The Sixers need shooters, and if there’s anything Tyrell Terry can do, it’s shoot.
The Sixers currently own the 22nd overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. I’ll get right to the point. If that picks conveys and Tyrell Terry is available, he should be the pick. No hesitation, no questions asked. He should be the guy if Philadelphia can get him.
Terry exploded onto the scene as a freshman at Stanford, and while many initially expected him to return for a sophomore season, it has become clear Terry will enter the draft this season. He’s a fringe first-round pick on most boards right now, with some mocks dropping him into the second. The Sixers should be giddy.
I’ve personally pegged Terry as a lottery talent. I’ve also mocked him multiple times to Milwaukee at No. 19, if only because he’s the kind of prospect who can pick up steam quickly. As more scouts return to the tape now that he’s committed to 2020, more scouts should fall in love.
But as things currently sit, the expectation is Terry will be available in the early 20s. And again, the Sixers should have him circled in red sharpie with a gold star sticker next to his name. Terry is the kind of volume-shooting, high-I.Q. playmaking guard who is tailored to Philadelphia’s offensive needs.
Strengths
Terry is one of the best shooters on the board, and he’s also one of the most versatile shooters. He still has room to develop as an isolation scorer, but his 3-point stroke is money. On the move, standstill, pulling up — regardless of how he gets to his jumper, Terry is a decent bet to make it.
On the season, Terry shot 40.8 percent on 4.9 attempts per game from deep. As an off-ball shooter, Terry thrives. He stays in constant motion — he’s advanced beyond his years as far as shaking defenders and getting to his spots ready to shoot. Think of him loosely in the J.J. Redick/Landry Shamet vein. Terry can sling shots instantaneously off the catch. His mechanics are short, sweet, and compact, and his range extends well past the NBA 3-point line.
He’s also effective on the ball, spending legitimate minutes at point guard for Stanford. Terry is a fluid pull-up shooter, taking advantage of screens and exploiting even the tinniest sliver of open space. In transition, he’s deadly as a trailer. He’s well equipped to sit back and drop bombs on a scrambled defense.
As for his position at the next level, Terry is equipped to run an offense. He’s a heady passer in the pick-and-roll who has displayed some advanced passing chops. Whether it’s overhead skip passes to the perimeter or threading the needle to a rolling big, Terry’s an accurate and dynamic playmaker when engaged.
An unrelenting pull-up threat, Terry brings a lot of upside to the point guard spot. His shooting puts a lot of pressure on the defense, which in turn opens up possibilities as a live-dribble passer. He has a ways left to go before he’s a bona fide NBA lead guard, but the upside is there. And at 6-foot-2, I would bank on him bringing enough playmaking to stay on the court.
Weaknesses
This pretty much starts and ends with Terry’s frame. He’s listed at 6-foot-2, 160 pounds. Anyone that size who isn’t an elite athlete will face hurdles in the NBA, where length and athleticism reign. Terry is light on his feet, but he’s not explosive. He can hit contested jumpers, but it’s fair to doubt if Terry will hold up when mirrored by longer guards.
The main concern then transforms into a positional debacle. If Terry doesn’t have the pop to consistently penetrate the defense and run point, then he becomes a 6-foot-2 shooting guard. Whoever drafts him would be smart to have other playmakers on the roster — preferably playmakers who can defend up a position or two if necessary.
Simply put, Terry’s eventual suitor needs to put quality defenders around him and have a failsafe installed at point guard. Terry will get exploited by bigger, stronger athletes, and it’s fair to interrogate his true potential at point guard — especially if his handles and decision-making don’t progress for some reason.
I, for the record, am confident in Terry making things work offensively. He’s too skilled, and too special as a shooter, to not settle into a role somewhere.
Obviously concerns over Terry’s frame extend to the defensive end. Not many 160-pound guards currently prowl the NBA courts. Terry competes hard and he’s not even a “bad” defender when evaluated in a vacuum. But he’s a matchup liability teams will need to account for.
Fit with the Sixers
If you’ve read the first three slides and haven’t connected the dots, you need only think back to the aforementioned J.J. Redick and Landry Shamet. While few shooters ever reach the same stratosphere as Redick, Terry is a better athlete who has more playmaking upside than Shamet. He’s the perfect next step in the Sixers’ recent linage of deadeye, undersized shooters.
The Sixers have the personnel to account for Terry’s limitations. Ben Simmons, Shake Milton, Josh Richardson — there are plenty of other playmaking valves on the roster. When Redick left in free agency, Brett Brown retired a box full of sets designed for shooters of Terry’s ilk. I’m sure he’d like to break it out again.
The Sixers can run Terry around screens and leverage his gravity as a shooter next to Embiid and Simmons. His live-dribble passing would service the halfcourt offense well, and the Sixers are bound to have available minutes on the perimeter when Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson hit free agency this fall.
Few prospects in this class have a skill set better suited for the modern NBA than Terry. He’s the kind of game-breaking shooter who can pressure defenses as soon as he steps over the halfcourt line. Too often, we underrate proven NBA-level skills in favor of ambiguous “upside.” Terry’s physical profile isn’t the most desirable, but he’s an inveterate sharpshooter who can provide immediate value as a top shelf floor-spacer. If you’re the Sixers, you jump on that.
The Sixers have the personnel to hide Terry’s weaknesses and the accentuate his strengths. His skill set qualifies as essential to the Sixers’ success, both short and long-term. Red sharpie. Gold star sticker. Within the realm of possibility, he’s the top option at No. 22 in my book.