Hopes were high for Nik Stauskas after being drafted No. 8 overall in 2014, but this year may be his last to secure a spot with the Philadelphia 76ers.
As a brief reminder of how this works, we here at TSS averaged rankings from 14 different staff members in order to get a composite list of the Philadelphia 76ers‘ best players, from No. 1 through No. 16.
Next is Nik Stauskas, who comes in at No. 12.
- 16. James Michael McAdoo
- 15. Furkan Korkmaz
- 14. Justin Anderson
- 13. Jahlil Okafor
- 12. Nik Stauskas
Clocking in at No. 12 on The Sixer Sense‘s countdown of the best 16 players on the Philadelphia 76ers roster (Sorry, training camp invitee James Blackmon Jr.) is Nik Stauskas. The mercurial shooting guard has had his ups and downs, and his development will be an interesting storyline this year.
Sauce Castillo came to the Philadelphia 76ers in one of Hinkie’s best trades, which is no small praise. The Sacramento Kings were willing to give up on the former lottery pick after only one year. Guess Kings owner Vivek Ranadive wasn’t right after all.
Clearly, there’s a reason that many people know the “Pick Swapkas” trade more for the pick than the Nik.
Granted, last year was one of Nik Stauskas’s best. He set career highs in nearly every major statistical category, most notably in three-point percentage. Since he was drafted to be a shooter, it is important that he continues to shoot above league-average from deep.
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However, being a good-but-not-great shooter isn’t enough for Stauskas. The advanced stats and the eye test both tell us that Stauskas hurts the team when he’s on the floor.
There were few Philadelphia 76ers players worse than Stauskas in terms of Value Over Replacement Player (VORP). The full list is as follows: Raw rookie Timothe Luwawu-Caborrot, one-year import Sergio Ro_riguez (like Sergio Rodriguez, but with no D), overmatched veteran Gerald Henderson (not a bad player, but shouldn’t have had to guard the C.J. McCollums and Paul Georges of the league), and noted anti-defender Jahlil Okafor.
Watching Sixers games, one can clearly see that Stauskas still has a long way to go. He consistently loses his man on defense, both off the dribble and off the cut. Stauskas gets easily pushed out of the way for rebounds.
Even on offense, Stauskas struggles. He finishes poorly at the rim and often allows his opponent to pick his pocket. He showcased a nice spin move last year, but one move does not a player make.
Final Verdict
Honestly, I think putting Stauskas as our twelfth best player might even be a bit high. I doubt he sees the floor much, and I doubt he re-signs with us next year. We have Markelle Fultz and T.J. McConnell at the one, and J.J. Redick and TLC at the two.
Jerryd Bayless can play either position capably. Justin Anderson sometimes gets minutes at the two. Finally, even Korkmaz has more long-term upside and will likely get some minutes with the Philadelphia 76ers this year.
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There just doesn’t seem to be much room for Stauskas here, barring major strides. He’ll get some minutes for his shooting ability, but that may be the extent of his contributions. But don’t worry: for at least one game this year, we’ll all get lost in the Sauce.
