Philadelphia 76ers rookie Landry Shamet is one the better rookies in the NBA, yet he still wasn’t invited to the Rising Star Challenge.
All the Philadelphia 76ers rookies had positive strives this past week. Despite the overall good season from the Sixers rookies, especially one in particular, the NBA failed to recognize any for the All-Star weekend’s Rising Star Challenge.
16th pick, 2018
There’s some recent rumors that surround the status of Zhaire Smith. According to Jason Blevins of Philly Front Office, both Smith and second year big man Justin Patton are doing 3-on-3 work. Blevins noted that Smith is more than likely to make his Delaware Blue Coats debut on Feb. 7th. If these rumors can be furthered substantiated by other sources, then this is a great step to Smith making his 76ers debut sooner rather than later.
26th pick, 2018
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Landry Shamet should have been invited to the Rising Star Challenge this upcoming All-Star break. He’s second in the 3-pointers made among rookies, first in 3-point percentage and 13th in scoring. While Ben Simmons is still representing the Sixers in the game, Shamet is more than deserving of a spot.
Shamet reached a career high of seven assists in the loss against the Denver Nuggets. In regards to 3-point shooting, the combo guard went 6-12 from downtown in the three games this past week. His ability to hit 3-pointers at a high percentage is reason enough to include him in the Rising Star Challenge.
Season Stats: 76ers
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36th pick, 2017
Due to a sore Achilles, Jonah Bolden missed the game against the Los Angeles Lakers. Bolden didn’t play well when he started against the Nuggets, but he did have a bounce back game against the Golden State Warriors. He had eight points, five rebounds, one assist, two steals and two blocks. Defense will continue to be Bolden’s calling card this season and as long as he can perform defensively, he will continue being Embiid’s backup.
Season Stats: 76ers
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54th pick, 2018
The Sixers were short handed against the Nuggets, which opened the opportunity for two-way contract rookie Shake Milton. Milton took full advantage of the 20 minutes of playing time he got. He finished with 11 points, one rebound, an assist and one steal, while going 3-5 from downtown.
Milton did play two games with the Sixers G-League affiliate this past week. The perimeter player scored 27 points in the Blue Coats win against Grand Rapids Drive and scored 21 points in a loss against the Windy City Bulls.
Season stats: 76ers
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Generated 2/1/2019.
Season stats: Blue Coats (not updated after game versus Windy City Bulls)
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Undrafted, 2018
Haywood Highsmith got one game with the Sixers and two games with the Blue Coats this past week. Highsmith only collected one rebound and assist in four minutes in the Sixers lost against the Nuggets. His week in Delaware was uneven.
He scored 11 points on 5-11 shooting against the Drive and only six points on 2-11 shooting against the Windy City Bulls. It’s hard to know exactly what Highsmith can do for the Sixers if he barely gets playing time with the franchise.
Season stats: 76ers
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/1/2019.
Season stats: Blue Coats (not updated after game versus Windy City Bulls)
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/1/2019.
Hopefully Shamet uses his exclusion from the Rising Star Challenge as fuel for the rest of the season. Despite Shamet’s exclusion, the rookies overall had a solid week.