Orlando Magic outgrew Markelle Fultz's limitations

On Feb. 22, 2022, Orlando Magic fans eagerly awaited Markelle Fultz's return.

More than a year after tearing his ACL in a mostly empty Amway Center during the COVID-shortened 2021 season, Fultz's return was an oasis of positive news in a difficult rebuilding year. More than anything, he was comfort food. A player who felt so ingrained into Orlando and this team. It was impossible to imagine not giving Fultz a chance to prove himself.

He stunned everyone in that first game back from the knee injury. His herky-jerky style looked like it never left as he scored 10 points in his debut. His ability to get downhill and use his body added a new element to the Magic. The team had its point guard back.

It is warm to think about that time. And warm to think about what could have been. That was always the promise Fultz brought.

But as the Magic have evolved, their needs have evolved too. Fultz never could find consistency, something always set him back. And the Magic are now on a timeline where they need reliable production and shooting.

Orlando has outgrown Fultz's limitations.

Orlando turned into a winning team and a playoff contender. Fultz struggled to overcome all of his injury issues. And a poor 2024 season brought his shortcomings into focus.

The NBA is a brutal business. And quite simply, it seemed like the Magic had outgrown Fultz. What they need from a backup point guard or a starting point guard was simply not what Fultz could provide.

The hope for a full revival of Fultz's career will go unrealized in Orlando. The Magic needed to move on.

With the team's reported signing of Cory Joseph, the Magic have filled their final roster spot for the 2025 season. It made the inevitable a reality. The team is not re-signing Fultz. Orlando is moving forward with a new vision.

Markelle Fultz's journey ended with a thud in 2024

In some ways, Markelle Fultz got left behind.

Undoubtedly, Fultz's 2024 season was a tough one. He averaged only 7.8 points per game, nearly half of the career-best 14.0 points per game he scored in the 2023 season. Just four games into the season, Fultz exited with a left knee tendinitis that slowed him down.

There was a lot of optimism that Fultz was getting closer to the dynamic, athletic player that made him the top pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. But the injuries cut that off. Fultz later revealed he was dealing with small fractures in his knee. It did not take much to understand that something was off throughout the 2024 season.

Fultz lost his confidence as a shooter, showing the discomfort and selection that he had to display while recovering from Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. Fultz took only 18 total 3-pointers.

He was fine during the playoffs, but his inability to space the floor overtook his benefit as a playmaker and creator.

The Magic needed more from the position. Their lack of shooting was always apparent, but never more apparent than when Fultz was on the floor. Defense had all five players with a foot in the paint, choking off any opportunities to drive.

Fultz's free agency was a convenient time to assess his future with the team and the team's future needs. It was a convenient time to move on.

Orlando Magic gave Markelle Fultz the chance to revive his career

Markelle Fultz's story will always be one that asks what could have been.

He was a dynamic player at Washington and the clear No. 1 pick even in a draft that included Jayson Tatum.

He dealt with thoracic outlet syndrome in his years with the Philadelphia 76ers, making it difficult for him to raise his arm above his shoulders and shoot at times. It completely sapped him of his effectiveness and confidence.

The trade to the Magic gave him a new lease on his career. The Orlando Magic had the time and willingness to be patient with him giving him low stakes to get healthy and work his way back to the court. He proved to be a critical piece of the team's 2020 return to the playoffs.

As Fultz seemed to be getting his footing, the pandemic shutdown knocked him off course and then a torn ACL early in the 2021 season halted all his progress.

But as he returned, hints of the old Fultz were emerging. He never lost his confidence, but his body needed to catch up.

His 2023 season seemed to hint that Fultz was putting those pieces back together and regaining his strength. His ability to manage games and control pace was undoubted. His work to get his body right after the litany of injuries he faced was inspiring.

By the end of the season was taking pull-up threes that seemed to suggest he had put his shooting struggles and confidence issues behind him.

Orlando had point guard questions. But Fultz gave hope he could answer all of them. More than that, he was beloved in the Magic's locker room for all the work it required to get him on the court and for his leadership as the team's point guard.

That never developed though. The Magic were changing around Fultz. The team he left before his knee injury was a different one than he returned to. And the evolution of the franchise with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner entering the fold changed things further.

The Magic pushing for the playoffs put their needs ahead of sentiment.

Fultz is as important as any player in the Magic's locker room. But the question was always whether he was the best fit for the team moving forward.

That answer became more inevitable as Fultz's role reduced throughout the season and he struggled with injuries.

Undoubtedly the Magic will miss Fultz's presence in the locker room. He was someone players responded to and looked up to for all the work he put in to play.

But nothing suggests the Magic are moving toward winning more than moving on from Fultz. The Magic had outgrown Fultz in many ways. They needed more from the position than Fultz could give them on the court despite all his progress and willingness to play within himself and sacrifice for the team.

It is a difficult thing to do. But it was time to move on. And the Magic appear to have done so.