The Philadelphia 76ers had what amounted to tryouts for the point guard position last season. When that failed to produce a true starter, the team traded two second round picks for their former point guard Ish Smith. But trade deadline rumors indicate the point guard position is anything but settled.
The general. The floor marshall. The guy who is in charge. Right now, the Philadelphia 76ers have a patch on their road to the promised land. A one year deal on point guard Ish Smith to hold the team together long enough to see the quality of the rest of the roster. He alley oops to Nerlens Noel. He feeds the ball to Jahlil Okafor at the post. He’ll charge the lane and take the shot or pop the ball back out to Robert Covington for a trey. He does what the team needs, for now.
But what the team will need is much more apparently. Don’t take my word for it. Don’t trust me to translate comments. Look at the actions by the team at the trade deadline. Keith Pompey of philly.com had a breaking story about the Philadelphia 76ers efforts to wrest point guard Dennis Schroeder from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for shooting guard Nik Stauskas, point guard Ish Smith, and a 2016 first-round pick. While the deal failed to materialize, the same sources who shared details with Pompey indicated that he expects the Sixers and Hawks to revisit trade talks for him during the NBA draft on June 23.
Sources: #Sixers came close to big trade with #Hawks https://t.co/qBcIfe6iX3 via @phillysport
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) February 23, 2016
The story passes the logic test in terms of a big trade and fits the current narrative about the Philadelphia 76ers looking to improve now. The team has a lot of players on the current roster and soon to join the team, so packaging two – three players for someone they have determined could be a keystone to the future of the organization does make sense from that stand point. With their current roster salary pushing the league minimum, the team has plenty of dollars to pass along to secure THE player, once they have determined who that player might be.
We had looked at the recent small ball success of the Sixers, and it’s a fairly remote chance that a move to bring in a young veteran could signal the team’s directional change to pursue the success of the Golden State Warriors and their mastery of the small ball game. But that’s fairly remote. The more likely scenario is that president and manager Sam Hinkie was establishing a market price for a point guard talent, and can now truly guage in the remaining time of this season whether that asking price is worth the value, and how to go about fitting that into his overall scheme. But even that remains very speculative.
Next: Will Schroder Come Later?
Will Schroder Come Later?
Schroder is a young man, a three year veteran in the NBA whose gradual improvements have finally gotten the attention of teams around the league. Since the Atlanta Hawks have a good starting point guard in Jeff Teague, the thought is that one or the other would be available for a trade. So far, the Hawks want no part of that scenario of parting ways with their young reserve.
But the Sixers are not without their own point guards. While Ish Smith has certainly cemented the position, the team has their own very worthwhile undrafted rookie who is performing quite well in his own right, T.J. McConnell.
#Sixers backup PG @iPass4Zona aka T.J. McConnell leads all #NBA rookies in assists, steals & steals per game. pic.twitter.com/K4FgHMwkko
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) February 29, 2016
The challenge with understanding that we oftentimes covet what we do not have. Right now, the Philadelphia 76ers are seeking a general, that floor marshall to call the plays and run the team. But they have their sights set on the rosters of other teams. What about their own? Granted that the impact of a player like Ish Smith raises his asking price when his current contract expires, and that contract expires at the end of this year. President and general manager Sam Hinkie has already given Ish Smith a free pass to test free agency, and there is nothing in the current events section to say he won’t do so again. But T.J. McConnell is an entirely different story. Coming in as an undrafted free agent, his is the type of success story that truly gives this Sixers team a dash of hope going forward. In the end, the team may have been shut out of a point guard in the 2015 draft, but they are developing their own and doing a rather note-worthy job of it.
But how does McConnell stack up against the Hawks point guards?
Next: Et Tu T.J.?
Et Tu T.J.?
To help out the analysis of the Sixers and the Hawks point guard situation, lets look at a basic stats table.
| Player | Mins | Pts/Gm | FG% | FT% | REB/gm | AST/gm | STL/gm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ish Smith | 30.9 | 14.8 | 39.3% | 67.1% | 3.6 | 7.3 | 1.5 |
| T.J.McConnell | 20.4 | 6.2 | 47.5% | 56.7% | 3.4 | 4.7 | 1.9 |
| Dennis Schroder | 20.8 | 11.1 | 42.4% | 79.0% | 2.9 | 4.6 | 0.9 |
| Jeff Teague | 28.5 | 15.1 | 43.5% | 83.4% | 2.6 | 5.6 | 1.3 |
There were twenty guards selected in the 2015 NBA draft. Twenty of the sixty or a true one third of the players drafted were guards. T.J.McConnell was not drafted, but rather was given a chance to compete on this team. While his maturation has taken its time, he’s proving to be ahead of his peers… all of them… in several key areas critical for the point guard position. The point guard position is truly a sophomore role in the NBA. The pressure of running the team combined simultaneously with learning the speed of the game, the skills of teammates, and training oneself is an awfully steep climb for any single individual to make.
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Beginning the 2015-2016 season, the Philadelphia 76ers loaded up the roster with a myriad of point guard talent. Pierre Jackson, Kendall Marshall, Tony Wroten, Phil Pressey, Isaiah Canaan, Scottie Wilbekin, T.J. McConnell all were given a look. Of that group, only McConnell, Canaan, and Marshall remain. Marshall disappeared onto the bench, and Canaan has morphed into a sixth man shooting guard with a perimeter shot.
If the Sixers have a long term plan for the team, they seem to have omitted the scheme for the point guard position – one of the most critical spots on the team. Tossing bodies onto the basketball court hardly seems like a successful path to a championship team. Even when one player emerges with potential, the team trades for a veteran, and has now determined that a third year veteran reserve on another team is worth a boat load of assets, while their own undrafted rookie continues to do whatever is asked of him.
Next: Why Sam Why?
Why Sam Why?
To date, much of what the Sixers have done has made perfect sense. I do understand the moves made in the past for most part. Much of the converting of good players into trade picks and other assets was based on the synchornization of the team. In plainer english, the team was not good enough for the few good players at that time, so Hinkie traded them to get picks which could link up at the same time. If the team is suddenly hot to trot to get a point guard upgrade, and casting into the mix several players who have been developing in the system, that suggests urgency. But urgency for what purpose? Clearly an eight win team eliminated from post season is in no rush this season to turn the corner. But at the trade deadline, urgency seemed to outweigh cautious progress.
But if the team is of the opinion that the time is now, then that adds even more confusion. Why would the team make a significant proposal for a point guard now, before the team understands what they have returning when Joel Embiid takes the basketball court. Why include draft picks now before learning what is the order of the 2016 NBA draft lottery outcome? Why take a chance now, when a more methodical and steadfast approach could be much more effective?
And the final point, the king’s ransom for an Atlanta Hawks reserve point guard, seems awfully lucrative, and I’m not the only one with that opinion.
I'm pretty meh on Dennis Schroder. I'm very "barf" on the contract Schroder is about to get. Hard pass.
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) February 23, 2016
So for now until the end of the season, the team’s point guard situation is rather fluid. Will the team go back to the trading table to fill the role? Will the team draft a point guard to take over the team and risk a player who needs two years to fully take command of the position and the team? Will the team sign a free agent to fill the role? Will the team surprise everyone and simply re-sign Ish Smith to return next season?
Next: Jahlil Okafor To Power Forward Hurts Defense
If you like drama, then you’ve come to the right place. No other team has more questions with so few wins in the NBA as the Philadelphia 76ers. But if you like a predictable, steady as she goes type of scenario, you’ve come to the wrong place. This is a team with many moves yet to make, and with a swirl of confusing and seemingly counter-productive moves in place. Guessing what their moves will be is no easy task, and in a almost any option open to them future, is fraught with second-guessing.