With Zhaire Smith’s injury, Philadelphia 76ers rookie Landry Shamet has received most of the rookie buzz this offseason.
On draft night, the pick of Landry Shamet was not the exciting one. With all the buzz around Mikal Bridges and Zhaire Smith it was easy to overlook his selection late in the first round. However, now more than ever, with the Zhaire Smith injury, it is time to ask: what should we expect out of this guy?
Fit with the roster
The Philadelphia 76ers as of right now are loaded with ball handlers. So Shamet’s point guard background will not be needed with the team. However, his knockdown shooting could be very useful as a backup shooting guard to J.J. Redick.
Shamet shot 44 percent from behind the arc in his last season at Wichita State and was a 44 percent career three-point shooter in college. These shooting percentages show promise that he can bring to the Sixers a reliable jump shooter to bring in off the bench.
Redick would be a good mentor to Shamet and will hopefully help in this development. Like Redick, Shamet moves well without the ball in his hands and can be a weapon coming off back screens for the 76ers. It wouldn’t be crazy to see Shamet get some consistent playing time during the season if he can sustain his shooting at the next level.
Now as of right now there is a chance that Markelle Fultz will be able to play off the ball this season, which would hinder Shamet’s playing time dramatically. However, it is just speculation at this point. And considering we still haven’t seen anything that 100 percent proves Fultz has a consistent jump shot, we should go easy on that speculation.
Regardless of what happens with Fultz, consistent shooting coming off the bench is something that the 76ers didn’t have most of last season, and Shamet is poised to be someone that can provide that for them.
Shamet’s potential
Having watched a lot of his games at Wichita State, Shamet is a guy to get excited over. Early in his college career he sustained a foot injury that hindered him and caused him to redshirt his ture freshman year after just three games.
However, after the rough beginning, he broke out in a big way and became the starting point guard and number one option on Wichita State during his redshirt freshman year. During that year he was named the conference freshman of the year.
Even though he will mainly be valued as a shooter this year for the Sixers, Shamet has the opportunity to grow into so much more. His playmaking ability and passing were excellent in college as he lead his conference in assists per game during his final year.
Along with that his game was very balanced. He a had a good mid-range game to go along with his three-point shooting and he knows how to finish in traffic. Plus, at 6-foot-5, his size is nice for a guard. Put all these things together and you have a guy with a very high ceiling.
Everyone can keep talking about Zhaire and the other young Sixers on the team. But don’t be shocked if Landry Shamet starts break his way into the conversation.