Possible Trade Bait On The Philadelphia 76ers This Season
There have been flurries of trade rumors surrounding two centers on the Philadelphia 76ers however, they could have another trade target.
The Philadelphia 76ers have a major logjam at the center position this upcoming season, and no one is arguing that. There was one article released recently that presented a solution to that problem. Despite the obvious need to move a bit man, there are other Sixers that other teams in the league could be salivating after. There are some obvious answers in Jerami Grant and Robert Covington, but there is also a not so obvious answer.
T.J. McConnell is the obvious answer here. He is an underrated back up point guard that is stuck behind two veterans, as well as Ben Simmons, who will be making a slow transition to the position this season. McConnell was a great back up for Ish Smith this past season, he was more than able to produce a similar pace that Smith played at, so that the offense did not change in any major way when the second unit was on the floor.
Those against McConnell will say he lacks athleticism and scoring tenacity to be a legitimate threat in the NBA. While he does lack athleticism, he does make it up in hustle, which can be seen clearly on the floor. McConnell might not wow some with the scoring average, but if evaluating the game closely, one could clearly see he would be great fit for any team’s second unit.
| Season | MP | FG% | 3P% | eFG% | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | 19.8 | .470 | .348 | .503 | .634 | 3.1 | 4.5 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 6.1 |
| Career | 19.8 | .470 | .348 | .503 | .634 | 3.1 | 4.5 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 6.1 |
He has plenty of potential clearly seen in his stats during his first year in the NBA. The undrafted point guard still has plenty of time to grow into his game. It is clear that he is a pass first point guard, a rarity in this age of the NBA, and that alone would get teams interested him his skill set.
Another important stat to note is his field goal and 3-point percentages are fairly good. If he could be slightly more aggressive scoring and bring up his 3-point percentage, he could be quite a dangerous weapon off the bench.
All these are reasons why the Philadelphia 76ers will not end up putting McConnell on the trade block. The only way the Sixers would trade him is if either they got too great of a deal to pass on, like bring in a superstar player, or the only way to trade one of the centers on the roster is to include him in a deal. Skepticism is high that he would be trade, but if he ever is, he would be more than valuable to another team’s second unit.
More from The Sixer Sense