The Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night held their breath for a brief moment after rookie point guard Markelle Fultz suffered an apparent left ankle sprain in Summer League play against the Boston Celtics.
The 76ers have quickly chosen to take the precautionary route with the situation by declaring that Fultz will sit out the remainder of the Summer League.
An update on Markelle Fultz: pic.twitter.com/RtkTbCwlgV
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) July 9, 2017
This is the recommended approach after this injury as the 76ers don't want it to linger on just for the sake of gaining more experience in the Summer League over four more additional games. It's not worth the potential long-term risk of him becoming an injury-prone player, which has plagued their roster over the last few seasons.
The first overall pick in this year's draft is expected to be one of the core young players that the team will build around alongside Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. In his brief Summer League showing, Fultz put on full display his scoring ability and defensive presence on individual assignments.
His play even caught the attention of the 2017 NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant, who shoveled huge praise toward the former Washington point guard. There is clearly plenty of potential for him to develop into a high-impact player in his first season with the 76ers next season.
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