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Markelle Fultz: Philadelphia 76ers' top pick hindered by shoulder injury

By The Sports Xchange
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver (L) shakes hands with Markelle Fultz picked number one by the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the 2017 NBA draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, USA, 22 June 2017. File photo by Jason Szenes/EPA
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver (L) shakes hands with Markelle Fultz picked number one by the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the 2017 NBA draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, USA, 22 June 2017. File photo by Jason Szenes/EPA

Top overall pick Markelle Fultz is off to a slow start with the Philadelphia 76ers and his agent claims it is because of a shoulder injury.

Raymond Brothers, who represents the first selection of the 2017 draft, said Fultz had fluid drained from his right shoulder and plans to visit a specialist.

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"Markelle had a shoulder injury and fluid drained out of the back of his shoulder," Brothers told ESPN. "He literally cannot raise up his arms to shoot the basketball. He decided to try and fight through the pain to help the team. He has a great attitude.

"We are committed to finding a solution to get Markelle back to 100 percent."

Fultz has played in each of Philadelphia's four games and is averaging 6.0 points on 9-of-27 shooting. His free-throw shooting has also been poor as he has made just 6 of 12 attempts.

Fultz tallied just two points in 16 minutes during Monday's win over the Detroit Pistons.

The lack of scoring punch has been alarming after Fultz averaged 23.2 points in his one and only college season at Washington.

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The 76ers worked a trade with the Boston Celtics to move from No. 3 to No. 1 in order to draft Fultz.

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