The Philadelphia 76ers got a steal by acquiring Terrance Ferguson in the Al Horford deal.
Like most Philadelphia 76ers fans, I’m still rejoicing in the fact the franchise was able to trade Al Horford’s massively overpaid contract. Getting Danny Green back in the deal is a solid pickup for the Sixers, but having Terrance Ferguson included in the deal could be a steal for Philly.
Ferguson is an athletic wing 6-foot-6. He’s a long versatile defender that can run the floor in transition. The only concern about the 22-year-old thus far is that he hasn’t been a consistent offensive threat.
For his career, he’s averaged 4.8 points on 40.6 percent from the floor and 33.7 percent from the 3-point line. Despite the unimpressive stat line, the Sixers could develop him into a very good role player.
Ferguson can be good with the Sixers.
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Despite having an unimpressive rookie and third season, Ferguson’s sophomore season is when he showed real potential. In his second season, he averaged 6.9 points on 42.9 percent shooting from the field and 36.6 percent from downtown.
It should be noted he started all 74 games he played that year and averaged a career-high 26.1 minutes per game. While he did see regression this past season, it can easily be explained. Went from being a full-time starting to starting a little bit more than half of the games he played in. The emergence of Luguentz Dort, who eventually took his spot in the starting five didn’t help either.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have a handful of young talented wings like Deonte Burton, Hamidou Diallo, and Abdel Nader also worthy of minutes. With Dort and those other young talented wings, Ferguson got lost in the shuffle and his development was stunted as a result.
The Sixers don’t have the same log jam. Only Shake Milton and Matisse Thybulle are solidly in the wing rotation at this point. Tyrese Maxey is more of a point guard so he shouldn’t interfere with Ferguson getting minutes. Zhaire Smith and Furkan Korkmaz probably won’t be utilized on a regular basis either.
Ferguson has a chance to really develop as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers this season. If he does, he could be a steal from this trade.