Sixers' Markelle Fultz is 'too gifted for anyone to give up on' | Ex-coaches, scout on rookie's potential

He appeared in his first NBA pre-season game with an altered (and ugly) shot form. One that, seemingly, didn’t require any alterations after shooting better than 40 percent from three in one impressive college season at Washington.

Unwittingly, Fultz turned from a sensation into a sideshow, and after four non-descript games where Fultz didn’t have enough confidence in his own shooting capabilities (or his sore shoulder) to attempt a single three-pointer, the Sixers shut him down. Since, the Fultz saga has played out in both public and private since he last played on Oct. 23 against the Pistons, the Sixers' first win of the season. Philadelphia plays the Toronto Raptors on Monday afternoon, and it seems unlikely that Fultz will make his triumphant return. 

The shot doesn't appear to have gotten much better, and the fervor is as bad as its ever been. Nobody outside the Sixers locker room know what's going on. Many inside of it don't, either. 

In the saga of the Sixers from Sam Hinkie to Bryan Colangelo, Fultz is a fitting addition to “Process” lore, possibly the latest in a long line of rookie year wash-outs. 

Hidden in the undercurrent of theories and criticism and questions about why it’s happening, though, is an unassuming 19-year-old kid, not yet old enough to legally purchase alcohol, with a fondness for Chick-Fil-A with TMZ-level paparazzi attention whenever he is bold enough to grasp a basketball in front of an audience that isn't restricted to his Sixers teammates, coaches and support staff. 

This is a 19-year-old that was cut from the varsity basketball team less than five years ago. He became the No. 1 point guard recruit in the nation by 2015, the best player in the Pac-12 Conference in 2016 and the No. 1 NBA Draft pick by 2017. 

Now, Fultz is already being called a bust by some, and social media screamers have taken to calling his blockbuster a busted trade. It’s easy to see why that's an opinion -- the Sixers traded up from third overall and sent assets to the Boston Celtics at No. 1 just for the right to bring Fultz into the fold. Boston selected Jayson Tatum, and he’s exceeded even the most optimistic of expectations.

But there's another side to this, too. That, even though it looks alarming, and Fultz’s situation is unprecedented in the history of No. 1 overall draft picks, it’s far too early to declare him D.O.A. 

According to those who know Fultz best, or watched him closely from afar, doing so would be a fool’s errand.

Give him time.

NJ Advance Media spoke to Fultz’s college and high school coaches, an Eastern Conference scout, Sixers coach Brett Brown and a couple of Fultz’s teammates for the other perspective.

That is -- the one that says not give up on him just yet.

“He’s too gifted,” Romar said, “for anyone to give up on him.”

(Note: Near the end of this post, there's a full timeline detailing the entire Markelle Fultz shot and shoulder saga.) 

When Romar walked into the gym at DeMatha High School in Washington, D.C., a couple years ago, a little, unrecruited point guard flashed and dazzled and convinced Romar he was going to be a star ... and it was at a pick-up basketball game. He eventually sprouted to 6-4, 6-5, but he was shorter then. 

This is when Romar saw something special about Fultz, the basketball player.

He’d make no-look passes that seemed ot be going nowhere, only to land with a player, in stride, at the rim for an easy lay-up.

“It was just easy, he wouldn’t even look,” Romar said. “He would make shots around the basket you thought he had no chance to make. He’d all of a sudden go up for a dunk -- you didn’t even think he could reach the rim, let alone dunk.

“He was making plays that day and I saw him, just having fun, playing pick-up. He was making plays while he was having fun more than people that work hours upon hours to try to do what he was doing.

“It all seemed very effortless.”

Effortless, not lacking effort. There's a fine line.

Even if it has looked that way sometimes in his basketball career, effortless, nothing ever came easy for Fultz. He was cut from varsity as a sophomore and didn't blow up as a recruit until he sprouted to 6-foot-4 and became the No. 1 recruit in the nation as a senior in 2015. 

In between was a whole lot of work. Effort was never an issue.

"He’s a natural," DeMatha coach Mike Jones told NJ Advance Media. "He has the ability to make things look very easy. When he grew into his body, everything clicked all at once for him. He was always working, that was the biggest thing with him. He was putting in a lot of work. A lot of people look at it as: you’re working hard, you’re working hard and you’re not seeing a result so you stop working. Well, Markelle was not that way. He just kept working."

As a senior, Fultz became a McDonald's All-American after guiding DeMatha to a state championship, averaging 19.1 points, 8.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game. He could've played college basketball anywhere, including Arizona. But one weekend he decided to make a solo, cross-country trip to watch the Wildcats at Washington. It wasn't an official visit or a planned trip, Fultz just wanted to take in the UW game from the stands.

He was by himself.

Fultz gets the fanfare, but he's never sought it out. Promptly after being drafted to the Sixers in June and fulfilling his media obligations in Philadelphia, he returned to Washington D.C., spoke at a basketball camp at DeMatha, hung out with his old teachers and academic support staff and wouldn't leave until he met every single camper. They all left with an autograph, a picture and a smile. 

"That’s the kind of kid he is," said Jones (pictured). 

Fultz was cut from varsity in 2014, drafted No. 1 overall by 2017. 

Meteoric rise, indeed. 

Which makes all the undue criticism, Jones said, more baffling. 

"It’s frustrating because at once you’ll talk about how hard he’s worked to have the meteoric rise, then to say he doesn’t play hard? How is it possible to have both of those?" Jones said. "If he worked that hard, it’s ridiculous to say he doesn’t work hard now.

"For a kid to come as far as he has come," Jones added, "he’s going to continue to progress, and I just think a lot of people that are criticizing him are going to be eating crow."

As for the shooting drama, Jones didn't sound concerned. 

"I believe in Markelle Fultz," he said. "I don’t have any specific comment about that because I don’t know much about it, but I’m rooting for him and whatever he’s doing, I believe in Markelle Fultz."

Romar plopped down on a folding chair in an empty McKale Center, the historic college basketball venue that houses the Arizona Wildcats. Romar is a year removed from his last season as Washington's’ head coach, now an assistant of Sean Miller's in one of the country’s most consistently proficient basketball programs.

The remnants of disaster from a failed end to his long run as a Washington coach have been washed away and Romar is happy to talk about Fultz, perhaps the most talented player he’s ever coached. That’s a roster that includes NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas.

Any frustration Romar felt when he was fired after missing the NCAA Tournament for the sixth straight year -- UW finished with the Pac-12’s worst record (9-22, 2-16 Pac-12) last season --  despite the presence of Fultz, have left his system as he focuses on trying to help the Wildcats return to the Final Four for the first time in nearly 20 years.

The frustration boils over again, though, when the topic of people thinking Fultz should be at fault for what transpired last season is broached.

“He was criticized last year because the team didn’t do very well,” Romar said. “You go out and average 23 points a game, 6 assists, almost 6 rebounds, how do you blame him? How do you put that on him? I just thought it was very unfair. But he dealt with it. He dealt with it. You can’t read into the mind of an individual.”

That’s Romar’s main point — in the age of social media and over-analysis, everyone fancies themselves an expert in body language. The Social Media Psychologist.

For Fultz, he’s been at times perceived as too casual, for not caring enough, at least on the surface. 

“When you’re judging someone (from afar), you don’t know what makes them tick,” Romar said.

Does Fultz care?

In the middle of his season at Washington, Fultz pushed the UW staff to let him play through lingering left knee soreness.

“I remember in his mind, he was going to play even though it was bothering him,” Romar said.

The doctors said “No. We’re shutting you down.”

Fultz didn’t take it well.

“He had tears coming through his eyes because he couldn’t play basketball,” Romar said. “It hasn’t always been easy for him, but he loves the game so much and he has such a passion that he’s been doing whatever’s necessary to get himself back healthy and right and back on that floor.”

Romar sees this whole shooting situation, the saga that has followed Fultz from the pre-season to now and, seemingly, into the future. He sees all the judgment being passed and said that even Fultz wasn't aware it was a shoulder issue initially. Irregardless, nobody knows the full story, so why guess?

“Again, you’re making judgments on someone where you don’t know what’s going on,” Romar said. “All this time, he’s the No. 1 pick, it’s his dream and he’s ready to go and now he can’t play at the level he wants to play at. It’s frustrating.

“I just know how much he’s dying to get back out there.”