The Philadelphia 76ers may be well positioned to draft Kentucky point guard Tyler Ulis. Here are 5 reasons they should gamble on him.
The NBA Draft is nearly upon us. With the Philadelphia 76ers scheduled to have their first overall pick announced around 7:00 pm, there’s a lot of hype going around. The reports that Ben Simmons worked out for the team on Tuesday and that the team informed him they would select him first are fueling that hype.
What many fans are overlooking, however, are the 24th and 26th overall picks, which the Sixers currently own. There have been talks of them potentially trading them, but for now, we’ll operate under the assumption that they will use them.
What’s interesting here is that there are plenty of players who may fall to the Sixers in this range. Tyler Ulis out of Kentucky will likely still be available then, and is getting a lot of attention from Sixers fans, rightfully so. When a starting Kentucky point guard falls that far, he should be noticed.
Yesterday, I talked about why the Sixers should pass on him. Deficiencies he certainly has such as his height, wingspan, weight, and injury issues are good enough justification for not selecting him. In the spirit of the draft, and the spirit of playing devil’s advocate, I also want to talk about 5 main reasons that justify selecting Ulis.
Next: Kentucky System
Kentucky System
Part of why the Sixers should draft Ulis is the fact that he was a part of the Kentucky system. That system, lead by head coach John Calipari, is incredibly effective as far as preparing players for the pro level is concerned. Take players like Nerlens Noel, DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns, John Wall and Rajon Rondo. And those are players that were all selected just over the last several recent seasons (with the exception of Rondo).
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I also used this as a reason why the Sixers should stay away from Ulis. Ulis, although he’s been a part of the Kentucky system, did not go through it in a traditional way. A lot of the great Kentucky players I just mentioned came in, did their time in their freshman year, and then left for the NBA. Ulis had to sit the bench for a season, and then started during his sophomore season.
We could look at this as a negative, pointing to the fact that it took Ulis two years to develop into a full Kentucky player, and assume that it would take him long to fill into pro shoes as well. At the same time, we could look at it as a positive.
Ulis was able to spend an extra season in the Kentucky system, which is proven to set players up well for the pros. We could assume that he will come in more prepared than other players because of this.
Next: High basketball IQ
High basketball IQ
Ulis is coming into the league as an incredibly smart player. This was a huge part of his success at Kentucky, as he was at an immediate disadvantage to other players because of his small size in both height and weight. He had to use basketball IQ to his advantage to have any sort of edge on his opponents. And it worked incredibly well.
Draft Express’s extensive profile on him credits him with knowing well when to pass and when to shoot, which is a skill that not a whole lot of guards in the NBA possess. Draft Express also said that Ulis was very meticulous in his basketball studies. He was a film junkie, who often was able to win games because of how hard he studied his opponents before going up against them. That practice will pay off in the NBA.
Film watching is something a lot of college athletes simply don’t do, and not having that habit is a tough drawback leading into the NBA. WIth Ulis already an avid film-watcher, he will be able to study other guards and know where he can attack on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.
Overall, just a dedication of knowing more about the game sets Ulis up well for success. The best basketball players are students of the game, always looking to learn more in whatever way they can.
This mental sharpness should also ensure that Ulis will have minimal off-court issues as a pro athlete, which is something that’s becoming harder and harder to achieve as social media becomes a larger aspect of everyone’s lives.
Next: Low price
Low price
Ulis will be a cheap player, especially on his rookie deal. Since Ulis will be drafted after the 20th overall pick in the draft, his money situation will be less than optimal for Ulis, but incredibly optimal for the team that drafts him.
The higher you are drafted, the more you get paid. So if the Sixers are able to get him at 24, or even 26, they can get him for less money, allowing them to pay free agents more money this offseason. This could be huge, since the salary cap is nearing $95 million this season, and the floor will be at $80 million. The Sixers currently only have $33 million on payroll, meaning that they’ve got to spend a ton of money just to get up to that floor, and even then, they could spend more money if they wanted to.
Ulis could come off the bench to a veteran point guard if the Sixers used some of the money saved drafting Ulis to sign a big-name guard like Michael Conley. If this were the case, the Sixers will likely have to max Conley. This would be no problem, as far as working both of those players into lineups, though, since the Sixers are likely to part ways with Kendall Marshall and T.J. McConnell.
Next: Availability, something to prove
Availability, something to prove
With the Sam Hinkie era still fresh in our minds, it’s tough not to think about grabbing players who are falling fast due to injuries. One of the biggest reasons Ulis is falling in so many draft boards is because of the murmurs about his hip problems. With teams certainly raising questions about how consistintely available he will be in even his first season, it’s easy to think that he could go in the late 20s.
This makes Ulis, a possible lottery talent, available for the Sixers at 24 and maybe even 26.
It reminds me a lot of in 2014, when Joel Embiid was selected. Embiid was supposed to go first overall, but an injury that occured shortly before the draft led to him dropping. The Sixers took him, despite the fact that he was injured, and are hoping that he will still play out to be a top-overall-pick talent.
The same strategy could hold true as far as drafting Ulis is concerned. If he’s avaible at 24, and definitely at 26, then the Sixers need to be considering drafting him if they haven’t traded away those picks yet.
With Ulis being drafted this late, much later than he or many others initially anticipated, he’s got something to prove in the NBA. Ulis is incredible when he has a chip on his shoulder.
Next: Skill set that helps bigs
Skill set that helps bigs
Ulis has a skill-set that offers the room for any big man to go to work in the paint. Whether it’s Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor, or Joel Embiid running things in the center position, the Sixers need to place shooters around either of those three guys to maximize their effectiveness. Ulis is a guard that does just that.
Ulis shot 34.4 percent from beyond the arc in his sophomore season, which was actually a dip down from his incredible 42.9 percent freshman season. Many of the shots he hit were far away from the college 3-point line, which validates them not only as college 3-pointers, but also NBA 3-pointers in some cases. I would not be surprised to see Ulis become known as one of the league’s best sharpshooters over the next few seasons.
This 3-point game can draw the defense out, and stop clogging up the key like a lot of other Sixers players have been doping in the past few seasons. Embiid, Okafor, Noel, and even Ben Simmons could all benefit from this, as they play their best games in the paint.
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Although I would rather see taller, better built swingmen offer the 3-point shot that we need to see, I wouldn’t complain if Ulis is one of the main guys hitting the long ball.