Philadelphia 76ers’ rookies Isaiah Joe and Dakota Mathias made their NBA debuts.
The big headline in this week’s rookie report, is that two of the Philadelphia 76ers rookies made their NBA debuts. On top of that, the team’s best rookie took on a bigger role and finally made his first 3-pointer of the season.
21st pick, 2020
Tyrese Maxey finally made his first 3-pointer of the season against the Charlotte Hornets. While this is a good sign for the young point guard, he still has a long way to go. He wasn’t much of a 3-point shooter in college and appears to have the same issue during his rookie year. Maxey’s shooting 14.3 percent from downtown so far this season.
Due to injuries to Mike Scott and Furkan Korkmaz, along with his impressive play, Maxey was able to get more minutes. He averaged 17.3 minutes this past week and considering that he was only averaging 10 minutes per game before that, so the increase of minutes is actually a big uptick
Season averages: 5.5 points, 1.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals, 0.8 turnovers, and 0.7 fouls. Shooting 42.1 percent on field goals and 14.3 percent on 3-pointers.
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49th pick, 2020
Isaiah Joe finally made his NBA debut. He actually received playing time in both of the blowouts that the Sixers participated in this past week. Sadly he didn’t get a lot of minutes and only made one field goal in two games. The rookie sharpshooter has a ways to go before he can be relied upon on regular basis.
Season averages: 1.0 point, 1.5 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.5 turnovers, and 1.0 foul. Shooting 33.3 percent on field goals and 0.0 percent on 3-pointers.
58th pick, 2020
Despite the injury to Scott, head coach Doc Rivers still has rookie big man Paul Reed sitting on the bench. For the time being, Rivers appears ok with playing with less traditional bigs on the court outside of Joel Embiid and Dwight Howard. This probably won’t change in the near future.
Undrafted, 2020
Dakota Mathias is an undrafted rookie on a two-way contract, but that didn’t stop him from impressing during the 76ers blowout loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers. In 7 minutes, Mathias had eight points on 3-6 shooting from the floor and 2-4 shooting from downtown.
That flash of sharpshooting from the off-guard is the exact reason why the front office decided to give this undrafted player a two-way deal. Granted he didn’t impress in the other game he played in this past week but that flash alone is reason enough for fans to keep an eye on Mathias when he plays with Philly’s G-League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats this season.
Season averages: 4.0 points, 1.0 rebound, and 1.0 assist. Shooting 33.3 percent on field goals and 33.3 percent on 3-pointers.
It was a good week for the Philadelphia 76ers’ rookies. Maxey made his first 3-pointer, while Joe and Mathias made their NBA debuts.