Julius Erving Talks Markelle Fultz's Jump Shot, Future with the 76ers

Julius Erving is preaching patience when it comes to No. 1 overall pick Markelle Fultz. 

Speaking to TMZ Sports on Wednesday, the Philadelphia 76ers legend said he thinks Fultz should be able to evolve into the prospect he was touted as prior to the 2017 draft if he recovers from his shoulder injury. 

"Clearly there is some sort of physical thing that is causing him the problems that he's having. More than mental, "Erving said. "If things happen to you when you're young like that, you've got chance to heal, get back to 100 percent. If he gets back to 100 percent, he'll be a dynamic player."

Fultz appeared in the first four games of the season, but he's been sidelined since Oct. 25 due to a right shoulder injury that has drastically altered his shooting mechanics. 

The initial diagnosis was scapular muscle imbalance, but the Sixers announced in early December that the 19-year-old was no longer dealing with that issue. 

As it turns out, that represented part of a larger problem. 

According to PhillyVoice's Kyle Neubeck, sources confirmed Fultz was diagnosed with scapular dyskinesis—which can be caused, in part, by muscular imbalance. 

Fultz has continued to go through a normal regimen of pregame shooting drills while sidelined, as the Bucks County Courier Times' Tom Moore documented, but there's still no timeline for his return. 

"There's always a chance that he's going to be out there soon, and there's a chance that he's not going to play this year," general manager Bryan Colangelo told reporters Feb. 9. "I can't answer that question because we don't know the answer to that."

Colangelo added: "He's retraining his shooting mechanics. He's retraining his muscle movement patterns. All those things. That's the part that’s a little bit of an unknown for us and our medical team. There's no timeline, per se."