If Markelle Fultz is going to return this season, the decision to do so starts with him, Brett Brown said Saturday.
"When Markelle Fultz feels like he can go, he really feels good about himself and his health, the shoulder, everything, and the medical people support that," Brown said before the Sixers' win over the Timberwolves. "He knows he's got a coaching staff and a team that will welcome him in when he says go."
Then asked if the decision-making process begins with Fultz telling the Sixers he wants to play, Brown replied, "Yes."
Fultz has been sidelined since Oct. 23 because of a right shoulder injury. His return has not been ruled out, even with 10 games remaining in the regular season. Brown has said a determination would need to be made "soon," but a cutoff has not been set.
"We understand the closeness of the end of the season," Brown said. "Every time we speak, it gets a little bit shrunk. But in relation to an exact date, that hasn't happened."
Fultz has been trying to regain the shot that helped make him the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA draft. For those who don't get to watch Fultz work behind closed doors, his progress has evaluated through videos from practices, shootarounds and pregame warmups.
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"I think he is quite close," Brown said. "I think when we all watch the video, we'd all probably agree with that."
If Fultz were to return, the Sixers would have to rework rotations they have been trying to establish for the playoffs. Fultz's role as a guard is one that would put the ball in his hands, adding another layer to work through to get incorporated into the system. His return before the postseason would create a myriad of question marks on the court with a limited amount of time to answer them.
Brown is not correlating a possible Fultz return with the Sixers clinching a spot in the playoffs. They would have locked in one of the top-eight seeds Saturday had the Pistons lost to the Bulls, but the Pistons did not.
"It's not like the playoff berth will trigger a bunch of other things that will make it easier for him to come back," Brown said. "It isn't that at all … they're not interconnected."
