After a rumor began floating around that the Sixers and Atlanta Hawks were discussing a trade centered around Nerlens Noel and Jeff Teague, a collective smack sound was heard across the Philadelphia area. That sound was every Sixers fan in unison facepalming. Some were more pronounced since some of us have larger hands and larger faces, but they all echoed the same question: Why?
Why would the Sixers trade Nerlens Noel — a player whose only peer in the 250 blocks and 250 steals within the first two years of his career is David Robinson? There’s Nerlens, and there’s David Robinson. That’s the list.
Why would the Sixers want Jeff Teague — a player who is 27, likely on the tail end of his prime, and only has one year left on his contract before he can be a free agent in 2017?
I can’t answer the first question because it makes no sense, and I refuse to try and answer the question because I don’t want to break my friend’s heart who is REALLY into the Sixers, now, because of Nerlens. (She loves his flat top.)
The answer to the second question is simple. The Sixers need a point guard. That’s not for debate. They NEED a point guard. If you combine the two guys that started at point guard the most for the Sixers last year (Ish Smith and T.J. McConnell) you get collective numbers of 11.1 points per game, 6.3 assists, 4.6 rebounds and a player efficiency rating (PER) of 14.4. An upgrade is desperately needed.
There are possibilities in the upcoming NBA Draft, but there’s little doubt the Sixers will take a point guard with the #1 overall pick. That pick is likely going to be LSU’s Ben Simmons. With the other two first round picks the Sixers have (#24 and #26), the Sixers could draft a point guard, but the smarter move would be to hold on until next year’s draft where the talent is stacked at the point guard position — unless the Sixers make a trade for another top-5 pick, of course.
Trading for Jeff Teague is not the answer. When you look at point guards the Sixers can pair with Ben Simmons, there are some options via free agency or trades, and they fall into one of two tiers.
Tier B:
These guys are nothing but stop gaps. They run the point for one to two years, but during that time, the Sixers will continuously be on the lookout for the long term solution.
Jeremy Lin
27 years old, Six seasons in the NBA
2015-2016 Per 36 Minutes: 16.1 ppg, 4.1 apg, 4.4 rpg
2015-2016 Per 100 Possessions: 22.4 ppg, 5.8 apg, 6.2 rpg
2015-2016 53.4 TS%, 33.6 3PT%
I never said I was going to start with the best of the bunch, so bear with me. I do have my trash can shield for you Sixers fans that are already arming yourselves with rotten tomatoes, and I get it. Lin has been on five teams in six seasons, and his most recent run of success came from him being a sixth man for the Charlotte Hornets. Lin isn’t overly impressive, but he isn’t the most terrible of ideas, either. The Sixers would be able to sign him outright as he opted out of his deal with the Hornets.
Assuming Charlotte won’t resign him, let’s say the Sixers draft a point guard this year they aren’t too fond of handing the reigns over to right away. There are far worse ideas than letting Jeremy Lin run the point for a year or two until the new guy is ready. In his first full 82 game season as a starting point guard (2012-2013 with the Houston Rockets), Lin had averages of 13.4 ppg, 6.1 apg, and 3.0 rpg with a 14.9 PER and .099 win shares per 48 minutes. (The league average for WS/48 minutes is .100 to provide reference.) You’ll say it, and I’ll probably agree. Lin would probably be a better sell if his three-point numbers were better, but getting by on 34 percent isn’t impossible.
Yes. Lin isn’t the best of the best, but he’s not the worst of the worst.
Matthew Dellavedova
25 years old, Three seasons in the NBA
2015-2016 Per 36 Minutes: 11.0 ppg, 6.5 apg, 3.1 rpg
2015-2016 Per 100 Possessions: 15.7 ppg, 9.3 apg, 4.5 rpg
2015-2016 52.7 TS%, 41.0 3PT%
Wait a minute. (Dodges tomato.)
Hang on a second. (Dodges cabbage.)
Just hear me out! (Dodges shoe.)
Alright, come on. Who throws a shoe? Honestly.
The candidates get better. I swear. There are certain words that people use to describe Dellavedova. One is “dirty”. I’m not sure I buy that. One is “scrappy”, and I completely buy that. If the 2015 NBA Finals are any indication of Dellavedova’s defensive ability, then that’s someone I wouldn’t mind as a stop gap point guard. Dellavedova earns his keep on the defensive end, and he gives zero effs about who he has to guard on any given night.
(It also doesn’t hurt that he’s a career .395 from three.)
If the Sixers draft Ben Simmons — who has a habit of finding open teammates for shots — having him pass to a guy that will hit roughly two out of every five three pointers he takes isn’t a bad idea.
Patrick Beverley
27 years old, Four seasons in the NBA
2015-2016 Per 36 Minutes: 12.3 ppg, 4.2 apg, 4.4 rpg
2015-2016 Per 100 Possessions: 16.9 ppg, 5.8 apg, 6.0 rpg
2015-2016 55.3 TS%, 40.0 3PT%
Here’s where things can be interesting. If the Sixers want to get Patrick Beverley, they’re going to have to trade for him because he’s currently under contract with the Houston Rockets. This is the question. How much do the Rockets want to keep him? Would the Rockets consider going after Rajon Rondo in the off-season — a terrible, yet plausible idea?
If the Rockets aren’t dedicated to Beverley at the point, what is the minimum the Sixers would have to offer? Could Beverley be acquired for either the 24th or 26th pick? It’s a theoretical possibility — especially if the Rockets are going after a higher priced free agent point guard and need to drop some salary.
Remember when I talked about Dellavedova being a scrappy, pesky defender. Take that and multiply it by at least ten, and you get Beverley. Beverley doesn’t have Delly’s size as he’s only 6’1″/185 compared to Dellavedova’s 6’4″/200, but that doesn’t mean “Mr. 94 Feet” won’t use every inch and every pound. (Seriously. Patrick Beverley’s nickname is “Mr. 94 Feet”. Look it up.)
Tier A:
Either of these point guards would be a great move for the Sixers because both of these individuals would be running the point for the foreseeable future.
Brandon Knight
24 years old, Five seasons in the NBA
2015-2016 Per 36 Minutes: 19.6 ppg, 5.1 apg, 3.2 rpg
2015-2016 Per 100 Possessions: 26.5 ppg, 6.9 apg, 5.3 rpg
2015-2016 52.2 TS%, 34.2 3PT%
Trading for Patrick Beverley is one thing.
Trading for Brandon Knight is something else entirely.
If the Sixers have any interest in Brandon Knight, the third overall pick in last year’s draft (Jahlil Okafor) is most likely going to have to be in the deal. Is Brandon Knight for Jahlil Okafor straight up enough to make fans happy? Maybe. Would Brandon Knight AND the number four pick make fans happy? You bet it would!
The main hiccup about acquiring Brandon Knight has a couple of folds. Is Phoenix 100 percent sold on an Eric Bledsoe/Devin Booker back court tandem? If that’s the direction the Suns take, would Knight welcome a sixth man role? If not, how adamant would Knight demand a trade into a situation where he’d be the starter?
Brandon Knight coming to the Sixers has its positives. He’s 24 with $56.4 million left on a contract that pays him until 2020. The team would be acquiring a 24-year-old point guard with a chip on his shoulder who’s locked up for four more years. That’s a positive. For his career, Knight has taken about 36 percent of his field goals from beyond the arc and hits about 34 percent of them. That’s arguably not the best, but he’s not completely broken.
The only other issue with the Sixers acquiring Brandon Knight is the fact they’ll likely have to sign or draft at least one above average perimeter defender, if not two, because Knight’s defensive numbers aren’t entirely strong. Before being traded to the Suns, Knight boasted a DRtg of 103 per 100 possessions, and that shot up to 112 in Phoenix followed by a 111 last year. Is Knight not a good defender or is it just that he was playing out of position. (The Suns used Knight a lot at shooting guard versus his natural point guard position.)
Knight would be locked up to a contract with the Sixers, playing with a more defensive-minded head coach, and have either Nerlens Noel or Joel Embiid behind him protecting the rim. If the Suns added a shooter like Buddy Hield, for example, at pick #4 (provided the Suns include that in a Knight trade), then Knight will have A LOT more open looks as teams double team Simmons or Embiid down low.
Knight would get a little better before getting worse.
Jordan Clarkson
23 years old, Two seasons in the NBA
2015-2016 Per 36 Mins: 17.3 ppg, 2.7 apg, 4.4 rpg
2015-2016 Per 100 Possessions: 24.1 ppg, 3.8 apg, 6.2 rpg
2015-2016 TS% 51.6, 3PT% 34.7
When names of players who the Sixers should sign becomes a topic, I immediately bring up Jordan Clarkson while humming “You’re the One that I Want” by Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta.
If there is one guy I want the Sixers to throw a (relatively) high contract at this off-season, it’s Jordan Clarkson. The Sixers will most likely have to offer Clarkson the max to force the Lakers into a situation where they actually have to think about matching it — with D’Angelo Russell also in the back court.
A heated debate about Jordan Clarkson with my brother can’t be confirmed or denied. (Actually, I lied. It can totally be confirmed. This happened.) His argument is the same as most who aren’t in on Clarkson.
“I don’t know who this guy is. I know who (insert veteran point guard) is, and I know he’s a professional basketball player.”
Yup. That’s my brother. Can you see why I haven’t brought up Clarkson to the Sixers since?
Here’s why Jordan Clarkson is a good idea for the Sixers. He’s 23 and potentially entering the prime of his career versus Jeff Teague (the veteran point guard my brother and I were arguing about) who is likely on the tail end of his prime. If you sign Clarkson, your point guard situation is taken care of. Move on to other positions.
I know what you’re looking at — the low assist numbers. The reason for that is simple. Clarkson was playing out of position last year to accommodate #2 overall pick, D’Angelo Russell. Clarkson played 96 percent of his minutes at the shooting guard versus 65 percent at the point guard position the year before.
When Clarkson was the Lakers’ point guard in his rookie season, he averaged 7.1 assists per 100 possessions with an assist rate of 23.8 percent (meaning he assisted on close to 24 percent of all Lakers field goals in 2014-2015). Clarkson is a point guard with a lot of potential and could be great in a better situation.
No offense, Lakers fans, but your situation is a trash bag fire in a dumpster fire in a landfill fire. Jim Buss still runs the team, not Jeanie (who really should be running the Lakers). Byron Scott was the coach last year, and he thought it was a GOOD IDEA not to start D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle to help them develop. Thankfully, Byron Scott was fired (presumably via firing squad), but would you go back to that if you’re Jordan Clarkson?
The Sixers definitely have a few ways to go in an effort to get a new point guard if they’re unsuccessful in the NBA Draft later this month. There are plenty of possibilities be it via the stop-gap point guard, or a point guard they can acquire via trade who will be around as Simmons, Embiid (if healthy), and Saric all grow into their own together.
Here’s hoping they make the right choice.
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