Markelle Fultz is pretty regularly having decent games for the Magic. If you told me before the draft that that would be his current situation in year three of his career, I’d definitely be wondering what the heck happened to have the Magic acquire him. And I’d probably assume that by “decent” you meant “30-point triple-double”.
But no. His career has taken a couple strange turns to lead him to this place, and these kind of performances don’t even come close to justifying where he was selected in the draft, but at least he has a role. A consistent role with a good chance to a run a real NBA offense (insert joke about the Magic not being a real NBA offense here). There have definitely been points throughout this whole ordeal where even such a limited role seemed like an unlikely outcome.
I don’t hear 76ers fans say “trust the process” anymore, so I figure the Magic can take that phrase and apply it towards Fultz’s continued development. The process is starting with a healthy amount of double-digit scoring games with some exciting individual plays. That’s the part of the process we’re in right now. The next step is to develop sick lob chemistry with Aaron Gordon/Josh Magette. The step after that? 20-point games, and maybe a triple-double or two like the one he had in his rookie year.
And after that? Who knows. MIP? All-Star? Trust the process.