The Philadelphia 76ers are signing point guard Chasson Randle to a 10-day contract — here’s what he brings to the table.
After waiving Hollis Thompson, the Philadelphia 76ers are adding former Stanford standout Chasson Randle to the roster on a 10-day contract.
Randle went undrafted in the 2015 NBA Draft, but has since found reasonable success in other facets. As someone who excels more as a perimeter scoring threat than anything else, Randle tallied respectable numbers with CEZ Nymburk in the Czech Republic last season, and put on an impressive run with the New York Knicks’ Summer League squad in Orlando this past July.
He shot 42.5 percent from 3-point range during his season overseas, and hit 11 of 20 shots (55 percent) from deep with the Knicks during Summer League. He racked up 18.3 points and 5.0 assists per contest as well, while nabbing 3.0 steals per game to boot.
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In addition, he’s averaging 20.7 points per game on 40 percent shooting from deep with the Westchester Knicks, New York’s D-League affiliate.
He’ll likely be the type of scoring-oriented point guard that Jerryd Bayless figured to provide, and will have to earn a niche as such.
Offensive attributes
Randle really carved out a name for himself during the final two years of his collegiate career with Standford, capping it off with a 20 point per game campaign during his senior year. Despite being somewhat undersized for a score-first guard, barely measuring at 6-2 in shoes, his wingspan (6-7) does help neutralize some of those weaknesses.
Shooting touch
He’ll play point guard based on his size, and has the playmaking chops to make due, but will make his most vital impact via scoring the basketball. His aforementioned shooting during Summer League and international play is a strong development, and his statistics from his final season with Stanford — 37 percent on 7 attempts per game from deep — are also promising.
The Knicks found success with him as a spot-up shooter during Summer League play, running him off of screens and finding him for quality looks around the arc. That could mean he’d be an ideal fit alongside Ben Simmons on the offensive end, but that has little meaning given the situation at this stage.
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He handled the ball well down court and showcased some strong finishing moves in the paint, but will be best utilized in sets where he’s given room to run off the ball around other playmakers (i.e. Dario Saric, Nik Stauskas). That notion often came to fruition in Randle’s D-League play with Westchester, where some of his best production came when sharing the court with Jordan Crawford.
Passing in the pick-and-roll
Where Randle is going to find the most success as a passer is in the pick-and-roll. His vision improved as his college career progressed, and boasts the length needed to weave passes around the defense without getting bottled up.
He’s not going to dish out an ungodly assist total, but is capable of initiating the offense alongside his scoring touch. In a rotation that doesn’t boast much firepower at the point guard spot in T.J. McConnell and Sergio Rodriguez, that gives him a real chance at securing out a role if he plays well.
Here’s his highlights from New York’s Summer League matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers:
Former HoopStuff editor Josh Morgan had this to say on Randle’s game:
"He’s got a good all around offensive game. He can shoot, attack off the dribble and finish with floaters or at the rim. Decent vision to find open players too. I think he’ll be mostly a score first type of guy but he’s not selfish by any means."
Defensive attributes
Randle isn’t a great defender, but can feasibly carve out some utility on that side of the ball. He’s quick enough to get into passing lanes, and is fully capable of turning steals into easy transition offense going the other way.
With that said, he was often lackadaisical on that end during his Stanford days, and showing improvement would be a must for somebody looking to stave off NBA redundancy. Allowing easy drives and open passing lanes won’t be an ideal method of retaining a roster spot.
Final thoughts
In short, this signing has the potential to work out rather nicely. He makes sense from a roster perspective given his outside shooting, and is more than capable of earning a roster spot this season. Also, on a team looking to build around a point forward in Simmons, Randle’s relevancy could tick upwards if he’s able to latch on for the remainder of the season.
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He has some flaws to overcome defensively, but showed better awareness to some extent during Summer League play, and has the offensive tools needed to make an impact off the bench in today’s league.
He’s a noted scorer, and is well worth a look from a Sixers team in need of an added scoring punch in a perimeter rotation whose production is drying up.