Nik Stauskas Shouldn’t Make the Philadelphia 76ers’ Roster

The Sixers gave Nik Stauskas an adequate chance to prove himself, and he simply failed to do so.

In what was a critical second year in the league for Nik Stauskas, the former Michigan Wolverines’ standout failed to impress in any fashion whatsoever. Aside from the “Sauce Castillo” moniker he carried over from Sacramento, Stauskas never made a massive impact on the court, and often ended up hindering the team with his lack of consistency and poor defensive output- a bad sign considering just how little Philly was able to put onto the floor last season.

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The Sixers have the opportunity to decline their team option for Stauskas this upcoming season, and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t do so. Bryan Colangelo is attempting to move this team forward, and that means only retaining talent that has a feasible role on the team, whether it be as a short term stopgap like a Sergio Rodriguez, or as a long term piece such as a Robert Covington. Stauskas hasn’t shown he can be productive as either.

In theory, his fit with the team would be seamless. He’s supposed to be a lights out shooter who can work off the ball and find room for shots on the perimeter. He was the primary scoring threat at Michigan and starred in the process, but simply hasn’t been able to do so against the next level of competition. He served in a fairly stable role for the Sixers last year, a team that was deprived of shooting, and never was able to help fill that void.

Stauskas put up just 8 points per contest in 24 minutes of action last season, averaging just three made shots per contest. In addition he shot just 32% from deep, essentially matching his career average through two seasons. For someone whose only main contribution on the floor is his ability to knock down shots, that’s not going to cut it.

Moving forward the Sixers have now signed Gerald Henderson and Jerryd Bayless as a short term veterans who can help stabilize the rotation on the wing from time to time, while Robert Covington shot a higher percentage from deep last campaign and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot figures to be a much more consistent producer, even with his subtle flaws as a rookie. Philadelphia has also signed a handful of guards off their Summer League roster who, quite frankly, looked better on the court than Stauskas did during the couple of games that he did play.

They now have the depth and the experience needed to not only overcome some of their most prominent shooting woes, but easily fill whichever niche Stauskas would be handed with a much more persistent and effective contributor in almost every facet. Stauskas can score in bunches on occasion, but so can Bayless and Henderson. He’s an skilled off-ball mover when he wants to be, but Luwawu has shown plenty of prowess in getting himself open on the offensive end as well, and is a significantly more apt defender than Stauskas on the other side of the basketball.

The Sixers are moving into the future, and their roster has no legitimate need for Stauskas either in the short term, or the long term. Their shooting is already on the rise, and Simmons is only going to create more open shots for the remainder of the roster. Having guys who can defend well and provide a steady hand on the offensive end are what Philadelphia needs at this point. Stauskas is a poor defender who has been nothing more than a mediocre shooter during his first pair of seasons in the league, despite the skill set that is often associated with his name.

Next: Nik Stauskas Has an Important Few Weeks Ahead of Himself

Is their still enough potential there for Sauce to find a spot somewhere in the league? Certainly, but there’s a lot of work that has to be done, and he hasn’t shown the Sixers any reason why he would be worth the wait as they expedite their rebuild.