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.
Earned A Spot
McConnell did just enough to prove he deserved to be on the team his rookie season. The perception, however, was a lot of his success had to due with being part of one of the worst NBA teams in history.
You see, every team regardless how bad has a best player. While McConnell wasn’t the Sixers’ best player, he was one of their better players. In his rookie season, he averaged 19.8 minutes per game at the most difficult position on the court. In fact McConnell’s 6.1 points, 4.5 assists, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.7 turnovers per game was good enough to eventually wrest the starting point guard role.
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Well, at least until the team traded for former point guard Ish Smith. But he wasn’t good enough to convince anyone that should be a member of the Sixers long term. Fortunately, his sophomore season changed that.
Free Agents
The Sixers signed Jerryd Bayless and Sergio Rodriguez to be both starting and backup point guards for the 2016-17 season. In retrospect McConnell starting in 51 of the Sixers’ 82 games at the position seems surprising.
But Bayless only played in three of the Sixers’ games due to injury.
Meanwhile, McConnell simply outperformed Rodriquez in assists (6.6 to 5.1), rebounds (3.1 to 2.3), and steals (1.6 to 0.7) per game. While McConnell’s 6.9 points per game is less than Rodriquez’s 7.8 points per game, McConnell was only making $874,636 this season compared to Rodriquez’s $6,800,000 and Bayless’ $9,424,084.
Too Much Of A Bargain?
McConnell’s contract is the biggest reason why he is a lock to be on the Sixers next season. In fact, he should be a member of the team until the 2018-19 season’s trade deadline.
Fellow Sixer Sense writers Jonah Pessin and Pete Sawan explained in detail how much McConnell improved this season. Each has a different take on why the Sixers should commit to him. His current extension is structured in a very team-friendly way. So team-friendly, there there is no incentives for the Philadelphia 76ers to offer a stronger financial commitment to him.
Low Cost Option
You see, the Philadelphia 76ers Sixers have the option to keep McConnell for $1,014,746 in the 2017-18 season and $1,088,038 in the 2018-19 season. After that, he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
With McConnell ending the 2016-17 season 13th in assists per game among all NBA players, getting him for just over one million dollars per year is a steal. But would his contract still be a steal in the 2019-20 season, after the Sixers would have to give him a new contract?
Scrambling for Dollars
Per the calendar, the NBA’s 2019 offseason is the same year that Joel Embiid becomes a free agent. Of course, assuming the 76ers make good on converting Ben Simmons to point guard may be too optimistic. But it’s no stretch to presume that the team gets a non-McConnell starting point guard in the draft or free agency.
Furthermore, it’s no stretch to believe that 76ers are an actually playoff team by that point. So , in those circumstances, is it a good idea to spend the amount of money needed to keep McConnell?
Reserves, or Federal Reserves?
Considering backup point guards signed during the 2016 offseason Matthew Dellavedova and Austin Rivers are making $9,607,500 and $11,000,000 this season, McConnell would be worth more than the Sixers should be willing to spend on him and trading him during the 2019 trade deadline or just letting him leave as a free agency after a hopefully deep playoff run could be the better decision.
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McConnell is much better player than most people would’ve imagined and he did good enough for me to give him a B grade this season, but he is a player that is unlikely to be part of an Embiid and Ben Simmons led championship Sixers’ team or play his entire career with the Sixers.