The Sixer Sense
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5 Reasons for the Philadelphia 76ers to Keep Ish Smith Around

By Josh Wilson

Feb 28, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Ish Smith (1) drives to the basket as Orlando Magic guard Brandon Jennings (55) defends during the first quarter at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 28, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Ish Smith (1) drives to the basket as Orlando Magic guard Brandon Jennings (55) defends during the first quarter at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 28, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown and guard Ish Smith (1) talk against the Orlando Magic during second half at Amway Center. Orlando Magic defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 130-116. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 28, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown and guard Ish Smith (1) talk against the Orlando Magic during second half at Amway Center. Orlando Magic defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 130-116. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

He’s the only player to consistently improve the Sixers’ offense

Over the past two seasons, the Sixers have been awful, particularly on offense. This was, of course, largely by design in an effort to secure the top overall draft pick, but that’s beside the point. The point is, the Sixers offense has been awful, and they’ve lost tons of games because of that. Over the last two seasons, they’ve compiled just 28 wins.

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    • In 2014-15, they averaged an offensive rating of just 95.5, and didn’t improve much this season, finishing with an average rating of just above 98. Both of those statistics were dead last when compared to the rest of the NBA.

    In 2014-15, the Sixers had an offensive rating of 94.7 before trading for Ish Smith. They scored just 90.7 points per game. After the trade, they saw a decent improvement on the season, jumping up to an average of 99.7 while scoring 95.9 points per game.

    This season, we saw the very same occurrence take place. The Sixers put up an average offensive rating of 94.8 while scoring 91.4 points per game before trading for Ish on Christmas Eve. After Ish, their offensive rating shot up to 102.7 as they scored 101.1 points per game. This past season was an even more drastic improvement because of Ish than last year.

    I find it crazy that fans are so quick to push a guy out the door who clearly can do big things for this team. His impact won’t be as much when the Sixers start building the roster up more, but he will still have an impact.

    Next: Ish can diminish mediocrity