Day one of NBA Free Agency was amazing to the say the least as money was flying around everywhere. We saw Anthony Davis, Kevin Love, Khris Middleton, Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green and Tristan Thompson all get huge paydays. One team that was quiet to begin free agency was the Philadelphia 76ers. No one had a clue what general manager Sam Hinkie was thinking or planning.
Earlier in the week, ESPN’s Chris Broussard reported that Chicago Bulls shooting guard Jimmy Butler was supposed to have meetings with numerous teams including the Sixers. But that never happened as Butler was re-signed to a five-year, $95 million max contract by Chicago.
Fast forward to Wednesday night and things were still quiet on the Sixers end until 11:06 pm ET when Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a WojBomb. Wojnarowski tweeted out that the Sixers were acquiring forwards Carl Landry and Jason Thompson from the Sacramento Kings as part of a salary dump.
This move got Sixers fans excited but they knew there had to be another piece to this puzzle. That final was piece was the Kings also sending last year’s eighth overall pick in Nik Stauskas to the Sixers. Hinkie had hoodwinked Vivek Ranadive into giving up Stauskas so the Kings could go after Rajon Rondo and Wes Matthews in free agency.
With Stauskas now joining the Sixers, he gives them a solid shooting guard that is a knockdown shooter. Stauskas aka Sauce Castillo wasn’t the knockdown the shooter in Sacramento that he was at the University of Michigan.
In the 2013-14 season as a sophomore, Stauskas introduced himself to the college basketball world and NBA GMs. He averaged 17.5 points per game and shot 44.2 percent from three-point range in 35.6 minutes per game. And if you want to go deeper into the numbers, his win shares per 40 was .193 and PER was 22.7 that season. His three-point percentage was also better in conference play in 2013-14. He shot 44.7 percent from three-point range, in comparison to his freshman year, where he only shot 37 percent.
But what happened to him in Sacramento? The 21-year-old from Mississauga, Canada barely got any playing time in Sacramento. In 73 games, Stauskas only started in one game and averaged 4.4 points in 15.4 minutes per game. His three-point field goal percentage also dropped tremendously in his rookie year to 32.2 percent.
Being in Sacramento was not the best place for Stauskas to flourish. The Kings’ front office fired head coach Mike Malone in favor of hiring George Karl. Plus, they were still trying to find a way to get their 2013 first round pick Ben McLemore on the court more.
With those pending factors, Stauskas being sent to Philly is almost a blessing in disguise because with the Sixers he will get to play. Actually, he will most likely be this team’s starting shooting guard on Opening Night and will thrive in Brett Brown’s offense.
Right now, in comparison to the other guards on the Sixers current roster, Stauskas is the best option at the two guard. Hollis Thompson is better suited coming off the bench, despite averaging 8.8 points per game and shooting 40.1 percent from three-point range. Also the Sixers do not know when Tony Wroten will be back as he coming off a torn ACL.
Finally, Stauskas adds another dimension to Brett Brown’s offense. Brown can now have another shooter on the perimeter in the starting lineup to go with forward Robert Covington. Having two shooters on the perimeter will help the Sixers’ offense tremendously with floor spacing.
Then, whoever is the point guard for this team, he will be able to drive to through the lane and kick it out for an open shot from either Covington or Stauskas. Lastly, when it comes to double teaming the Sixers’ big men down in the post, teams will not be able to do that so often. For example, Jahlil Okafor can pass the ball pretty well out of the double team, which could lead to a wide open shot for Stauskas.
Once again, Hinkie has made another good trade. He got his team another young player, who will finally get a chance to play extensive minutes and be a quality starter.
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