Sixers Players Deserving of Rising Stars Challenge Selection
In previous years Sixers fans have had the pleasure of watching their young stars display both talent and entertainment value in the Rising Stars Challenge. Last season Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel each played in the exhibition, marking just the third time in franchise history that more than one Sixers has made an appearance. The second time came in 2015, when Noel, Robert Covington, and Michael Carter-Williams played. On teams with so many rookies and sophomores, it’s inevitable that multiple guys will play their way into a trip to an All-Star Weekend event.
All the hype around Sixers fans and 2017 ASW has come from Joel Embiid’s (#NBAVote) campaigning to be make a starter, so that he can get a date with his crush. Although we should all continue to support JoJo in his quest for love, there must be some attention paid to the other members of the team who deserve to take a trip to New Orleans in February. However, these players are not looking to attend as all-stars.
After Friday night’s win against Charlotte, Philadelphia has won 5 of its last 6 ball games and 3 straight in total. Credit for the sudden success is deserved by many, but especially those eligible to be named a rising star. There are 3 Sixers who I could make a legitimate case for to start the challenge. I would like to apologize to those players I have deemed unarguable for a starting spot in the game. I would also like to point out that although the format of the Rising Stars Challenge in 2015 and 2016 was USA vs World, I am assuming that teams will be drafted by the coaches as they were previously, due to the fact that this year’s draft class is not nearly strong enough to make an international game possible.
For Okafor and Richaun Holmes, both centers, it would be insane to give them the nod over Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns. As fun as it would be to put Ben Simmons in the lineup, there are doubts as to whether he will have even played a game for the Sixers by the game, and even if he has, playing in an exhibition so shortly after returning from a broken foot would be ludicrous. And in the case of Timothe Luwawu Cabaret, he has not played enough minutes to justify a selection. If it were the international format, his chances would have been much higher.
TJ McConnell
McConnell unexpectedly made the Sixers roster before the 2015-16 season. Nobody could have foreseen the undrafted free agent’s rise to the top of the point guard totem poll in Philadelphia. After Tony Wroten and Kendall Marshall came back from their 2015 injuries, TJ was supposed to be cut from the team, and there his “fluke” NBA journey would come to an end. However, it is now 2017. Neither Wroten nor Marshall are in the NBA, and the guard from Arizona is winning ball games for a team that has not had a reliable point guard in years.
TJ has started a grand total of 7 contests for the Sixers so far this season, and his presence in the starting lineup has brought the team more success than any of the point guards of the previous three seasons. He is 6-1 in games started, and in 35 minutes per game, he averages 8.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 9 assists per game in those starts. The versatility of TJ’s game has worked wonders for the offense, and having a point guard whose first instinct is to look to feed Joel Embiid as opposed to popping a deep three-pointer to make an ill-advised circus pass (sorry, Sergio Rodriguez, that was a little harsh) has Joel on a scoring run unlike any other that he has had in his short career.
McConnell’s numbers, albeit in a sample size too small to put real value in, rank amongst the best in the NBA for point guards. His 9 assists per game started would put him 5th place in the league for dimes per. His 4.2-1 assist-to-turnover ratio would make him second behind only Chris Paul. It is unfair to the players who have started every game of the year to consider TJ among the best of the best, but there is no denying how well the undrafted free agent from Arizona has played since being given a real opportunity.
While unfair to compare stats with the superstars, McConnell’s total stats, in each game played, are favorable next to the other point guards considered for the starting spot. When being compared to the top point , TJ has been more efficient offensively while proving to be a capable enough defender. He still needs more time to prove himself before being considered a serviceable backup point guard for the Sixers of the future, but his play to this point of 2017 has more than earned him a starting spot for the first night of All-Star Weekend.
Dario Saric
Remember during the Summer when critics said that Saric wouldn’t come to the Sixers this year? The argument was that he would stay in Europe for one more year so that he could negotiate a deal not on the rookie wage scale with the Sixers. Well, he came to America, opting to gamble on his play to earn him his money at the end of the rookie contract, and it has paid off. Things have not gone as smoothly in Philadelphia as Dario would have hoped for, but he has still show flashes of brilliance and is considered one of the building blocks of the future going forward.
Dario has had a rough transition to the NBA from the Euroleague, in part because he has struggled to put together strings of effective games. As is the case with most rookies, consistency can be a hard thing to come by when going up against the world’s best nightly. Experimenting with Dario’s role as a Sixer, Brett Brown pulled him from the starting lineup in favor of newly-acquired Ersan Ilyasova in an attempt to take some of the pressure off of Dario.
Coming off the bench, Saric has improved his offensive rating and has been a late-game spark for Philly, which has found trouble holding onto leads in the second half. In a 2 point loss to the Kings in December, Dario had 12 points, all in the third quarter and all via the three ball, to put the Sixers back into the game. His percentages have been worryingly low to this point, but his streakiness has made him one of Brown’s first options when in need of a scoring run.
In addition to late-game outside shooting, Dario has proved competent in other areas of his game. Against the Celtics he sent Jonas Jerebko to the wood after pulling off an Allen Iverson-esque crossover. His athletic ability has bought him minutes at the 3 while Ilyasova takes care off the power forward slot.
Saric’s numbers do not compare as favorably to the competition as do those of McConnell, but the weakness of the small forwards (and power forwards, even) eligible for the game has Dario in the running for a starting spot. Brandon Ingram, Jaylen Brown, and Justise Winslow have not been nearly as productive offensively as the Croatian. Stanley Johnson has played games in the D-League this season after falling out of favor in the Pistons rotation. As long as Ersan is in Philadelphia, Dario will continue to get a run in at small forward, where he is a defensive liability. But his offensive game is so much more polished than his counterparts, he deserves the nod as a starter.
Although Dario has been much less impressive than McConnell through this point in the 2016-17 season, he is still a rookie and has shown signs of developing many a couple above-average skills as an NBA player. His productivity for the Sixers has decimated that of his peers, and thus he should be considered a frontrunner for a starting spot in New Orleans.
Joel Embiid
Embiid’s inclusion in this game takes no argument. After missing two full seasons with a foot injury, he has been a revelation in Philadelphia so far during his young career. A flurry of dunks, blocks, three point shots, and childish, but tasteful, antics have made him famous as both a future superstar and social media legend. He is still on a minutes restriction as he continues to get accustomed to the NBA, but per-36 minutes JoJo is averaging 28 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 3.3 blocks per game. Those numbers (and series of creative tweets endorsing himself) have him near the top of the vote for All-Star starter in the Eastern Conference front court.
As of right now it is questionable as to whether or not Embiid will secure the starting spot for the main event of All-Star Weekend, but one thing is for sure: he will be making the trip to the Big Easy. Rosters have not been announced for the Rising Stars Challenge, but a safe bet would be that will be witness Round 3 of Towns vs Embiid matching up surrounded by their fellowship of youth. Each has been by far the most impressive at the center position among game-eligible players, and the face-off will attract quiet an audience to the Friday night throw down (as I’m sure Embiid’s WWE persona would like to call it).
As if another matchup of the league’s most promising young bigs wasn’t enough to make you crave the Rising Stars Challenge, there is another possibility that could be fun for Sixers fans: Kristaps Porzingis on Embiid’s team. A duo that the team missed out on by drafting Okafor, fans could catch a glimpse of what might have been. But nothing will be known for sure until the rosters are announced in the coming weeks.
Hopefully some of the Sixers youngsters who have brought so much success to the city recently will have their hard work and determination pay off via a selection to an All-Star Weekend event.
Photo by Patriarca12 (via Wikimedia Commons)
Discover more from Philadelphia Sports Nation
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categorized:Sixers