T.J. McConnell was a player that wasn’t guaranteed to make in the NBA, but after two seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers has proven to be an NBA caliber point guard. But how much potential does McConnell have? And how long should Sixers’ fans expect him to be part of the team?
The Philadelphia 76ers did not draft Arizona point guard T.J. McConnell in the 2015 NBA Draft. In fact, no NBA team did so.
Quoting Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz’s 2015 NBA Combine recap, it’s evident that T.J. McConnell made a positive impression on them.
"“McConnell may not hear his name called during the 2015 NBA Draft, but he’ll certainly get his fair share of summer league and vet camp invites, giving him a chance to play his way onto an NBA roster as a third point guard.”"
Not Impressed, At First
When I first saw McConnell play for the Philadelphia 76ers’ 2015 Utah summer league team, I wasn’t impressed. I didn’t think he was a bad player, just a random undrafted guy with no possibility of making it in the NBA. But after watching him play several games for the Sixers’ Utah and Las Vegas summer league teams, I realized he had something the other point guards on the team didn’t have. The ability to pass the ball at an NBA level.
The Sixers’ other summer league point guard Tony Wroten was injured. Meanwhile, Isaiah Canaan, Scottie Wilbekin and Pierre Jackson were severely undersized shooting guards forced to play point guard. Their lack of ability to get their teammates involved was a big issue for two reasons.
Butter, Not Margarine
First, the Sixers signed Kendall Marshall to be their starting point guard that offseason. Unfortunately, he would miss the first 23 games of the season due to a knee injury. That injury was one he had suffered the season before the Sixers signed him.
Secondly, this was back in the day when it was still popular to believe the scheme of the Philadelphia 76ers was hurting Jahlil Okafor instead of Okafor hurting the team. So having a point guard on the roster capable of passing him the ball was important. Evenually, the Sixers announced McConnell made the team, I thought it was a great decision.