Last up is J.J. Barea, who may be the best deal out there in a trade. Currently scheduled to make just $4 million next season, he could offer the Sixers a big boost and still not take up much cap space. This could allow the Sixers to grab a solid veteran in a trade, and still have a lot of money left to spend in free agency.
Barea fills the point guard “void” that is currently in high discussion among Sixers fans. It gives an obviously experienced point guard a shot to lead this Sixers team.
Although the thought of Barea seems to be an upgrade from past point guard Ish Smith, I’m not sure the two are all so different. He doesn’t score a whole lot (just 10.9 points per game last season) and actually moved the ball around a bit less (4.1 assists per game from Barea,7.0 assists per game from Ish Smith on the Sixers last year).
Another downside of Barea is that he doesn’t seem to be able to play more than around 30 minutes per game, averaging 22.5 minutes per game this season. He has never had a season where he played more than 26 minutes per game. If he could play more though, we could see more solid per game statistics. Per 36 minutes, Barea averaged 17.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 6.5 assists per game.
Barea’s shooting is solid, shooting 44.6 from the field, 38.5 percent from beyond the arc, and a 53.6 percent true shooting percentage.
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His shooting is fairly balanced, as he shoots pretty consistently from all areas of the floor.
Barea put Dirk Nowitski and Zaza Pachulia in positions to score this past season, and it makes me think he could definitely do the same for the multitude of Sixers big men.