A Last Second Ish Smith Reunion?
By Eric Mullin
The Philadelphia 76ers open the season in Boston on Wednesday night. They have to have their roster down to at least the maximum of 15 by today. Yet, we are in the early hours of Monday morning and the Sixers have still not cut anymore from their 20-man training camp roster.
Sam Hinkie and Brett Brown are not blankly staring at the Sixers roster with no clue of what to do with the final four or five spots. Hinkie probably has a firm idea of who he is planning on cutting if the roster remains the same, but he is waiting it out for a couple of reasons.
The first is to engage in talks with teams about players that he plans on cutting. Say, for the sake of an example, the Sixers were planning on cutting JaKarr Sampson. When Sampson is cut he will be placed on waivers allowing all 30 teams a chance to place a claim on him, in the order of last year’s standings. If he completely cleared waivers without a team placing a claim on him, then he would become an unrestricted free agent.
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But before letting Sampson walk the Sixers could shop him around to interested teams. If more than one team is interested than it creates the opportunity for a trade. If a team such as the Warriors were really interested in Sampson then they may attempt to trade for him if they feared that he would be claimed before he got to their number 3o claim position.
The second reason for the Sixers holding out on making roster moves is to give themselves the maximum amount of time to consider all options. Hinkie has waited out the other 29 teams’ cuts, giving himself a chance to weigh them against the players that are currently under contract in Philly. This scenario is reportedly being played out, as Sam Hinkie is currently weighing whether to claim a familiar face off waivers:
Also looking to bolster depth at point guard, Sixers contemplating claiming Ish Smith before he clears waivers, I've been told.
— Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) October 25, 2015
When the 2014-15 season came to an end, it seemed like a safe bet that Ish Smith, who was entering the offseason as an unrestricted free agent, would return to the Sixers. After being claimed off of waivers by the Sixers in late February, Smith went on to appear in 34 games while averaging 12.0 points and 6.1 assists. The Sixers offense really clicked with him on the court because of his speed to get by people and his pass-first mentality. Brett Brown constantly raved about him and talked about how he believed that they could help improve Ish’s shot.
But as the offseason went on the Sixers seemed to be connected to almost every point guard not named Ish Smith. The Sixers would go on to sign four point guards and Smith signed a non-guaranteed deal with the Wizards. Recently Smith was waived by the Wizards and here we are now.
This report doesn’t come as much of a surprise. The Sixers have said that Kendall Marshall and Tony Wroten, their two best point guards, will return around late November and December respectively. That leaves them with the option of keeping some combination of Isaiah Canaan, Scottie Wilbekin, T.J. McConnell, and Pierre Jackson to handle the point guard duties until their top floor generals return to the court. Essentially the Sixers are choosing between three rookies and a player who is better off the ball in Canaan.
Assuming that Canaan makes the team (which would be a surprise if it didn’t happen), the other point guard that latches on is going to get a considerable amount of minutes until one of Marshall/Wroten returns. Based off of preseason performance McConnell appeared to be the leader to land a final spot based off his tight ball handling and passing abilities, but his major drawback is his shooting ability. Wilbekin showed some flashes of his shooting and not much else, while Pierre Jackson never seemed to be at full strength.
So if Canaan is projecting to play 28-30 minutes a night at point guard, someone is going to have to fill in for that other 18-20 minutes. If the Sixers don’t feel comfortable with handing big minutes out to any of the players currently under contract, then bringing in a known talent like Smith would make a lot of sense.
For what it’s worth Scott Kushner, who covers the Pelicans for The Advocate, reported that Ish Smith was in New Orleans ready to sign a contract after he cleared waivers. Kushner also reported that the Sixers are weighing whether to keep TJ McConnell or claim Smith, which poses an intriguing decision for Hinkie to make. They have a lot of similar skills, with Smith’s speed being the only major difference in their games.
Whoever makes the roster as the back-up will most likely not be on the roster after Marshall and Wroten both return, so this decision will not have a long-term effect. With that being said, if the team doesn’t believe in McConnell as a long-term prospect, then I would lean towards claiming Ish Smith because of familiarity and ability to help in the short term.