The Sixer Sense
Fansided

T.J. McConnell Deserves A Philadelphia 76er Role

By Bret Stuter

Jan 16, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) and guard T.J. McConnell (12) talk as time winds down in the second half against the Portland Trail Blazers at Wells Fargo Center. The Philadelphia 76ers won 114-89. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 16, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) and guard T.J. McConnell (12) talk as time winds down in the second half against the Portland Trail Blazers at Wells Fargo Center. The Philadelphia 76ers won 114-89. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 10, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie prior to a game against the Sacramento Kings at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 10, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie prior to a game against the Sacramento Kings at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

Gut Instinct

But there was another mind in the room, one described as looking further into the future than others, who noticed the young hopeful from Arizona.,  The man was Sam Hinkie, who many claim was never a “basketball mind”.  And yet, despite the critics who decried his reliance on basketball analytics, his willingness to trade cap space for future draft picks, he was the only man in the NBA with the courage to go with his gut instinct and offer McConnell an opportunity to join an NBA team.

For all this vices and faults, the most damning evidence of those who would burn Hinkie at the stake charge immediately to the point guard position of the 2015-2016 Philadelphia 76ers as the evidence of why he had to be excused from the NBA.

But lost in the discussion is the fact that Hinkie took short term risks for long term payoffs routinely.  Where others sought quick impact guys by reviewing the short list of ten or so names, Hinkie considered a hundred names for their long term upside.

T.J. McConnell was one such long term payoff.  In offering him the opportunity, Hinkie delivered something no other team was willing to do – a chance for McConnell to earn a spot on the roster by impressing the daylights out of the coaches.

An interview of our own Joshua Wilson by our Arizona Wildcats FanSided affiliate documented the surprise of McConnell outlasting so many others at the point guard position to earn a roster spot.

And so, he arrived and took the NBA by storm, in part. He is an instinctive distributor of the ball, but on a team just developing shooters, and his own reluctance to dive to the hoop, stymied the team.  Someone had to show McConnell when to pass, and when to shoot.

And then this happened…

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