Apr 8, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Jerami Grant (39) in a game against the Washington Wizards at Wells Fargo Center. The Wizards won 119-90. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
3. The development of the young guns
Brett Brown loves to talk about all ‘the work that goes on behind the scenes’, in reference to the Sixers player development program. The Sixers are in rebuild mode and a big key to their rebuild is developing the games of their youngsters. Last season two young guns in particular stood out from the rest of the bunch, as players that made improvements to their respective game throughout the season.
The first player that comes to mind when I hear the phrase player development is Jerami Grant. After being selected 39th overall in last year’s draft by Philly Grant came into the season as a ‘tweener’ that did not fit any particular position, as he struggled to shoot from beyond the arc. Without having the threat of an outside shot(3-18 from deep in his first 19 games), bigger fours backed off of him disallowing him to get to the rim.
By continuing to work on his shot with the player development staff, Grant was able to find his shot in the beginning of January and went on to close out the season shooting around a league average clip (33.3 percent) from beyond the arc. Teams had to start respecting Grant’s shot by playing him closer, which allowed him to penetrate by slow-footed fours. He ended his rookie season with averages of 6.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.0 rebounds in just over 21 minutes of game action.
After playing him a good number of minutes at the four position last year, the Sixers are trying to mold Jerami into a wing. He has bulked up a little this offseason and the hope is that he can eventually turn into a three-and-D type wing.