The Philadelphia 76ers and second-year guard Markelle Fultz are likely to part ways in the future, as the team has already been rumored to keep him out of their foreseeable plans, despite the politically correct statements to the media that have been sprinkled throughout the last few days.
Fultz is currently shopping specialists in New York for second opinions, but most around him believe he has a case of the yips and that his anxiety could be solved by going into a lower-pressure situation.
The market for the No. 1 pick is stale to say the least, given the melodrama surrounding his injury situation and the uncertainty created because of it. According to John Gonzalez of The Ringer, a G League stint looks unlikely, given his status as a former top pick.
That’s another issue with offloading Fultz—how a deal might potentially impact him. As another longtime league exec put it, Fultz needs “a low- or no- pressure” environment. That’s going to be tough to find. This is the NBA, after all. There have been suggestions that maybe Fultz should just go play in the G League for a while, but when I brought that up to people around the league, concerns were raised about how Fultz would take it and the attendant optics of the demotion.
Even going to bottom-dwelling teams like the Phoenix Suns or Cleveland Cavaliers, who reportedly recently expressed interest in acquiring him, would have some level of pressure involved — making this “low- or no-pressure” situation a hard ask at the NBA level.
The G League would be a great option and potentially make for a great redemption story if he shakes out the yips. However, the NBA is filled with egos, and Fultz's ego and whatever sense of confidence he has left could potentially be destroyed after getting a demotion after being on top of the world only a year ago.
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