Philadelphia 76ers: Save Getting Point Guard for Next Season

The Philadelphia 76ers have a lot of pressure on them to improve their point guard position, but maybe they should wait until next year to get a new guard.

The Philadelphia 76ers have a lot of pressure on them to improve their point guard position. Over the last few seasons, it’s been one of their biggest downfalls. When other areas of the lineup could match up to opponents to a point, the Sixers seemed to always be failing in the point guard realm.

Over the last several years, the point guard position has been anything other than consistent. Here’s a grouping of some of the most started point guards from the last three seasons: Michael Carter-Williams, Tony Wroten, Ish Smith, and T.J. McConnell.

Point guards have come, and point guards have gone. None of these players have been able to do enough to turn the Sixers from an awful team to a decent team. Ish Smith has been the closest effort, but even with him, something seems to be lacking. Smith did his job well in his time with the Sixers, but he still led the Sixers to a 10-win season this year, going 2-18 in the team’s final 20 games.

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It’s been pretty much accepted that changes need to be made at the point guard slot. There are a few stragglers who still believe that McConnell or Smith could be impactful starting point guards on good teams given enough work and development concentration, but I don’t see that to be true. McConnell never looks to score, and Smith only scored so much in his time with Philly because it was typically just him and Jahlil Okafor going at the rim during games. Give Smith a roster with real players and he would immediately become a less impactful player. Sure, his assists would go up, but he would ultimately become just a slightly more effective T.J. McConnell.

Most people who agree that the Sixers need a new point guard to lead the team also believe that the Sixers need to make a move this offseason, to get a point guard for this upcoming season. I find this to be unnecessary, and perhaps even premature.

Some names that have been brought up are Jeff Teague, Dennis Schroder, Kris Dunn, and even Rajon Rondo in some cases. Some argue that Ben Simmons could run the point, but with such a limited shot, I don’t see the Sixers using him in that way. All of these names, to me, are players that will be picked up in a quick-thinking motion that has the idea of putting a cohesive roster on the floor right away next year. That might not be the way to go.

Looking at the potential roster next year (given a best case scenario), the Sixers will have Nerlens Noel or Jahlil Okafor at center, Ben Simmons or Dario Saric at power forward, Robert Covington and Nik Stauskas at the wings (given that no free agent signings in either position upgrades them). The point guard spot, with McConnell or Smith, is clearly the most deficient part of the roster.

Even if the Sixers are able to secure a point guard this year, say Kris Dunn for example, they probably will be too underdeveloped to be a playoff team. Given that, they will still be in the lottery next season, and they will still have a pick in the top 14, and likely a pick in the top 10. Next year’s draft is full of talent — especially compared to this year’s draft — and the Sixers could land a point guard in that draft that is of equal talent or higher talent than any available this season.

And next year, free agency will still be there. There’s no way the Sixers will be able to pull Stephen curry in 2017, but I don’t think it’s too far-fetched that they could be in conversations with Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, and Kyle Lowry, given that they improve next year and show that they are no longer a laughing stock of the NBA.

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Either route, taking a point guard in the 2017 NBA Draft, or taking a stab at the 2017 free agency will provide larger returns than looking to obtain a point guard for the future this season. There’s reason to rush the rebuilding process, but not the point guard aspect of it.