Class: Freshman
Ht: 6-foot-4
Wt: 195 pounds
2016-17 Stats: 23.2 points, 5.9 assists, 5.7 rebounds, 1.6 steals, 1.2 blocks
HOW HE OPERATES
There isn’t a player in the NBA Draft that scores the basketball more effortlessly than Markelle Fultz. The freshman can put up points in any way possible, and it’s his ability to do that at high level which makes him a highly-coveted player. Right off the top, 33 percent of Fultz’s actions at Washington came out of pick-and-roll situations. That is huge given how much pick-and-roll is run in the NBA. So, Fultz has a good foundation of that already. When he was coming off of the screens he was coming off as a scorer. If you’re comparing UCLA’s Lonzo Ball and Fultz, you have to begin there. Fultz is much more of a scoring point guard; Ball is a passing point guard. Fultz, shot 49.6 percent out of pick-and-roll situations, is a crafty ball handler, who has a good handle in traffic. In scoring off of high screens where he had space to work with, he was automatic. Fultz’s jump shot is deadly. His form is near perfect, and he drops them in from long range as if they were layups. He shot 41 percent from the 3-point line, making him one of the best shooters from distance in the draft.
At the rim, Fultz can finish through contact, and can finish with either hand. And he’ll continue to get better at the rim as he improves his concentration in those circumstances. In terms of passing, Fultz can make plays for his teammates, whether it’s in drive-and-kick or anything else. He’s got good vision and is a willing passer, although the bad pass turnover was his most prevalent miscue. A lot of that stemmed from just being a freshman, seeing the college level for the first time and making young player mistakes. Fultz didn’t get a ton of reps passing to players rolling to the rim in screen-roll situations because Washington just didn’t have its big men dive to the rim all that much. There was a lot of pick-and-pop. So, Fultz’s timing and accuracy in those types of passes has to be cultivated. Fultz contributed heavily on the defensive glass.
Defensively, Fultz is kind of a question mark. Washington, a bad defensive team, switched nearly every screen and played a ton of zone and that gives little clarity to how good a defensive player he is or can be. Fultz does get down in a stance, and he put a lot of chase down blocks on the board. Almost all of them were chase downs, in fact. He’s got quick hands and a good many of his steals came from digging down on a ball handler in the lane and from pokes from behind. His willingness and ability to get through screens is largely unknown.
HIS BEST FIT
Fultz will flourish on a team willing to hand him the ball and allow him to shoot and score liberally. Fultz is a high usage player that isn’t used to standing in a corner and waiting on the pass for a spot-up shot. That’s not his strength. He needs the ball in his hands to score and make plays for teammates, and a team that affords him that opportunity is his ideal fit.