Markelle Fultz’s trade to the Magic was the best thing that could have happened to him

The Orlando Magic needed a long-term solution to their point guard problem. The Philadelphia 76ers were ready to move on from one of the most bizarre and frustrating NBA draft stories the league has ever seen. And so just before last season’s trade deadline passed, the Magic completed a trade for Markelle Fultz, sending a 2020 first round pick (protected 1-20) to the Sixers along with wing Jonathan Simmons to acquire the former No. 1 overall pick.

Fultz never stepped on the court for the Magic last season after the trade as he rehabbed his busted shoulder, but the Magic still decided to pick up his fourth-year option for the 2020-2021 season at a hefty $12.3 million. Despite everything that held back his short-lived pro career to that point, Orlando’s faith in Fultz never wavered. Now the Magic are starting to be rewarded for it.

Fultz has been in staple in the Orlando lineup all season, and he’s been ... perfectly fine. He’s grading out as just about an average player according to advanced metrics like PIPM and 538’s RAPTOR , a point guard who still struggles to shoot from the perimeter but impacts the game as a skilled finisher and defensive presence. On his best nights, Fultz hints at the special talent that once made him such a coveted draft prospect. His breakthrough performance against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center on Wednesday night was exactly that.

Fultz helped deliver Orlando a 119-118 win with the second triple-double of his career, finishing with 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. He scored two baskets in the final minute to secure victory, first shaking JaVale McGee out of his shoes on a reverse layup and then creating an ocean of separation against LeBron James before laying in Orlando’s final field goal of the night. It felt like this was the Markelle Fultz we were waiting for all along.

The Magic have now won six of their last eight, featuring victories over the Heat, Lakers, and the team that was directly in front of them in the standings, the Brooklyn Nets. The Magic remain a game under .500 but are now positioned as the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference. After an uninspired start to the season, Orlando is playing some of its best ball, even without injured forward Jonathan Isaac, who was one of the team’s biggest bright spots.

Fultz, meanwhile, is still only 21 years old. He’s made major progress this season in several areas, most notably in durability — he’s already played 40 games this season after playing only 33 in his first two seasons combined — and as a free throw shooter. Fultz’s story is far from finished, but the Magic have to be pleased with how he’s progressing so far.

Fultz was a brilliant prospect when he entered the draft in 2017 out of Washington. At 6’4, he was a big, smooth ball handler who could create offense out of thin air. Fultz played with a level of creativity that couldn’t be taught, slithering through opposing defenses for dribble pull-ups and crafty finishes while leveraging his own scoring ability to set up teammates for easy buckets. Of course, Fultz was also a dynamic shooter as a college player, hitting 41.3 percent of the 126 threes he attempted as a freshman.

Fultz’s three-point shooting remains a lost cause — he’s hit 26.5 percent of 68 attempts from downtown this season — but the rest of his skill set is starting to resemble his college scouting report. The guy who shook LeBron for the winning basket in crunch-time? That’s who the Sixers thought they were getting at No. 1 overall:

Fultz has quietly been a tremendous finisher at the rim this season, hitting 65.5 percent of his attempts inside of three-feet. Those numbers are in line with his career averages before this season, but they’re still impressive. Fultz has made more apparent strides as an insider scorer just away from the rim. On shots between three-feet and 10-feet, he’s hitting 43 percent of his attempts, after never hitting better than 29 percent in that area before this season.

The creativity, body control, and touch it requires to be a great inside scorer have been on display all season for Fultz. This move put it all together:

Add in that Fultz is no longer afraid to get fouled — he’s up to 74 percent from the line after hitting only 56 percent of his free throws last season — and the signs of a young guard who can put pressure on the rim are there. In some sense, these are baby steps for the former No. 1 overall pick, but the Magic are perfectly fine with letting Fultz develop at his own pace.

The trade to Orlando was the best thing that could have ever happened to Fultz. There was simply too much pressure in Philadelphia to live up to his pre-draft expectations. His mysterious injury combined with rampant speculation that his problems were mostly mental the whole time created an insane tension that few young players could have developed in. Philadelphia’s championship-or-bust aspirations didn’t help matters, either.

The stakes are so much lower with the Magic. A successful season for Orlando means making the playoffs and maybe taking a game or two once it gets there. This is about development for young players like Fultz, Isaac, and Mohamed Bamba. After six straight seasons of missing the postseason following the trade of Dwight Howard, the Magic are happy just to see the fruits of their rebuild start to pay off in some small way.

For the franchise to take a serious next step towards contention, Fultz has to continue to develop into what the league thought he would be pre-draft. Even if that doesn’t fully come to fruition, he’s still a serviceable NBA player who should have a long career provided he can remain durable.

Until then, Orlando waits. For now, the flashes from Fultz will keep hope alive.