Markelle Fultz's return brought even more excitement to the Wells Fargo Center Monday night. It also brought up some questions.
With the Sixers occupying the 4-seed in the East and eyeing 50 wins with nine games left to play, where does the No. 1 overall pick fit in?
Fultz put up 10 points (5 of 13), eight assists and four rebounds in 14 minutes in the Sixers' win over the Nuggets. It might as well have been his NBA debut. But will a 19-year-old rookie be able to make an impact in the playoffs with so little experience?
"I think he can," Sixers Pre- and Postgame Live analyst Marc Jackson said. "I don't care if he had 30 points or he had zero points, for him to play and help them win is a plus."
Jackson, a seven-year NBA veteran, played in 12 career playoff games as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Sixers. He's experienced the preparation firsthand and believes Fultz will be just fine.
"He can have an impact [in the playoffs] and these next nine games can help him get some feel under his belt," Jackson said. "And one thing to keep in mind about the playoffs: There's more time to practice, there's more time to walk through things. So he will grasp things quicker in the playoffs because it's the same opponent for seven games."
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When the Sixers traded up to draft Fultz, it was with the idea that the Washington product would play alongside Ben Simmons. The thought was Fultz's outside shot and ability as a scorer would complement Simmons' game well.
On Monday night, Brown made it clear that Fultz would serve as Simmons' backup. That seems to imply that Fultz and Simmons will not share the floor much if at all this season. Though Jackson believes that eventually Fultz and Simmons will complement each other in the future, he thinks not playing them together down the stretch is the right move.
"I do think [Fultz] will be coming off the bench, giving them what they need as someone similar to Ben, somebody that can create and get to the rim and create for others," Jackson said. "I think that's very smart of Brett Brown to move T.J. (McConnell) to the two and have Markelle backing up Ben. Which means he just clarified to all the media that his minutes will be when Ben is off the floor. So what he's pretty much saying is, don't expect them to play together right now. And I think that's smart."
