Bold Predictions: Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot Could Start

Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot was a largely overlooked piece of the Philadelphia 76ers‘ draft haul, but his overarching range of talents could land him a starting role by the season’s end.

I have always been a fan of Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot’s game. Coming into the draft, I had him ranked as a better prospect than Buddy Hield or Jakob Poeltl, and was anticipating him as a much more productive addition that many scouts and analysts seemed to dub him capable of becoming. When the Philadelphia 76ers were able to snatch him off the board 24th, the excitement of seeing him coupled alongside Ben Simmons made the Sixers’ draft substantially more intriguing than I would have previously assumed.

While Luwawu has some rough areas of his game, the Frenchman comes to the NBA with a nice arsenal of skills and the physical tools needed to fit in right away. Brett Brown has stressed the fact that the rookie will likely see stints in the D-League throughout the season, especially early on, but there’s reason to believe that he could find a way to not only work his way into the rotation by the season’s culmination, but find himself in a starting role.

This may seem far-fetched in many regards, and on most teams the likelihood of him seeing starting minutes in any capacity would be essentially zero. However, with the Sixers still geared towards the future and their roster still painfully thin in some aspects, Luwawu could have a prime opportunity to carve out some playing time and prove his legitimacy as a prospect in year one.

Jerami Grant has never really settled in as a consistent NBA player yet, despite his flashes of defensive brilliance, and I’m still hesitant to establish Robert Covington as a sure-fire option long term. Both have their obvious benefits, but Luwawu’s ability to produce both as a defensive stopper on the wing and as an offensive catalyst, especially in transition, could bode well for his chances as the campaign progresses.

Luwawu is a viable 3-point shooter, something the Sixers currently lack in a pressing manner. He excels as a trailing shooter on the fastbreak, and has the awareness on the court to maneuver around screens and get himself open — something that was doubted to some extent prior to Summer League. The 24th overall pick showcased a great deal of poise and basketball I.Q. that wasn’t necessarily a given during his time on the court this offseason, and although Summer League is never something to read into too much, intangibles like those will always carry over to some extent.

While adjusting to the pace of NBA play is always the biggest hurdle for foreign players, Luwawu may not have the same trouble some do in making that adjustment. His team overseas — Mega Leks — ranked among the fastest tempos in European basketball, as the fairly youthful roster hung it’s proverbial hat on their ability to get up and down the court and out-pace the opposition on numerous occasions.

Luwawu is used to playing at a breakneck pace, and a chance to slow down and operate in a more controlled setting could potentially open up even more avenues for production at the next level. He’s a viable transition option and an acrobatic finisher when running the court, but allowing him to get into a rhythm from deep and work his way into a systematic approach on the offensive end could allow him to continue developing the areas he has already shown some legitimate strides in.

In addition to his potential on the offensive end, Luwawu’s aforementioned prowess as a defensive stopper could be invaluable to the Sixers’ rotation in numerous ways. While Grant is an excellent defender when he is able to play within himself, Luwawu has shown a greater sense of skill-based maturity on that side of the basketball. He has excellent instincts which allow him to create turnovers, which in turn lead to the same fastbreak opportunities that he feasted on in Europe.

As somebody capable of guarding either the three or two spot at a level neither Grant nor Covington can (on a consistent basis), Luwawu has a lot of appeal in that regard. There’s already a great deal of defensive potential on the roster with the likes of Nerlens Noel, Ben Simmons, and Gerald Henderson, and adding another prime defensive prospect to the mix could make sense long term.

The Sixers are going to win games this season based on defensive merit more so than offensive firepower given their stark lack of scoring, and Luwawu fits the mold as well as any player currently on the roster in that regard. He’s a more controlled option on the wing, albeit still developing his decision making in his own right, and overshadows Covington a great deal on the opposite side of the basketball.

Finding minutes won’t be too difficult for Luwawu. He’s already a far better player than Nik Stauskas or Hollis Thompson, and merely has to reassure Brett Brown of that before he’s able to feasibly work his way into a solid niche in the rotation. Whether or not he makes the leap to the starting small forward spot is still in question, and is admittedly unlikely. With that said, the possibility is still very much in tact.

As somebody with a great deal of upside both as an evolving offensive weapon and a skilled defensive cog, Luwawu could make a convincing argument if he’s given the playing time needed to make an impact this upcoming season. The Sixers are a team geared towards the future, not entirely rooted in winning an immense amount of games this upcoming season, and that bodes extremely well for Luwawu’s chances here.

His prospects in the grand scheme of the organization seem far brighter than any other wing in the rotation if he’s able to maximize his upside as a player, and Bryan Colangelo could be more than willing to let him work through any growing pains he experiences if it puts the team in a better position to win down the road.

This is certainly a team that is looking to make improvements this season, there’s no denying that. However, the future still holds the greatest value in terms of how the front office and coaching staff alike will be approaching playing time and the construction of the rotation itself. If Covington or Grant don’t make a strong case, don’t be too surprising if Luwawu edges his way into the conversation for a starting spot — he’s that good.