T.J. McConnell is Worth Developing at Low Cost

T.J. McConnell has done everything he can to stay with the Philadelphia 76ers. They shouldn’t give up on him just yet.

T.J. McConnell is one of the many undrafted players who ended up on the Philadelphia 76ers roster over the past few years. If one had to guess his fate the day he was signed, they would have said he is one of the players that would be around for training camp, and maybe even preseason, but not long after that.

The Sixers had a ton of players in the backcourt lobbying for a spot on the roster. Tony Wroten, Kendall Marshall, and Pierre Jackson all appeared to be in the running for the position, and more likely to get it than McConnell.

T.J. kept doing things to get himself a spot on the roster. Time after time, when we all thought he would finally be cut, he kept putting up big numbers and huge performances. If you give him a must-do situation, he will do whatever he has to do.

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The 6-foot-2 rookie had a huge game in his third total NBA game, putting up 12 assists. That was enough for Brett Brown to try him out as a starter the next game, where he put up another 12 assists.

This team that was struggling offensively from the start had a point guard, all of a sudden. No, McConnell wasn’t a full point guard, in fact, he wasn’t even close to being a two-way player. McConnell was a one-sided offensive player, a pass-first guy to a fault. McConnell often had open looks where he could have made an easy shot, but instead passed to a player that didn’t have as good of a look.

That was a big reason McConnell scored just 6.1 points per game while he averaged 4.5 assists per game.

McConnell also was a superb defender. He was truly a nuisance to other point guards, being all over their dribble and often forcing turnovers. He had 1.2 steals per game, the third most on the team. His height put him at a disadvantage inside the 3-point line, but his opponents shot 4 percent worse when he was guarding them beyond the arc.

He also was one of the team’s most consistent players. T.J. missed just one game this season, and his 81 played games was a team high, followed up by Hollis Thompson at 77.

Over the course of the season, a lot of the infatuation with McConnell wore off. Fans got sick of seeing him unable to score, and fell for Ish Smith all over again, just like they did last year.

I’d like to say we saw an improvement in scoring from McConnell in the closing months of the season, but that’s simply not true. T.J. had 69 games with single digit points and just 12 games with double-digit points. Part of that, of course, was because Ish Smith did much of the backcourt scoring.

Many of us decided we didn’t care if McConnell was brought back to the team next season. He makes well under $1 million, and wouldn’t be that much wasted money if he was cut this offseason. I was in this boat as well. I was fed up with keeping a guy on the team who was a one-trick point guard. Now, though, I am looking at things a bit differently.

Instead of thinking that McConnell wouldn’t be wasted money if he is cut, I think we should look at him as a player who can offer the most bang for his buck. Whether you think McConnell is a good guard or not, you have to admit that he was one of Sam Hinkie’s best finds. McConnell did a lot for a rookie who was undrafted and paid so little.

In the final year of his contract, McConnell is going to be motivated to show the league he is worth getting another contract, and a bigger one. McConnell is surely aware that he has flaws, and will be looking to show in games that he has improved on them.

Scoring is an issue, yes, but I believe that he will be looked at as a project by Brett Brown and Mike D’Antoni this summer and this upcoming season. The low cost he was brought in for will yield high results, if the Sixers are willing to work on him.

Some might say that the team needs to keep these “projects” to a minimum. Why put a guy on the floor in hopes of improving him when the Sixers need to start winning soon?

There’s projects all over the floor, though. The team needs to acclimate Dario Saric to American basketball, and work him into the frontcourt with Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel, and Joel Embiid. That project is much bigger than McConnell, and will cause many more issues on the floor than giving McConnell 15 minutes or so a game will.

Additionally, the Sixers don’t have as many options at point guard anymore. Ish is halfway out the door, it seems, and Kendall Marshall just didn’t work in Philly. Who are they going to go after now, Pierre Jackson again? I don’t think so.

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McConnell may be a project, but he’s one worth working on. He’s always been willing and able to do whatever it takes to stay on this team, and I don’t think next year will be any different. If he is asked to score, he will.