The Jerryd Bayless experiment is a failure
By Ben Wieland
Philadelphia 76ers President Bryan Colangelo bet on Jerryd Bayless by signing him to a $9 million/year contract, and his gamble hasn’t paid off
Expectations. The expectations of the first free agency for Philadelphia 76ers team president Bryan Colangelo were so high. Jerryd Bayless arrived to warm welcomes.
When the Philadelphia 76ers signed Jerryd Bayless in the summer of 2016, it didn’t seem like a terrible move at the time. That summer, the salary cap increased by $24.1 million, more than three times more than any other single-season increase in NBA history. This led to some of the worst contracts in NBA history: Ian Mahinimi, Luol Deng, and Timofey Mosgov were all signed to four-year contracts of more than $16 million per year. In comparison to those deals, signing Jerryd Bayless for three years at $9 million a year seemed like a steal.
Mo’ production!
The 76ers also expected more production out of the veteran guard. The season before Bayless signed with Philadelphia, Bayless shot 43.7 percent from three , fourth-best in the NBA. A sharpshooting guard was exactly what the Sixers needed to pair with their number one overall pick and talented passer Ben Simmons. Bryan Colangelo’s logic when signing Bayless probably went something like this: If he can knock down nearly 44 percent of his threes on a horrid Bucks team, imagine his numbers when paired with a star passer like Simmons!
As anyone who has watched the Sixers this year would know, Jerryd Bayless hasn’t been better than his Bucks days. In fact, he’s been much, much worse. What went wrong?
Live Feed
Lake Show Life
Reality
Things didn’t go as planned from the day Bayless was signed. Rookie Ben Simmons suffered a Jones fracture in his foot during the 2016 preseason, requiring surgery that would keep him out for the rest of the season. Bayless arrived to the Sixers and similarly suffered injury in training camp.
That injury was a torn ligament in his left wrist which sidelined him for a month. Eventually, he attempted to play through the pain for three games with the Sixers, but was unable to do so. He needed surgery to repair it, which kept Bayless out for the rest of the season. However, some Sixers fans hoped that when Bayless returned he would be a knockdown shooting guard.
Dashed hopes
When Bayless returned to basket, fans discovered their hopes for a perimeter marksmanwere dashed quickly. Bayless has hit only 37.2 percent of his threes this season, a decrease of six percentage points from Milwaukee. He dishes out only 1.4 assists per game,only one third of his assists per game in Milwaukee. He was signed to be a veteran and take care of the ball. Instead, his boneheaded turnovers kill momentum and sometimes lead to the usual third-quarter collapse.
He’s also a horrible defender, especially in the pick and roll. He never fights through the pick, allowing other teams to have a two-on-one with our big man backpedaling to the rim. He’s comfortably below league average in both offensive and defensive box plus-minus.
Overpay
The Philadelphia 76ers signing Bayless to that bargain contract seems like a massive overpay now. With Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot finding his shot and Justin Anderson returning from injury, Bayless is finally moving into his proper spot in the rotation. Just this week he got his first DNP – Coach’s Decision. There’s no reason for Bayless to see the floor when our young guards could be developing. Even now, his left wrist continues to be a problem when trying to keep him on the floor.
Next: From Philadelphia 76ers to Eagles fans, rival New England disrespects you
Unless Bayless can miraculously turn his failed season around, Bryan Colangelo’s Jerryd Bayless experiment looks like a $27 million three-year failure. And with a nagging sore left wrist, there is virtually no chance he gets moved by the NBA Trade Deadline.