Fultz sees shoulder specialist, will be ‘out indefinitely’
PHILADELPHIA » For a fifth consecutive season, a featured young 76er will miss substantial time due to injury.
Markelle Fultz, the No. 1 pick in the last draft, will be “out indefinitely” with the shoulder issue that has caused him to miss the last two games.
Initially, the Sixers said that the 6-4 combo guard would miss a minimum of three games. That changed after Fultz made a visit Sunday to a shoulder specialist in Kentucky.
According to the Sixers, Fultz had a consultation with “several shoulder specialists,” including Dr. Ben Kibler, the medical director of the shoulder center of Kentucky and the Lexington Clinic.
“Markelle Fultz will be out indefinitely with soreness and scapular muscle imbalance in his right shoulder,” the Sixers announced, in a release. “The visit further confirmed that there is no structural impairment to the shoulder, and he will continue his physiotherapy treatment.”
According to the Sixers, Kibler will re-evaluate Fultz in “approximately three weeks.”
Fultz played his first four games as a pro to lukewarm results. He scored a total of 26 points but shot 9-for-27. He did not attempt a three-point shot, and, using an odd form, was 6-for-12 from the line.
The Sixers insist there has been nothing structurally wrong with Fultz, though they have acknowledged a shoulder issue that required an earlier cortisone shot. Though cleared by the Sixers’ ever-cautious sports-science department to play, Fultz said only that his shoulder injury was “getting there” as he was dressing in Washington for the season opener.
Since training camp, Brett Brown has been saying that developing the 19-year-old Fultz, who had played only one season at the University of Washington, was high on the list of his season tasks. But he was reluctant to start the rookie, particularly against elite NBA backcourt defenders.
Even without Fultz, the Sixers have sufficient backcourt depth. Though J.J. Redick did not play in a 112-110 victory in Dallas Saturday due to a lower back situation, he has been in the usual, three-guard starting lineup with Ben Simmons and Jerryd Bayless. Late in the Dallas game, Brown had T.J. McConnell and Simmons share the backcourt.
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Nik Stauskas provide additional depth.
“We’ll take him out of the spotlight,” said Brown of Fultz last week. “He’s obviously been affected by whatever discomfort he’s had in his shoulder. The notion that there’s anything structurally wrong or that there is long-term concern is clearly not the case.”
Just the same, Fultz will be unavailable for a while, continuing a recent Sixers tradition. Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid (twice) and Simmons have all missed complete seasons since 2013.
The Sixers will continue their Texas trip in Houston Monday night at 8. They will return to the Wells Fargo Center to entertain the Atlanta Hawks Wednesday at 7.