SALT LAKE CITY – After playing 13 minutes in what everyone involved hopes will be his last G-League game, Markelle Fultz made his rounds.
First, the former No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft met with Toronto Raptors director of sports science and performance Alex McKechnie for a post-game debrief.
The rangy point guard, whose career has been derailed by injuries, then did a brief post-game workout in the hallways of the Delta Center, where Raptors 905 had just defeated the Salt Lake City Stars in an 11 a.m. local start in front of an arena full of very loud school children on Monday.
And then when it all became official, and Fultz was indeed slated to start his latest NBA comeback bid Monday night with the Toronto Raptors, who were also in Salt Lake City for a game against the Utah Jazz, the veteran of eight NBA seasons and 255 games with three different teams took a congratulatory hug from 905 head coach Andrew Jones. He then went with a member of the Raptors’ front office for a ride over to the team hotel.
“It’s never been an issue of like, I can’t play this game,” said Fultz before he made his Raptors debut in what ended up being a comfortable 143-127 win over the very-much-tanking Jazz. “It’s just, do what you need to do to get healthy so you can go play the game to the best of your ability … I’m just thankful that I have another opportunity to go do that.
As expected, the Raptors – even short three starters – were too much for the Jazz, who are pulling out all the stops to make sure they keep their top-eight protected pick in this year’s draft. The Raptors scored a team-record-tying 49 points in the third quarter to take a 29-point lead into the fourth quarter. The Raptors recorded a franchise-record 49 assists for the game, 15 of which were from Jamal Shead, a career high for the second-year guard.
The win improved the Raptors’ record to 40-31 and kept them a half-game ahead of Atlanta in the race for fifth place in the Eastern Conference. They are 2-2 on their five-game road trip, which concludes against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday.
RJ Barrett led the Raptors with 27 points – 18 in the third quarter – and knocked down four of five threes as the team shot 20-of-37 for the game.
Fultz finished with five assists and two steals in 16 minutes and was one-of-five from the floor.
There were flashes of high-level play. On his first two possessions, he found Collin Murray-Boyles (nine points and five blocked shots in his first game back after missing 12 games with his thumb injury) rolling to the basket for lay-ups.
Murray-Boyles was fouled on the first and converted both free throws, and converted a three-point play on the next chance. He used his six-foot-10 wingspan to good effect on a wraparound pass leading to a triple for Sandro Mamukelashvili, who finished with 23 points and five steals. Fultz had a light touch on the game and looked comfortable playing in the flow with a new group.
“He’s (a) point guard. You can see that he’s comfortable getting the team into the offence and organizing, and he had five assists,” said coach Darko Rajakovic. “It was awesome to see him out there, knowing that he played a game this morning,”
It’s not often that a player signed in late March on a 10-day contract is worth much more than a passing glance. Typically, they’re auditioning for Summer League or a training-camp invite.
But Fultz’s case is different. At 28, his is a basketball life that requires chapters: from age-group phenom to mysterious post-draft bust; from gritty reclamation project to a basketball ghost having played 21 inconsequential NBA basketball games over the past two years.
But underlying it all is a magic talent that is hard to stop believing in.
A quick cameo against the tanking Jazz is a long way from meaningful NBA minutes, but it’s a start – and Fultz hardly looked out of place. The Raptors could use some size and depth at point guard, especially if Immanuel Quickley – ruled out last night with plantar fasciitis in his right foot – ends up having an ongoing issue, and Shead’s shooting struggles continue.
That might be getting ahead of things, but Fultz understands why his story can’t help but inspire questions, and spur curiosity.
“My journey has been crazy since I first been in (the NBA),” he said before making his Raptors debut. “My whole life really has been, you know, a lot of trials and error.”
Which is why he chose this path back. He nearly had his career thwarted before it began by thoracic outlet syndrome (a compressed nerve in his shoulder and neck) after being drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers – a malady that is blamed for ruining his ability to shoot at anywhere approaching the level he had shown as a draft prospect at the University of Washington.
Shooting – alongside injuries – has been his other challenge. He’s a 28-per-cent career three-point shooter. He then lost another year to a torn ACL and more time subsequently with knee tendinitis, knee fractures and a toe fracture – and that’s just what’s been listed publicly.
This time, Fultz elected to get off the injury roller-coaster and take the time to get his body – all of it – right. Until joining Raptors 905 earlier this month, he hadn’t played since a 21-game run with the Sacramento Kings at the end of the 2024-25 season.
“The body is a complicated thing, and you know, there’s a lot of conversation that go on,” he said Monday. “I’ve been blessed to learn a lot about my body and understand that it’s not just normally one thing (and) to be able to have that time to work everything out and not have to worry about playing through games and playing through all these things.
“And just give myself a fighting chance to take that time to do it. I worked on everything: shoulder, knees, hips, everything I know that I’ve learned over the years what it takes to play in an NBA game and compete.”
He said he felt he could have taken a training-camp invitation or gotten a chance on a 10-day contract, but he didn’t want to come back until he felt he was entirely ready.
“I got to a point where it was like, my next step was just taking all my work that I put in to put it into game action,” he said.
His five-game audition with Raptors 905 was proof of concept for both him and the Raptors as he worked to get himself up to game speed while the organization got to know him beyond references they were able to gather from his other NBA stops.
The verdict? Top marks. Even if his body has betrayed him at times over his professional career, the knack for playing point guard – getting to the paint, making reads against converging defences, delivering the ball on time and where it needs to be – has never left him.
“He knows where the ball has to go,” said Jones when I spoke with him Monday morning after Fultz had played for the 905 and got word of his 10-day deal. “He’s seen all the types of pick-and-roll, coverages, the unders, the overs, the blitzes. Nothing fazes him. And if there’s a sliver of space to exploit, he’s gonna do it.
“But what I’ve been most impressed about was his level of professionalism and humility,” Jones continued. “You know, a former No. 1 pick, he could come in here and have a crazy chip on his shoulder, act like he owns the place. But he walked right in and said, ‘Coach, what do you need me to do? I said ‘lead, defend, and be the playmaker that we know you all are.’ And he’s been awesome, just awesome.”
It’s a story that is hard not to root for.
“He’s a dog, man,” said Raptors two-way wing Alijah Martin, who shared the floor and a locker room with Fultz over five G-League games. “His story and his background, the way he came up, the way he had to fight back, I’m just a fan of his man. I’m all about adversity and he’s thrived through adversity. He’s a real stand-up guy and I’m just happy for him and whatever comes next.”
Ja’Kobe Walter has earned his spot in the Raptors rotation as a reliable defender off the bench. The hope was that his shooting would be adequate. Anything above league average (35.8 per cent) for the second-year wing would be a bonus.
Who knew the 22-year-old would turn into Luke Kennard (who leads the NBA in three-point percentage at 47.9)? But that’s where we are.
Walter shot four-of-four against the Nuggets on Friday; three-of-three Sunday against the Suns and six-of-eight against the Jazz.
In 16 games since the all-star break, Walter has converted 33-of-68 of his looks from deep for 48.5 per cent. He’s up to 37.9 per cent for the season after shooting 34.9 per cent from three as a rookie.
Stay healthy, my friends
Most of the Raptors on the injury report were in the category of – ‘this seems like a good night to take off’. There was no suggestion that Brandon Ingram was having any issues with his right heel before he was a late scratch against the Jazz.
After the game, Rajakovic indicated it was not expected to be an on-going concern. It’s just Ingram’s third missed game this season. The rest might do him well.
Similarly, Jakob Poeltl was lifting weights before the game, suggesting the decision to hold him out on the second night of a back-to-back was purely precautionary.
But one to pay attention to is Quickley’s plantar fasciitis. I’ve seen the Raptors point guard doing various exercises before and after games for his foot, and the way Rajakovic described his situation before the game didn’t sound entirely encouraging.
“It’s been a couple of weeks now that he’s been playing through it,” said Rajakovic. “It flared up in the game last night in the second quarter. It got a little bit worse this morning. He’s not gonna be available tonight. Hopefully he’s back for the Clippers.”
But what about the two-ways?
One of the casualties of the Raptors’ return to competitiveness has been the lack of opportunities for two-way signees A.J. Lawson and Martin (Chucky Hepburn remains out after knee surgery).
By this time last season, both Jamison Battle and Lawson had their two-way deals converted to standard NBA contracts. (Lawson was later waived and re-signed on another two-way deal).
There remains the possibility that one two-way deal could be converted before the end of the season, but if the Fultz experiment hits, the required roster spot wouldn’t be available, unless the Raptors were to waive someone else. Both Lawson (21.8 points on 47/37 shooting splits) and Martin (19.1 on 50/39) have had strong seasons for a 905 team that is 22-12 and in fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
“I’m staying ready whenever I get my name called,” said Martin, the Raptors second-round pick from last summer. “I’m just blessed keep getting better every game, just trying to find ways to improve and keep making an impact and winning.”
And as for earning a standard NBA deal before the end of the season?
“I’m just focusing on basketball,” he said. “I just try to do my job. I got a great (agent) and I trust their work and I will make sure I handle my part. So that’s all I’m really focused on. Keep my body right, keep my mind right. Keep winning games and keep being impactful.”
