Philadelphia 76ers: Christ Koumadje has impressed in G-League

Hopefully, the Philadelphia 76ers are keeping a close eye on their G-League affiliate and one of the players there that’s thriving.

This past Thanksgiving break I took my family up to a Delaware Blue Coats game. It was a fun experience to be sure as my one-year-old daughter meet Coaty, the Blue Coats mascot. Yet, the game itself as it was exciting to seeing the Philadelphia 76ers G-League affiliate defeat the West Chester Knicks. My one big take away from it was that Christ Koumadje has real potential.

He has a high basketball I.Q. on the defense end and was able to move with some finesse despite is 7-foot-4 frame. He’s not perfect at defending the pick-and-roll, but he’s better than some big men that were on the Sixers roster last season, (Boban Marjanovic and Greg Monroe). Koumadje isn’t just a tall body, he has some elite defensive skills, which might be able to translate to the NBA level.

He not only passes the eye test, but his stats are impressive to say the least. In nine games this season, Koumadje has averaged 22.7 minutes,11.3 points, 9.4 rebounds,1.4 assists, 3.3 blocks, 2.4 turnovers and 2.7 fouls, while making 65.6 percent of his field goal attempts. He’s tied for eighth in the G-League for total blocks with 25 on the season.

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He’s even seen improvement from November to December in this season. In November, he averaged 9.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.3 turnovers and 4.0 fouls, while converting 62.5 percent of his attempts from the floor. December has seen improvement in almost every category. In December, he’s averaging 12.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.0 turnovers and 2.0 turnovers. On top of that, he had one double-double in November, but he has had three in December thus far.

There’s no denying that the big man needs to continue to work on his turnover and foul issues, but he’s showing to be a much better player than his college stats suggested. In his senior season at Florida State, he averaged 15.6 minutes, 6.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, 1.2 turnovers and 2.0 fouls, while shooting 62.7 percent from the field.

Despite the low numbers in college, 76ers general manage Elton Brand and the rest of the front office saw enough potential in Koumadje to have him on Philly’s summer league team (stats per RealGM) and to be a training camp participant. It appears that their gamble on his potential is paying off with him showing real signs of development with the Blue Coats.

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Koumadje is more than just a giant on the basketball court, he has legit defensive skills/potential. He needs to continue to develop this season. If he shows enough develop the rest of this year, then he might end up like Norvel Pelle did this last offseason and earn a two-way contract with the Philadelphia 76ers.