Philadelphia 76ers: Does Ignas Brazdeikis have a future?

There’s no denying that George Hill was the big name acquired at the NBA trade deadline by the Philadelphia 76ers, however, he wasn’t the only player acquired by the club that day. Ignas Brazdeikis also arrived to Philadelphia in the three team trade from the New York Knicks.

If the name doesn’t ring a bell, I don’t blame you. He’s a second year player who grew up in Lithuania and played college ball at Michigan. He’s only played in 13 NBA games and hasn’t really impressed. The question is does the 22-year-old forward have a future with the Sixers?

What is Brazdeikis’ future with the Philadelphia 76ers?

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As previously written above, Brazdeikis has only played 13 games and has career averages of 1.5 points on 26.1 percent from the field. On paper, things don’t look good for his future. That being written, there are some redeeming qualities for the 6-foot-6 combo forward.

In his one college season at Michigan, he did have some interesting skills. He averaged 14.8 points and 5.4 rebounds, while converting 46.2 percent from the floor and 39.2 from the 3-point line. There’s clearly a reason why he was a second round pick, but he hasn’t shown much growth on the NBA and G-League levels.

He actually has seen regression in his game on the G-League season. That stat line below paints a pretty telling picture.

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/1/2021.

Brazdeikis looks like he could be on his way out of the league. It’s not a good sign if a player shows regression on the G-League level. The Sixers still have their full mid-level exception to use on a potential free agent. However, they don’t have a roster spot thanks to them signing Paul Reed to a regular roster spot. There’s a good chance that Brazdeikis is the player that gets waived if the Sixers find a free agent they like.

Even if he doesn’t get waived during this season, there’s a good chance he doesn’t come back next year as there is a team option on his contract this offseason. Unless he somehow gets playing time and really impresses with those minutes, it seems unlikely he has a future with Philly beyond this season at the latest.

There isn’t much of a reason for the Philadelphia 76ers to have Brazdeikis in their future plans and there’s a chance his Sixers tenure ends before this season does.