After Sergio Rodriguez‘s struggles this season, the Philadelphia 76ers’ backup point guard may have witnessed the window close on his NBA career.
Last offseason, there was an entirely different vibe around Sergio Rodriguez. The Philadelphia 76ers brought on the Euroleague stud in a move that added a much-needed veteran presence, while also giving them what many believed to be their solution to a years-long starting point debate. He dazzled for the Spanish National Team during the Rio Olympics and had the flashy playmaking and improved perimeter jumper needed to head a Sixers offensive charge that had struggled in years past.
Philadelphia 76ers
That perception quickly grew outdated.
After a strong start to the campaign, Rodriguez’s production dropped off the proverbial cliff. He struggled with an ankle injury during the second half of the campaign, while succuming to that ankle injury in late December opened up the door for T.J. McConnell to take over the duties of lead guard. Those duties would remain in McConnell’s hands for the remainder of the season.
T.J. averaged 9.3 assists per game in January, accompanying a historically dominant month from Joel Embiid with the steadfast playmaking needed to give Philadelphia their most productive month since The Process began. It was Brett Brown’s first winning month as a head coach, and a large part of it seemed to stem from the change in point guard.
And, while some of that many be overblown in comparison to the sheer brilliance that Embiid displayed throughout the month, McConnell did bring some obvious improvements. He didn’t shoot threes, but drastically increased the ball movement from side-to-side, probing the defense and making the types of smart, heady passes that Rodriguez was lauded for when coming over from Spain.
He was essentially upping the team’s offensive proficiency in the role Rodriguez was supposed to be carrying. That provided the catalyst for Rodriguez’s inevitable downfall.
This was, in terms of counting stats, a career year for the bearded Spaniard. He averaged a career-high in points per game (7.8) and 3-point shooting percentage (36.5), all while racking up a career best 5.1 assists per game — nearly 2 assists per game above his previous high.
Those numbers, however, are skewed. His strong start in November him some cushioning towards the second half of the campaign, when his poor shot selection and subpar athletic tools began to negate his productivity on the floor.
His worst month of the campaign came in January, as he floundered behind McConnell in limited minutes and an increasingly limited role. While he did see a slight uptick in production afterwards — most notably in March — his workload and production never reached the peak they did prior to his demotion. He averaged a mere 5.6 points per game on 26.3 percent shooting from deep in January.
Part of what made his drop-off so obvious, though, isn’t necessarily the counting stats he accumulated, but the manner in which he got there.
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As Rodriguez forced up more shots from three, ball movement got progressively worse with him on the floor. He didn’t have the burst to get dribble penetration like he needed, which both limited him in the pick-and-roll and hurt his playmaking off the bounce. It also meant he took contested threes, a form of offense that — when coming from Sergio Rodriguez — is among the most undesirable outcomes in the game of basketball.
With that said, though, his offensive struggles weren’t the most harmful development in his game — it was his defense. While McConnell is by no means a gifted athlete, his quickness and unyielding effort makes him enough of an irritant to overcome his obvious physical disadvantages on that side of the ball. Rodriguez was, in turn, the victim of countless defensive lapses and open lanes to the rim.
That defensive liability was something the Sixers couldn’t afford to cover up, especially towards the end of the season. With Embiid’s rim protection out of the equation down the stretch and even Robert Covington dealing with injury issues on the perimeter, Rodriguez’s most glaring hole became something opposing offenses were able to exploit with increasing ease.
What’s next?
That rough end to the campaign could spell the end of NBA basketball for Rodriguez. After struggling through his first four seasons in the league from 2006 to 2010, Rodriguez embarked on a successful Euroleague stint prior to his return last year. While he did show some marginal improvements this year, some the same problems that persisted earlier in his career — inconsistent shooting and lackluster defense — continued to drag down his productivity as the season progressed.
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With the league trending more and more towards positional versatility, Rodriguez’s limited skill set and aging body could warrant a move back to Europe. While he could feasibly latch onto a reserve role elsewhere in the league, his stint in Philadelphia is — barring an unforeseen event — over. Not only is there some financial positives to taking on a larger role overseas, but his game can be featured in that setting as well.
His NBA career hasn’t panned out as planned. It’s difficult to see him making an executive decision to make another push in the States as he finds himself on the wrong side of 30.