Can lightning strike thrice for the Philadelphia 76ers?

The Philadelphia 76ers landed Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz in the NBA Draft. Now, a new name is appearing on the radar, and the Philadelphia 76ers would be wise to pencil him in on their scouting reports

The Philadelphia 76ers landed Ben Simmons as the top-pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. Then, the Philadelphia 76ers followed that up by drafting Markelle Fultz as the top-pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. Simmons has size and physicality. Fultz has finesse and great perimeter shooting. If there was only some way to combine the best of the two into one prospect? After all, lightning has already struck twice for the Sixers. Could we tempt fate to allow thrice?

Voila!  He may be on the horizon. The latest Gatorade Player of the Year recipient, Jamal Bey, is heading to play for the Washington Huskies. As you may recall, Ben Simmons received that very same award in 2015. And you probably recognize the University of Washington as the alma mater of Markelle Fultz.  So is it chocolate in the peanut butter, or peanut butter on the chocolate?  In any case, this young man is worth placing on your radar.

Set your calendars now

For how long? That’s a good question. The NCAA is filled with stories about one-and-done prospects. Both Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz played just one season in NCAA college basketball programs.  After all, the  lure of NBA money is awfully persuasive. But Bey is about to play for Coach Mike Hopkins. As a rookie, it’s hard to tell how comfy Hopkins is to short-duration players. But the Syracuse program (Coach Hopkins’ longstanding university as assistant coach) focused on four-year players. So that’s yet to be determined.

In the meantime, let’s describe why this young man should be on the radar scope going forward.

* Highlights
* Rivals Profile
* MaxPreps Profile
* 247Sports Profile

He was a 3-star prospect just seven months ago. Soon thereafter, the national ratings reranked prospects, and he was awarded a 4-star designation. By my estimation, that is still low.

Great skilled player under the radar

Jamal Bey is a 6-foot-6  200 pound small forward who is an offensive dynamo. And he just happens to be heading to one of the best defensive NCAA coaches in Mike Hopkins. Offensively, he looks unstoppable.  His quiver is fulll of virtually every shot in the book.  And he displays full command at scoring. The thrilling part is that he could be available as early as the 2019 NBA Draft.

But unlike other Gatorade Player of the Year Award recipients, he is coming in under the radar. By this time a year ago, Michael Porter Jr. was already atop the nation’s 2018 NBA Mock Drafts. After winning the 2015 Award, Ben Simmons became almost a household name. So far, that hype has evaded Jamal Bey. And that bodes well for Philadelphia.

Wing is the thing

The Philadelphia 76ers have a lot of players competing for playing time at the wing position. The problem is that the team has an overabundance of players who do some things right, but not all things.  Hopefully, Markelle Fultz will heal up and claim playing time as the team’s shooting guard.  Meanwhile, other prospects need time to develop. Injuries delayed their progress, which now forces the team to slow down on their current rate of onboarding young players.

Next: 3 ways to maximize the Sixers’ offense

A player like Jamal Bey, if he lands in the 2019 NBA Draft, brings a lot of “NBA-ready” to the table. Already a gifted scorer, you can bet he’ll be coached up well by Hopkins on the defensive side of the ball. That means he arrives ready to pick up valuable playing minutes. By the time that 2019 NBA Draft arrives, the Philadelphia 76ers should be two-deep at center, power forward, shooting guard, and point guard. Only small forward will remain with a vacancy sign. Bey would certainly fill the slot.  Is it too early to start thinking about 2019? It’s never too early. You just want to avoid being too late.