Kendall Marshall was supposed to be competing for the Philadelphia 76ers’ starting point guard job this year, but he hasn’t done enough to claim it.
Kendall Marshall was brought on to the Philadelphia 76ers roster this offseason despite the fact that he was recovering from an ACL injury. Kendall Marshall’s career up to that point had largely been overshadowed by a lack of minutes and a surplus of injuries, but he fought his way back and looked to be a good asset for the Philadelphia 76ers as they aimed to have guards that could move the ball well, especially to their star rookie center Jahlil Okafor.
Marshall would take a while to recover–alongside Tony Wroten, recovering from the same injury–and was finally available on December 11th, shortly after Wroten made his return to the floor.
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In the beginning of the year, Marshall’s passing abilities didn’t look so rare when T.J. McConnell saw the floor, as T.J. had two straight games with 12 assists and less than two turnovers. After that, some roster moves put Marshall at the bottom of the food chain yet again.
Tony Wroten, a fan favorite in Philadelphia, was released in favor of point guard Ish Smith, who was traded for with the New Orleans Pelicans. Wroten and Marshall seemed to be the leading candidates for the point guard slots before the season began, but being out for the first few months left the door wide open for other guards. T.J. McConnell, Isaiah Canaan, and Ish Smith–possibly an even bigger fan favorite over Wroten in Philadelphia–all had more attractive traits than Marshall.
So as players like McConnell and Smith take up almost all of the minutes at the point guard position, Marshall is left to have benchwarmer-like minutes, only having more than 20 minutes on two occasions this season. In Philadelphia’s win over the Utah Jazz, Marshall played just over 4 minutes throughout the entire game, making it tough for him to have any sort of stat line.
In the game against the Los Angeles Lakers, even as Isaiah Canaan struggled at times in the first half, Marshall didn’t see the floor. By the end of the game, Marshall had still not seen the floor.
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The nine games this 24-year old Sixer has played have led a lot of us to believe that he has been a Sixers bust. Things just haven’t worked out well enough for him to claim a starting spot, or even a general roster spot. The question has to be asked–Is Kendall Marshall a bust?
Some would be inclined to say yes to that question right away, since Marshall has only scored more than 5 points on two occasions and only two occasions with 5 or more assists. This player who was once on the assist leaderboard compared to the entire league as a Los Angeles Lakers player is just not seeming to be what he used to be, but that may not be entirely true.
First of all, Marshall has only played in nine games, and really hasn’t gotten back to his complete self since returning from injury. Marshall, in these games, has played just 16 minutes per game, not allowing him a ton of time to put up big numbers. If we look at his impact and how he moves the ball per 36 minutes, he looks a lot better compared to most of the rest of the guards.
| Rk | Player | MP | AST | TOV | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Ish Smith | 96 | 9.4 | 3.7 | 20.3 |
| 13 | Kendall Marshall | 128 | 9.0 | 5.9 | 10.1 |
| 7 | Nik Stauskas | 702 | 2.6 | 1.9 | 11.0 |
| 6 | T.J. McConnell | 782 | 7.5 | 3.5 | 9.5 |
| 2 | Isaiah Canaan | 908 | 2.7 | 1.9 | 15.1 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/1/2016.
Marshall is just second in assists per 36 minutes, but he’s also first in turnovers by a long shot, which is very alarming. Ish Smith protects the ball pretty well, not like Kendall Marshall’s carelessness with the ball. This is a huge issue, especially from someone that we expected to push the offense before the season started. Lots of fans have issues with the turnovers.
Marshall has played a similar amount of games as Wroten did before he was released, so it doesn’t seem like it’s completely unfair to call him a bust at this point, but it does seem like it would be a bit premature. Wroten had the opposite issue of Marshall. He scored a decent amount, but he failed to facilitate the ball. Marshall failed to score, but could pass and get assists.
Ish Smith is the perfect solution. He passes well (8.3 assists per game) and scores decently too (18.3 points per game). The backup position is one I still could still see Marshall taking from McConnell.
Overall, I don’t think Kendall Marshall was a complete Sixers bust, I just think he’s falling into a different role than Sixers fans thought he would at the beginning of the season. He’s not as much of a necessary component anymore, but he’s one of the parts that keeps the team from completely de-railing. Sure, this isn’t what we wanted from him, but things haven’t gone according to plan at all for this team in any respect.
Next: What Does January Have In Store For The Sixers?
Marshall, although he looked like he could be a decent starting point guard in the NBA at one point, is shaping up to be no more than a backup point guard on a struggling Sixers team.