Phildelphia 76ers TJ McConnell Plays With The Eye Of The Tiger

When the Philadelphia 76ers traded two second round picks to the New Orleans Pelicans for the services of point guard Ishmael Smith, TJ McConnell was sent to the bench. But, his play has earned his way back onto the court.

The season of the Philadelphia 76ers began without a clear cut point guard, a position that Brett Brown has emphasized as being the key to any championship team in the NBA. With a key player in the position, an NBA team will languish in mediocrity. Let the position fall to eager rookies and rehabbing players, and the team never discovers what the talents of the other players truly are.
Nothing clicks, And losing becomes a certainty.

So when the Philadelphia 76ers signed on the consulting services of one Jerry Colangelo, there was recognition of the teams most obvious flaw. To see what kind of team this Sixer group can be, their needs to be a veteran presence at the point guard position.   And so, a 2014 Philadelphia 76er by the name of Ishmael Smith, now playing point guard for the New Orleans Pelicans, was identified as a player who could run the team while the other players learned to play as a team.  The cost?  A modest two NBA second round draft picks – one from 2016 and the other in 2017.

That should have ended the debate on the point guard position.  In fact it likely should not have happened at all.  Ish Smith was a Philadelphia 76ers last season, but was unsigned.  In fact, we examined that topic before the news of resigning Ish Smith was beyond hopes and wishes.   Eventually, whatever wrong was made by letting Smith walk away was rectified just before the Christmas holidays.

But some players meet challenge with resolve and determination.  Some players take an undrafted beginning to the NBA as incentive to prove their worth by standing out far superior than their drafted counterparts.

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