Markelle Fultz is showing signs of improvement after hitting his first 3-pointer of the season on Thursday night against the Chicago Bulls, but the short sample has shown that he's just simply not as effective as Sixers head coach Brett Brown felt he would be upon giving him the starting shooting guard spot.
Fultz went 1-of-3 from deep after failing to attempt a single long-range shot during his season debut against the Boston Celtics, but a poor 7-of-22 shooting in the first two games has raised questions of whether the Sixers need J.J. Redick back in the starting lineup as a trusted perimeter marksman.
Brown won't commit to Fultz for the long-term just yet, leaving some room for the possibility of reinstating Redick into his old starting spot.
“I am saying it is all up in the air,” said Brett Brown, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I'm not putting a fence around what I do with him or with you all, just so that I am honest. I'm not saying I am doing this for the whole season. I'm not saying I'm just doing this tonight.”
Redick had his best season as a pro in 2017-18, putting up a career-high 17.1 points per game while shooting 46 percent from the floor and a blistering 42 percent from deep, playing next to a gifted passer in Ben Simmons. The combination of two non-shooting guards in Simmons and Fultz could cause potential nightmares against better teams, since the entire backcourt's shooting rests on Fultz, who is still getting acclimated to incorporating his newly-rebuilt jump shot.
Redick was asked to come off the bench in private by Brown during the offseason, a move the veteran welcomed with the vision in mind.
“J.J. has to be factored into this,” said Brown. “This decision I've made doesn't make it right. But it sure has made it studied. And we thought it out a lot.”
If the Sixers can keep winning games without Fultz' shooting improving, it's likely he will stay as the starter — but losing games has a way to make a coach change his mind.
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