Are Sean Kilpatrick And Jordan McRae Potential Philadelphia 76ers Who Got Away?

The Philadelphia 76ers are bursting at the seams with raw young talent, sending some diamonds in the rough to D-League Affiliate Delaware 87ers. The Problem? Other NBA teams are mining our diamonds.

The Philadelphia 76ers are a team that has no fear of venturing into the realm of the undrafted, NBA second round, or even players or prospects who face surgery and grueling rehabilitation, when making roster decisions. In fact, they seem to gravitate towards those undervalued prospects much like a child creeps closer and closer to the pet store window to pet the kittens or puppies there. So forgive me for being a little disheartened when the Philadelphia 76ers appear to have missed the train altogether on prospects right under their own noses: Sean Kilpatrick and Jordan McRae.

The Sixers are skewed towards youth, development, and growing a foundation of productive players while they simultaneously draft prospects with elite potential. The goal is to develop both player tracks simulataneously. But the NBA roster limits a team to just 15 players, trained or untrained, veteran or rookie. And so, the Philadelphia 76ers have used their affiliate development league team, the Delaware 87ers, to handle their overflow.

Players seem to grow rapidly while playing for the Delaware 87ers, perhaps as a credit to head coach Kevin Young. Whatever the reason, the team has fairly impressive offensive statistics this season: Russ Smith averaging 28.1 points per game, Sean Kilpatrick averaging 26.4 points per game, Jordan McRae averaging 23.3 points per game, and power forward Christian Wood’s 17.7 points per game. Of the group, Christian Wood has been recalled to the Philadelphia 76ers lineup three times, mainly as a result of injuries to Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel. While Kilpatrick only donned a Sixer jersey for the 2014 Summer League, McRae played for the Sixers in both the 2014 and 2015 summer leagues, and played preseason games for the 76ers before being waived on October 26th. Russ Smith has never played for the Philadelphia 76ers, but has had stints at the New Orleans Pelicans and the Memphis Grizzlies prior to arriving at the Delaware 87ers.

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Kilpatrick has gone on to join the Brooklyn Nets, signing consecutive 10-day contracts beginning on February 28, 2015. He impressed the Nets enough to warrant a three year deal with the team. He has subsequently done on to become one of the leaders on the team, already appearing as their third best scorer behind center Brook Lopez and power forward Thaddeus Young. As a young shooting guard, Kilpatrick will no doubt remain in NBA headlines as he has emerged on the Nets as a future star, while the team struggles under a burden of few draft options in the years ahead. Kilpatrick offers little on the defensive side of the ball, perhaps one reason he did not find much interest from a Philadelphia 76ers team desperate for wings. But the Nets have overlooked his shortcomings, and are excited to add his offense to their team.

Similarly, Jordan McRae signed a pair of consecutive ten-day contracts as a tryout with the Phoenix Suns on January 29,2016. When that failed to generate long term interest, he signed a ten-day with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He impressed the Cavaliers enough to warrant a two year contract with the young shooting guard. McRae is purely a reserve player for the Cavaliers, only seeing spot duty at 4.5 minutes per game and 2.0 points per game.. But it was not his offense that attracted the Cavaliers, but his defense:

"“Guy who can score the ball, can play a little combo point. He’s aggressive, can run pick-and-rolls, athletic, has length. Just getting a guy in there, a body for practices.” -Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue describing McRae"

While that certainly sounds like a space holder on the roster, that is not the perspective of McRae himself:

"I’m long. I got like a 7-2 wingspan so I’m really able to guard and just knock down open shots when they come. To guard and be another wing defender besides Shump. Other than that, play hard and professional.” – McRae describing his role with the Cavaliers"

With the Cavaliers entering the playoffs, and eventually running aground of a version of small ball along the way, it will be intriguing to see if McRae will be called up to counter the opposition and play significant minutes for Cleveland in the process.

The remaining piece of the quartet is Russ Smith, a 24 year old point guard who has played on both the New Orleans Pelicans as well as the Memphis Grizzlies prior to settling in with the Delaware 87ers. Smith is fearless on the offensive side of the ball, and his focus upon one player on defense can make him gnat-like in his annoyance, which eventually generates steals. But his role as point guard requires other attributes – high basketball IQ, and selflessness – a priority of keeping his teammates involved and knowingly distributing the basketball to the open man. So far, he has not shown NBA quality attributes in either area.

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With the Philadelphia 76ers so young, there is bound to be some talent that grows enough in their development team, the Delaware 87ers, to attract the attention of NBA scouts looking to bolster their own rosters. But it is concerning for a team like the Sixers, who have a known need at small forward and shooting guard positions, to lose quality prospects from their D-league roster before the team has a chance to call them into service. Perhaps both Kilpatrick – who specializes in offense from the wing, and McRae – who specializes in defending, simply do not fit the two-way player search of the 76ers. Perhaps either or both many not succeed with a long term NBA career, which would certainly disappoint. But perhaps the Philadelphia 76ers are too focused on personnel moves this off-season and beyond that there is little thought to the here and now of their own prospects in their own back yard.

We may never know the answer. But we know the questions this roster has.