Ah yes the NBA off-season, where every player is in the best shape of their life and every player coming off of a down season is looking like they will be better than ever. This is the time when the PR machine gets rocking and teams feel the need to protect their assets and simultaneously give confidence and support to those who may require it.
The poster child for that over the past summer has been Markelle Fultz. The No.1 pick of the 2017 NBA seemingly had his powers taken away Space Jam style around this time last year and sat out the majority of his rookie season with a shoulder injury and a need to completely rebuild his jump shot.
According to those around the 76ers organization this summer, that mission has been accomplished.
Palpable buzz is building around #76ers guard Markelle Fultz. One league source privy to Fultz's workouts w/famed hoops trained Drew Hanlen tells me Fultz's jumper is rebuilt and that a result, the 20-year-old guard is a completely different, vastly improved player.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) July 22, 2018
Hanlen is one of the more renowned basketball trainers in this day and age and has worked with Joel Embiid, Bradley Beal, Zach LaVine, Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Clarkson among others.
While it would be huge for the 76ers and great for the league if Fultz could find an improved version of that jumper that made him the No. 1 pick, the proof will be in the pudding and thousands of training videos or stories about him hitting every jump shot he takes won’t amount to anything until he can prove it in a game.
