thing for me is that he’s been great, and he’s been in here working. For me, it’s the same thing – we’re taking it day by day and when he gets to the point where he’s ready, we’ll make decisions about all of that. But I’ve been happy with him and he’s great to have around and he has a love of the game.

When I watch him and when I watch some of his (University of) Washington games and when he played last season in Philly, he plays like a D.C. kid. With the D.C. area, they have great coaches, they play with an edge and if you watch his games at Washington and in Philly, you can see it right away. I recruited there for years, and that’s how he plays.

He’s so talented, but just because of the situation (with his injured shoulder), it’s just about him taking it day by day. Seeing how things have progressed have helped him and that’s just the smart way to go for now.

Well this is a buzzkill and Pepe had nothing to do with it.

[Catledge]

I suspect that the Magic are going to stick with the "no time table," "take it day-by-day" language until the day we see him on the court (if that ever happens). I don't think we'll ever get an announcement that he is two weeks away, even if they do think that he is in fact two weeks away.

[SOUL]

We need to stop hanging onto every word, IMO.

At the end of the day, he's either going to play or not during training camp/preseason/season. Whether he's "ready" or "not ready" which seems to be a one day at a time thing that can switch at any moment, is ultimately just speak for "we're not putting his business out there".. so until there's definitive statements about him actively or not actively taking part in team activities like those, which haven't started yet, I'm not stressing about it.

[Knightro]

I'm going off of what the Magic's FO is stating that their training and medical staff are doing + what other doctors have voiced about it. I guess its possible that the FO is playing 4-D chess and are using "TOS rehab" as a placebo, but that seems extreme.

For what it's worth, and please correct me if I'm wrong here, but I don't believe the Magic have ever formally confirmed any sort of TOS diagnosis on Fultz.

In fact... as best I can tell Weltman has never really referenced any sort tangible injury to Markelle at all. Everything has been a very generic "he's doing well, we're looking forward to helping him" and IMO indirectly indicating the Magic are working on rebuilding his confidence over solving any sort of shoulder issue.

Personally? I think the Magic absolutely believe Fultz got the yips/lost confidence in his game (perhaps due to a shoulder issue, perhaps not) and saw an opportunity to buy low on a player who has top 3 pick talent.

I think the Magic believe Orlando is a less stressful, lower pressure, more family oriented environment than Fultz was ever going to experience in Philadelphia due to the nature of him being the 1st overall pick there. The Magic were willing to gamble a 2 year, 22M contract on helping him rediscover his confidence and give them an element in the back court they wouldn't have been otherwise able to acquire.

[MagicFan101]

I suspect that the Magic are going to stick with the "no time table," "take it day-by-day" language until the day we see him on the court (if that ever happens). I don't think we'll ever get an announcement that he is two weeks away, even if they do think that he is in fact two weeks away.

Exactly. Why would you ever say anything else? The absolute worst thing possible is to get people excited before they need to be. Look how much we here and the media are still pushing the Fultz questions. Imagine if the staff threw any fuel on the fire whatsoever ...

[PrimeThyme]

For what it's worth, and please correct me if I'm wrong here, but I don't believe the Magic have ever formally confirmed any sort of TOS diagnosis on Fultz.

In fact... as best I can tell Weltman has never really referenced any sort tangible injury to Markelle at all. Everything has been a very generic "he's doing well, we're looking forward to helping him" and IMO indirectly indicating the Magic are working on rebuilding his confidence over solving any sort his shoulder issues.

I'm not sure if Weltman has, but Clifford has directly referred to what Fultz has been rehabbing from as a "shoulder injury". In fact, he just did in his most recent interview with Denton. It seems like Clifford is in regular contact with Weltman so I would assume they are all on the same page with the TOS diagnosis.

Edit: So after going back and reading the article Clifford actually said "with his situation" and it was Denton that put "(shoulder injury) in quotation marks. So, im not sure what that means without having heard the interview live.

[Knightro]

I'm not sure if Weltman has, but Clifford has directly referred to what Fultz has been rehabbing from as a "shoulder injury". In fact, he just did in his most recent interview with Denton. It seems like Clifford is in regular contact with Weltman so I would assume they are all on the same page with the TOS diagnosis.

Not to be needlessly argumentative, but we need to be careful with these interviews without actually hearing them.

I look at this quote from Clifford from his Q&A with Denton.

"He’s so talented, but just because of the situation (with his injured shoulder), it’s just about him taking it day by day. Seeing how things have progressed have helped him and that’s just the smart way to go for now."

And you realize the "with his injured shoulder" part is Denton's addition/assumption and Clifford never actually said the word injury or made any direct reference to an injury.

Clifford simply said "because of his situation, it's just about him taking it day by day" which could be any number of things including the yips, a lack of confidence, etc.

[PrimeThyme]

I'm not sure if Weltman has, but Clifford has directly referred to what Fultz has been rehabbing from as a "shoulder injury". In fact, he just did in his most recent interview with Denton. It seems like Clifford is in regular contact with Weltman so I would assume they are all on the same page with the TOS diagnosis.

Not to be needlessly argumentative, but we need to be careful with these interviews without actually hearing them.

I look at this quote from Clifford from his Q&A with Denton.

"He’s so talented, but just because of the situation (with his injured shoulder), it’s just about him taking it day by day. Seeing how things have progressed have helped him and that’s just the smart way to go for now."

And you realize the "with his injured shoulder" part isDenton's addition/assumption and Clifford never actually said the word injury or made any direct reference to an injury.

Clifford simply said "because of his situation, it's just about him taking it day by day" which could be any number of things.

I actually just went back and edited my post. I reread the article and hadn't realized that Clifford referred to it as his "situation" and Denton had put in quotations the shoulder injury part. The whole organization is definitely careful about what they say.

For whatever reason, I had it in my head that Clifford/Weltman had talked about his injury in the past. I wasn't able to find anything though, maybe someone else could.

[ezzzp]

For what it's worth, and please correct me if I'm wrong here, but I don't believe the Magic have ever formally confirmed any sort of TOS diagnosis on Fultz.

They have been careful about the wording. So maybe there is something there.

I definitely have heard him call it "rehab" and specifically remember him saying that Fultz was working with the team's "cutting edge" medical staff. "Cutting edge" caught my attention because I had been discussing with some about how the FO had invested heavily on medical/training (and other) infrastructure.

This isn't Weltman saying the words TOS, but he answers a question about it:

Orlando Sentinel, March 8, 2017:

OS: Have you found any other cases of an athlete dealing with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome to aid in the treatment?

Weltman: “There haven’t been that many to where you would even call it a relevant study, so that’s not really the way that we’re spending our time. We’re spending our time with just putting Markelle in the best position to succeed. He’s an amazing kid. His capacity for work, his desire to help a team win, and he’s on the right track and he’s in a good place. So probably for now that’s probably where I’ll leave it.”

OS: Do you even see a remote chance the injury will prevent Markelle from playing again?

Weltman: “I don’t even entertain that idea. Just period.”

...this is a good article to read about TOS and Fultz: https://www.sbnation.com/2018/12/13/18134738/markelle-fultz-injury-tos-thoratic-outlet-syndrome-doctor

[yoyojw17]

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/255397/Magic-Exercise-20-21-Options-On-Markelle-Fultz-Mo-Bamba-Jonathan-Issac

WHELP... there we go. He's healthy enough in their eyes to extend him another year.

[thelead]

Don’t be drama queens. The goal is to ensure he has the best opportunity to become the player he should have been before the injury. Some are acting as if we wasted the #1 pick on this guy. It sounds like he has been working hard to get healthy. Let’s just see what happens.

[Blue_and_Whte]

Don’t be drama queens. The goal is to ensure he has the best opportunity to become the player he should have been before the injury. Some are acting as if we wasted the #1 pick on this guy. It sounds like he has been working hard to get healthy. Let’s just see what happens.

NO! We must try and decipher everything everyone says about Fultz and panic about it...

[bigmoe1952]

Fultz could also have the "yaps", which is an advanced form of the "yips". If left untreated, it can ruin your career. In this case, it has.

I personally do not think Fultz is going to pay off for the Magic. I of course hope I am wrong but unfortunately I don't think so. However, I do believe it was a good risk to take. The Magic have to take their swings when they have the opportunity because they do not have a lot of flexibility.

[Eyeamok]

I'm not sure if Weltman has, but Clifford has directly referred to what Fultz has been rehabbing from as a "shoulder injury". In fact, he just did in his most recent interview with Denton. It seems like Clifford is in regular contact with Weltman so I would assume they are all on the same page with the TOS diagnosis.

Not to be needlessly argumentative, but we need to be careful with these interviews without actually hearing them.

I look at this quote from Clifford from his Q&A with Denton.

"He’s so talented, but just because of the situation (with his injured shoulder), it’s just about him taking it day by day. Seeing how things have progressed have helped him and that’s just the smart way to go for now."

And you realize the "with his injured shoulder" part is Denton's addition/assumption and Clifford never actually said the word injury or made any direct reference to an injury.

Clifford simply said "because of his situation, it's just about him taking it day by day" which could be any number of things including the yips, a lack of confidence, etc.

You would think if they had a name for the injury they would call it by name. No just the generic "shoulder injury" or his situation. TOS is more specific. Seems like they want to keep things general and not be tied down to specific diagnosis which lead to specific time tables for rehab.

[GameOver25]

Last week:

Poster #1: Fultz will never play, he's stealing money
Poster #2: Stop complaining, see how it plays out
Goes to Next page. Rinse. Repeat.

This week:

Poster #1: Fultz will never play, he's stealing money
Poster #2: Stop complaining, see how it plays out
Goes to Next page. Rinse. Repeat.

Next week:

Poster #1: Fultz will never play, he's stealing money
Poster #2: Stop complaining, see how it plays out
Goes to Next page. Rinse. Repeat.

[ezzzp]

The Ringer: What Does Orlando Know About Markelle Fultz That We Don’t?

The Magic didn’t even wait until training camp to lock down Fultz for another season (the deadline to pick up the option is in October). ESPN’s Bobby Marks pointed out that Orlando was going to be over the cap regardless of whether they picked up the option or not, which is undoubtedly a vote of confidence in Fultz’s progress. It’s also a sign that Orlando is trusting its own development staff (one front-office official specifically mentioned to me that Becky Bonner, whom the Magic hired in 2017 as director of player development, is well known for her off-the-court development, which could be helpful for Fultz).

[fklt]

broken or may pan out eventually young guys that don't not require any minutes, worse future picks compared to actual players you can draft. these are this management's favourite types of assets. of course they're gonna extend fultz. distant hopes that they dont have to depend on while hennigan guys do the heavy lifting have been their signature play.

[pepe1991]

So, do you guys think he will play in preseason ?

[iTs JusT zo]

Some guy called the shot Dr.on iheart radio said Markell will be starting on day one and he looks like Markell from college. Someone please upload the video. I saw it in Facebook... I am trying so hard to get link or upload.