10. T.J. McConnell
By: Joe DiProsperos
76ers stats:
| Season | Age | Tm | Pos | G | GS | MP | FG% | 3P% | 2P% | eFG% | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | 23 | PHI | PG | 81 | 17 | 19.8 | .470 | .348 | .499 | .503 | .634 | 3.1 | 4.5 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 6.1 |
| 2016-17 | 24 | PHI | PG | 81 | 51 | 26.3 | .461 | .200 | .492 | .472 | .811 | 3.1 | 6.6 | 1.7 | 0.1 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 6.9 |
| 2017-18 | 25 | PHI | PG | 76 | 1 | 22.4 | .499 | .435 | .510 | .531 | .795 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 6.3 |
| 2018-19 | 26 | PHI | PG | 76 | 3 | 19.3 | .525 | .333 | .546 | .542 | .784 | 2.3 | 3.4 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 6.4 |
| Career | 314 | 72 | 22.0 | .487 | .335 | .511 | .510 | .768 | 2.9 | 4.7 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 6.4 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/5/2019.
T.J. McConnell, along with Robert Covington, is one of the crown jewels of the Process era. He epitomizes what the Process was all about. Having gone undrafted in 2015, McConnell, like Covington, was plucked out of relative obscurity by Sam Hinkie. The guy had to beat out four other point guards during the summer of 2015 just to make the team.
Yet here we are, four years later, and McConnell is the back-up point guard we all love and admire. He obviously has his deficiencies when it comes to scoring ability and physicality, but man does he play as hard as anybody. He’s a pest on the defensive end and I can’t recall the last time he missed a 15-foot jumper.
He’s also had a hand in some pretty awesome moments over the years. That buzzer-beater he hit against the Knicks was pretty cool. He was the first player in Sixers history to record a triple-double off the bench (also against the Knicks). And who could forget when he took over game four against the Celtics in a series that is still the bane of my existence.
However above all, McConnell is a guy that Sixers fans can most identify with. His gritty, blue-collar mentality along with the fact he has had to earn everything in the league makes it hard for you to not root for him. Fans can’t help but get fired up when he picks up a guy full-court and is on his back the whole way. If you can’t find it within yourself to cheer him on, then you must have no heart.
As far as McConnell’s fit on the All-Time “Process” team goes, he would be running the show for the second unit. Send out a bench lineup of McConnell, Ish Smith, Hollis Thompson, Jerami Grant, and Nerlens Noel and enjoy the madness that would ensue. It won’t win you many games, but man would that be fun.