Who Will Be The Sixers Starting Point Guard Next Season?

Josh Wilson

Apr 15, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers flight crew member waves a large 76ers flag at center court during a timeout against the Miami Heat at Wells Fargo Center. The Heat won 105-101. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia 76ers are looking to see which point guard will be claiming the starting position this season.

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One of the unfortunate parts about rebuilding a once unbeatable franchise is that you often have parts that are missing. If you don’t have parts that are missing, you have players competing for spots where none of them really seem to fit perfectly.

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That’s how the point guard position is shaping up for the 76ers so far. They have a surplus of candidates for their starting point guard position, but it’s still incredibly unclear to fans and the team who will be taking the reigns at the start of the season.

Isaiah Canaan, Tony Wroten, Ish Smith, and Scottie Wilbekin all seem like they are candidates who can fulfill the needs of the position, but between these four, there’s still a lot of uncertainty about who will step up and claim the role. Their youth is fitting with the rest of the roster, and whoever gets the starting position could be developed into a long-term project for the team.

Let’s take a look at all four of them and see what they have to offer to the team.

Next: Ish Smith

Apr 13, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Ish Smith (5) pumps his fist in reaction to a score against the Milwaukee Bucks during the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Ish Smith

Ish is going to be our first target of discussion, simply because we aren’t even certain he will be with the team when the season begins. He is currently an unrestricted free agent, and has yet to sign with the team, or indicate that much talks are going on between him and the team.

Smith is a player very similar to Mo Williams in the sense that they’re both kind of NBA nomads. Ish has spent five seasons in the NBA, but still has yet to find a place to get his true identity. He’s been tossed around from team to team, taking up a roster spot on seven different squads in the NBA.

There has not been a single year for Smith where he spent the entirety of the season with just one team. Of course, this traveling history leads us to believe he may not be coming back to Philadelphia, but it also could be taken another way. Smith is looking for a home, looking for a place to trademark his name. As he looks to become recognized as a good NBA player, what better place to do it than Philadelphia, with a rebuilding franchise?

After going from the Oklahoma City Thunder last season to the Sixers, he improved immensely when the Sixers offered him more playing time. He got an extremely significant 22 minutes more per game in Philadelphia, and did not take those minutes for granted. He pumped all of his stats up. Smith went from 1.2 to 12 points per game, and 0.9 to 6 assists per game.

Smith has the ability to hit some long shots, even though he shot just 30% from the three point line last season. He also only attempted 60 three pointers. I truly believe this was due to a bad shot selection, and if he could pick and choose which shots he should take better, he could up that by a lot.

Smith is constantly impressing me with his resilance of charging into the lane. No matter who is in there, he is willing to drive in and finish with contact from big guys in the paint.

Smith demonstrated this on fast breaks a lot, where he impressed me most last season. His quickness in conjunction with his willingness to challenge defenders worked very well. He also often had Nerlens Noel by his side to lob the ball up to, and that duo worked extremely well together last season. I’d certainly be okay with seeing more of that next year, too.

Smith has a lot to offer, but will have to re-sign (obviously) in order to claim the starting position.

Next: Isaiah Canaan

Mar 30, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Isaiah Canaan (0) drives against Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson (6) during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Lakers won 113-111 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Isaiah Canaan

Canaan sports some serious handles, and that’s probably the biggest thing he has to offer. This is a big risk for him though, because Ish Smith is also a very good ball handler.

One of the major drawbacks Canaan brings is that he doesn’t look out for his teammates as much as I believe a point guard should. Last season Canaan only finished the season with 2.1 total assists per game. On the other hand, guys like Smith work extremely well with other players like Nerlens Noel, getting him the ball on lobs and fast breaks. Canaan is more likely to take it all the way himself, unaware of his surroundings.

At 37% shooting from the three point line, he shows some promise with shooting from beyond the arc. This is also a drawback, however, because he may be attempting too many three pointers. Last season he attempted over 5 three pointers per game, while attempting less than three two pointers per game.

All in all, he offers qualities that are good for a role playing reliever point guard. At this point I feel like he has too many flaws to be named the starter.

Next: Scottie Wilbekin

Jul 11, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Scottie Wilbekin (18) reacts after a foul is called during an NBA Summer League game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Thomas & Mack Center. The Lakers won 68-60. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Scottie Wilbekin

This is one of my favorite choices. I have to admit, I was pretty much sold on someone else being the starter, but then I read D’Joumbarey A. Moreau’s take on why Scottie should get the start at Hoops Habit. I have to admit, his argument was strong enough to get me to think more about Wilbekin.

The 76ers recently officially announced that they would be signing Wilbekin to a four year deal following an impressive Summer League performance from the point guard. Wilbekin had a good few years playing college ball at Florida, but since has only had opportunities to play overseas. Now, he’s getting his shot in the big league.

What does Wilbekin offer? On a team that is largely centered around smaller basketball, he offers something a bit different. He can expand further than most of the other players on the starting lineup, and has more of a shot range. He does so with accuracy, which is also important. It seemed like, in the video featured above, he was hitting everything that was given to him from beyond the arc in that game. It was exciting to watch.

In his time overseas, he shot at nearly 45% and scored 8.2 points per game. I truly feel like if he was given a starting position in the NBA, he could exceed this and push ten or twelve points per game.

Wilbekin will obviously be with the Sixers down the road in their rebuilding phase. He will have a role in their games, but for now, we just don’t know what type of role.

Next: Tony Wroten

Jan 3, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Tony Wroten (8) reacts after a foul is called during the second quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

Tony Wroten

Tony Wroten is, in my opinion, one of the best up-and-coming guards in the NBA. He embodies a lot of strengths that point guards in the NBA need to have. He takes some of the best qualities of other guards and combines them into one package.

After just his first season, Wroten was averaging 13 points per game. Last season was even better, with 16.9 points per game and 5.2 assists.

Wrote goes up strong on all of his attempted shots close to the hoop. It doesn’t matter who he’s going up against, he isn’t afraid to posterize, even though he’s a guard. He’s very atypical from some guards in this sense, because we can’t picture most point guards going up against big men in the paint.

I believe he’s also one of the more “heads-up” guards available for the Sixers. And if you really don’t think that’s true, take a look at this sick assist he had.

Defensively, he’s pretty well aware, too, as he averaged 1.6 steals per game last season.

The main drawback with Wroten is his three point shot. He’s barely shooting higher than 20% from beyond the arc. His two point shot is much better at nearly 50%, luckily, but I’ll be looking for him to improve his three point shot if he gets the starting job.

Additionally for the negatives, he averaged just about four turnovers a game last year. He’s good at taking the ball on defense, but he also needs to protect the rock once he’s got it in his possession.

Next: The Verdict

Jan 13, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Tony Wroten (8) shoots in front of the defense of Atlanta Hawks guard Dennis Schroder (17) during the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

The Verdict

Overall, this is a tough choice for me, so I think the Sixers are going to have a real tough time deciding who will be the starter on opening night. I’m predicting that they will try different players out with the role for a few games, and see what truly works best before they pick a longtime starter.

Once they do name a longtime starter, though, I believe it will be Tony Wroten. His positive attributes greatly outweigh the negatives. He offers a more balanced style of play than most of the other players. Ish hasn’t even re-signed, Canaan isn’t aware of his teammates, and Wilbekin has yet to play a game in the NBA.

That’s not to say these players are bad, they will be great off of the bench, but I just feel Wroten fits the starting role much better for now.

While Wroten does have his flaws that he must work on, he’s got experience scoring and assisting at a high level. There’s no reason that he can’t improve that for yet another season, and offer the Sixers a great positive role in the starting lineup.

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Josh Wilson

Josh is currently the Managing Editor of FanSided.com. He has worked with FanSided in some capacity for a total of eight years, starting as a contributor for Swarm and Sting, Toro Times, and HoopsHabit in 2015. He served as a site expert for The Sixer Sense during 'The Process' years while starting his educational track at Temple University as a journalism student. He later transferred to the State University of New York at Cortland where he completed his B.A. in Mass Communication with a concentration in journalism. For FanSided, Josh worked as Operations Assistant before taking on a role as Editorial Director of the NBA Division, a role he held for three years. Along the way he also helped start and lead the FanSided fellowship program which created a path for several young journalists to start their careers in sports media. Nothing is more important to Josh than Yankee wins and his family.