There are still a lot of preconceptions about Markelle Fultz.
Just look at how the Golden State Warriors defended him Saturday night in the Orlando Magic’s 115-101 win at Chase Center. Draymond Green laid far off him, playing free safety in the paint to try to crowd the Magic’s hard-driving players and potential free-throw shooters. The whole strategy was to dare the team to shoot, especially Fultz.
This is how teams will play Fultz. He is still perceived as a poor shooter around the league and he still has a long way to go in that category even with a willingness to shoot and stay aggressive despite the space opponents give him.
But this is also his advantage too. Fultz is not in the games to fill up a stat sheet. The idea that he can be a team’s primary scorer as a former top overall pick were put to rest as he struggled through his shoulder injury.
He has had to reframe what success means. And so has everyone else.
Markelle Fultz’s numbers may not stand out on a nightly basis. But his impact for the Orlando Magic is very real. Even if they are not shown in his numbers.
What makes Fultz so effective and so important is not something so easily seen on a stat sheet, just as it was not so easily seen on the floor Saturday night.
It was the way he controlled the pace of the game on both ends, speeding up his team and slowing it down when it was called for or even speeding up the Warriors with his pressure and presence in the paint. Fultz nearly put a quadruple-double with 16 points, five rebounds, seven assists and six steals.
Fultz’s impact this season continues to be something that is much harder to track than the numbers would show. But watching any bit of Fultz play will make it clear how well the team is managed and plays when Fultz has things going.
Fultz is scoring 11.5 points per game on 46.0-percent shooting and 32.1-percent shooting from deep. He has added 5.5 assists per game, 4.3 rebounds per game and a career-high 1.8 steals per game.
Teams are going to continue to test Fultz’s ability to shoot like this and his ability to contribute on offense as a scorer. He has to remain aggressive and looking to score.
But the team is certainly not relying on him as a scorer first and foremost. Rather it is how all those plays build up and add up together.
The Magic are 10-9 since Markelle Fultz (along with Cole Anthony) returned to the lineup on Nov. 30. The overall numbers are still catching up to him — the Magic have a -6.1 net rating with a 106.7 offensive rating with Fultz on the floor. But when Markelle Fultz plays alongside Bol Bol, the team has a -10.1 net rating (104.6/114.8 split, the third most common pairing.
That is a group the team has leaned on pretty heavily to mixed success despite Bol’s often gaudy stat lines. It is a group that Fultz will still have to figure out how to play with. Outside of that, it is easy to see where Fultz’s play is positive.
Pair him with a team that has some decent shooting surrounding him and it is easy to see how he can get downhill and get the team moving. The team plays at a team-high and blistering 102.6 pace with Fultz on the floor.
That is the biggest impact Fultz makes. He has a natural sense and ability to push the pace and when he attacks in transition can make good decisions and keep defenses off balance.
But again, the numbers do not quite match the eye test. Fultz averages only 1.00 points per possession on transition plays and he makes 48.6 percent from the floor in transition according to NBA.com’s tracking stats.
Perhaps this is still a small sample size. Fultz has played only 19 games and could still be weighed down some by early struggles as he got back into the swing of things.
The numbers do not say it but Fultz is a willing and fairly capable mid-range shooter, especially off the dribble. He is slithery around the basket and able to finish around and through defenders.
Defensively he seems to be playing better than ever getting in passing lanes for steals and sneaking behind rebounders to steal the ball when they let their guard down. In Saturday’s game, he had six steals and an incredible six deflections to help set the tone for Orlando.
He has also developed a knack of sneaking into the lane and stealing offensive rebounds. He had a big one to secure the win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday. And it was not the first time he was willing to mix it up on the offensive glass.
Again, something that is never so obvious when you look at a box score.
There are a lot of questions about the Magic’s future as there always are with rebuilding teams. Many of the questions have begun to turn to the guard spots where the team is notably fairly weak with questions everywhere from Jalen Suggs’ future to how to fill the backup and bench minutes.
Fultz is not immune to that. Everyone is starting to think about what a playoff series looks like. Teams will lay off him and dare him to shoot. He has to be aggressive and looking to score.
But he also continually shows his value is more than his numbers. His potential impact is more than what he does that shows up in a box score.
His control of the game’s pace and ability to distribute and make little plays constantly matter for a team learning how to win.
It does not take much to see how valuable Fultz is to this team if you watch. There is a ton of hidden value in him as this team continues to develop and grow.