By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Three games into the Sixers preseason, the team is 0-3, hasn't gelled extremely well and isn't getting great production from their last two first round picks. While Ben Simmons has looked impressive with the passing game, like we knew he would, his offensive game leaves plenty to be desired. He isn't going to blow you away with jump shots, but his shot looks forced a lot of the time.
Meanwhile, the Sixers traded up to get Markelle Fultz No. 1 this year since the Washington product would add some much needed shooting upside to an offense that had struggled to be consistent offensively. Although it's only three games into the preseason, many are becoming concerned about Fultz's altered shot mechanics and how his current ailment might be a factor in that. The 19-year-old guard sat out Friday's game with shoulder soreness and now head coach Brett Brown is starting to lead on that the injury may be a reason his shot mechanics have been so wacky.
“I think [his shoulder] is affecting him more than he lets on. You can tell with his free throw, trying to get that ball up. It’s far out from his body. He’s been working on trying to get that thing rehabilitated,” Brown said. “And the lack of the quantity of his 3-point shooting may be a sign that it’s hurting a little more than he’s letting on.” [TheRinger.com]
While a shoulder injury would surely mess with a players' ability to shoot the ball, it's a bit confusing as to why he's even playing if it's messing with his shot that bad. Especially with the amount of caution taken with injuries to Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. Fultz was asked after Monday's game if his altered free throw look was because of his shoulder, and he responded, “Yeah, for the most part. I’m just trying other things to make free throws. At the end of the day, that’s not an excuse for me. I’m just out there hooping.” Fultz is using his wrist to guide the ball rather than using his legs to begin the motion, indicating that his shoulder injury could be playing a factor in all this.
All this being said, Fultz's mechanics were off to begin camp, bringing up the idea of if the shoulder is affecting things, how long has this shoulder injury has been present? Brett Brown didn't give any indication to an injury prior to camp, rather just stating how Fultz was trying to tweak his shot over the summer to improve things.
No, and so we’re gonna get back on track. His heart is in the right place. All by himself, he pivoted out over the summer and tried to make it better and tweak it, and he’s in a place right now where we’re gonna try to remind him where his shot was and try to bring that back into probably more a tighter shot, bring his release point down a little bit, bring the ball closer to his body. We have a Team Markelle all around him to help him, and he’s gonna be just fine. [Philly.com]
If the team has been working with him to improve the shot, it doesn't seem like he's quite confident enough quite yet to rely on it. On Monday night against Boston, he looked more comfortable, but all but one of his baskets were from driving into the lane.
David Murphy of the Philadelphia Inquirer had some very good points on Fultz's shooting mechanics in a recent column, pointing out that even though his shot has changed, Fultz is hesistant to even take an open jumper. Below are two examples from the Sixers' scrimmage at the Palestra and you'll notice that Fultz has plenty of room to pull up and shoot it, but instead passes the ball to a teammate.
Yes, it is "just the preseason", but with eight days left until the Sixers regular season opener, is it time to be concerned about Fultz's mechanics?
