Magic coach Jamal Mosley is often asked about the team's future plans for Markle Fultz and the team's goals, but in terms of on-court situations, the Magic coaching staff insisted on limiting Markle Fultz's playing time to 18 to 20 minutes.
Because of this, in the 14 games since Markle Fultz's return in March, the Magic have gained 21 minutes of playing time in the Game against the Wizards on March 31, which is already the highest single-game appearance time of the season so far for Markle Fultz, and the only game with more than 20 minutes of playing time, especially if Fultz can perform so well on the court (19 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks on 7-of-71-14 shooting).
However, Magic coach Jamal Mosley also responded after the game that the reason why Markle Fultz had more than 20 minutes to play was that he could not get Fultz out of the field through a timeout or a dead ball opportunity.
However, in the game against the Raptors on April 2, Beijing time, Magic coach Jamal Mosley still controlled Fultz's playing time at just 20 minutes, and in this game, Fultz had 12 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals on 5-of-13 shooting.
While the Magic did lose both games and fans expressed a desire to see Markle Fultz get more playing time on the court, the Magic are still sticking to their plans to control Fultz's playing time. But surprisingly, Fultz can be said to have played an outstanding performance in these two games that has never been seen before.
In both games, Fultz delivered seven assists and, more importantly, he was able to deliver 113.6 percent offensive efficiency to the team against the Wizards (the Magic only had 106.8 percent offensive efficiency across the team). In addition, in the game against the Raptors, Fultz did only have an offensive efficiency of 95.2, but the Magic team also only had an offensive efficiency of 92.7. In short, even with just 20 minutes of playing time, Fultz can still be the dominant force on the magic's offensive end.
For fans, there will indeed be a lot of interest in seeing how Fultz can perform after getting more than 20 minutes of playing time. Not to mention, as long as Fultz is on the court, the Magic can indeed play a relatively solid offensive and defensive performance, at least for the time he can play, Fultz can be the most important player in the team.
In fact, Fultz has been able to score in double figures in the last four games. Among them, he scored 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting in 20 minutes against the Kings, Fultz also contributed 11 points (19 minutes playing time) in the next game against the Cavaliers, and the season-high 19 and 12 points against the Wizards and Raptors, respectively.
It is clear that Fultz has gradually found a way to play a stable game in a game with limited playing time. So far this season, Fultz has averaged 18.6 minutes of playing time in 14 games for the Magic, and he can get 10.4 points, 4.7 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals from 45.5% shooting.
This is still a qualified starting player, and such a data performance should also be enough to make Fultz an All-Star fringe player, or Fultz has gradually entered the right track after returning from injury. After all, in every 36 minutes, Fultz averaged 20.2 points and 9.1 assists per game.
It's not just basic stats, or high-level stats, that can more accurately see how much a player contributes to the team on the field, and most of Fultz's high-level stats have the top performances in the Magic squad.
The first is that Fultz can bring +3 boosts to the Magic's plus-minus when he is on the floor so far this season, and it is a +1.5 that contributes equally in attack and defense (basically letting the team score 1.5 points per 100 rounds, after all, Fultz is a player who can contribute to the team at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends).
Considering Fultz's very limited playing time and the fact that the team he plays on is the worst record in the league, it is indeed a profound feat that he can play a relatively efficient data performance in this situation.
Of course, doubling Fultz's playing time doesn't mean that his numbers on the pitch can also be doubled, but at this point, it is theoretically possible to play the top data performance by Giving Fultz playing time in the usual rotation arrangement.
You know, Fultz has been suffering from injuries since he entered the league as a champion, even though he is still a very young player, but in fact, the expectations and patience of the outside world are gradually fading. At least as a champion player, Fultz does have a good talent, but at the same time his physical condition also makes him the player with greater risk.
If the Magic can't see Fultz play well enough and lead the team forward in the next few seasons, then the Magic, who are already in the reconstruction phase, may end the plan around Fultz. However, it should be clear that the Magic coaching staff is more inclined to let Fultz adapt to the rhythm of the team on the field, and even avoid Letting Fultz face strong players.
On the defensive end, Fultz is mostly less used defensively, with only 12.2 percent of Fultz's defensive opponents used so far this season, and simply not the best player in the league.
On the offensive end, Fultz's most frequent teammates are Chuma Oxiki (154 minutes), Mo Wagner (150 minutes) and Terrence Rose (113 minutes), but Fultz can only bring negative net efficiency to the Magic when partnering these players, of which Terrence Rose can only have a net efficiency of -12.4, only -8.6 net efficiency when partnering Oxiki, or only -4.7 net efficiency when partnering Wagner.
However, considering the magic's disadvantage in the depth of the lineup this season, this is not an unexpected situation.
So far this season, Fultz hasn't been on the court much of the time with the Magic's starting lineup players. For example, he spent only 74 minutes in nine games with Wendell Carter, only 64 minutes in 13 games with Franzi Wagner, 33 minutes in 10 games with Cole Anthony and only 3 minutes with Sargas.
This proves once again that the Magic coaching staff really wants Fultz to face the opposing bench for most of the time on the field, but at the same time, Fultz does not have many opportunities to partner with the best starter in the team, which also makes fans look forward to how Fultz can perform after a long time with the starters.
Write at the end
Everyone is eager to figure out how Fultz can play after the "real comeback", at least the presence of Fultz is very important to the reconstruction of this magic team and next season.
It is true that Fultz is still in the stage of adaptation, but in these games, he has been able to play a positive performance. But from the perspective of the game, Fultz can indeed have a more obvious positive impact on the Magic, he has done a lot of small things on the court that are difficult to show on the data, and these small things have obviously had an impact on the Magic's game.
Of course, fans will not have until the new season to fully lift the limit on playing time, as Fultz said when he returned to the game this season, he is still grateful to return to the game to officially participate in the game, even if the playing time is limited.
The Magic still have a lot of expectations for Fultz, and judging from Fultz's performance so far, he has been able to play more than expected.