No. 1 draft pick Fultz remains sidelined for 76ers

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Markelle Fultz remains sidelined for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Fultz, the No. 1 overall pick this year, rejoined the team this week following a rehab assignment in Kentucky but there is no timetable for his return. Fultz has been sidelined since late October with soreness and a scapular muscle imbalance in his right shoulder.

Fultz, out of Washington, is shooting 33 percent, 50 percent from the free-throw line and has not attempted a 3-point shot in four games this season, all as a reserve. Fultz had made the wrong kind of headlines in his brief tenure because of a quirky shooting form that has been widely mocked all season.

"The good news is, the soreness is completely gone," team president Bryan Colangelo said Thursday night. "The muscle imbalance is gone. Now it's about retraining those muscles. It's also about getting in basketball condition, kind of reworking a lot of these mechanisms, muscular and otherwise. It's encouraging to see what we've seen."

No one in the organization can pinpoint when Fultz's form went awry, though he's had soreness since the summer. Fultz also had at least one cortisone injection in October to treat the shoulder. He visited several specialists and no structural damage was found in the shoulder. He will continue to undergo physiotherapy treatment and was expected to soon resume shooting and other basketball activities.

The Sixers were expected to give a complete medical update Friday.

"We anticipate the end is near. He's doing really well," Colangelo said. "It's frustrating that he's still not out here but this team has been winning and doing some other things that have taken the eye off the focus there."

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