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Why Markelle Fultz’s jumper isn’t a concern

PHILADELPHIA, PA - OCTOBER 4: Markelle Fultz #20 of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on during the game against the Memphis Grizzlies during a preseason game on October 4, 2017 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - OCTOBER 4: Markelle Fultz #20 of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on during the game against the Memphis Grizzlies during a preseason game on October 4, 2017 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)

Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown has recently said that Markelle Fultz‘s jumper is a cause for concern, but fans should not overreact.

So Markelle Fultz has apparently gone out and “fixed” his jumper, even though he shot 41.3 percent from three-point range in his lone year at Washington. His free-throws concerned NBA scouts the most ahead of the draft: he hit just 64.9 percent from the line in college. Does that mean he should have made adjustments to an effective jump shot? No. Do those adjustments mean he totally broke his shot? No.

Fans have a tendency to forget that most top rookies are only 19-years-old. Kids that age constantly do stupid things, and fans will rejoice if tweaking his jump shot remains the dumbest thing he does this season.  Remember, in his rookie year, Jahlil Okafor was punching civilians in order to defend the honor of the Process. That’s an honorable thing, but also a dumb thing because punching Bostonians makes for bad press.

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Going along with the fact that he is so young, it’s doubtful that he has cemented his new jumper as a habit. This report has only come out in the past week, so even if he has been working on this new shot for the whole summer, he still has a long career ahead of him to fix it. LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard couldn’t shoot threes when they came into the league, and now they each usually shoot above 35 percent from deep each season.

The truly concerning sight from the Blue x White game is the fact that Jerryd Bayless sagged so far off of Fultz when defending him, which shows that Bayless and the rest of the team must know from practice that Fultz really hasn’t been hitting anything. Conspiratorially, maybe the Sixers are just making a smokescreen for teams watching their film, but that’s wishful thinking. Maybe something will click for Fultz and he’ll start torching teams who sag off of him at some point this season, but again, wishful thinking.

On a positive note, if Lonzo Ball lights it up from deep with his monstrosity of a shooting form, then Sixers fans should not worry about Fultz. It will take time for him to un-fix his shot, but the Philadelphia 76ers fanbase can practice patience with that, as they have been for the past four years.

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Obviously, Fultz should have communicated with the coaching staff on whether or not to make this decision which will anger the coaching staff and further proves that Fultz should have avoided this issue in the first place. Even so, at 19, he has plenty of time to bring his shot back to where it needs to be.