What JaKarr Sampson Could Bring to 76ers Next Season

The latest addition to what has become a collage of lower-end talent looking to make a roster for the Philadelphia 76ers comes in the form of former St. Johns’ star, JaKarr Sampson as the 6’8” forward has reportedly signed a partially guaranteed three-year deal with the Sixers.

It’s unclear what the “partially-guaranteed” part of the contract means, but with the Sixers’ camp right around the corner, it would make sense for Sampson to have to make the final roster before anything past his first few weeks earns him a check.

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But let’s go ahead and be honest; with the current turmoil that is the 76ers roster, as we know it, especially with the lack of proven talent and roster security in the paint, Sampson actually making the roster is far from out of the question. That said; let’s take a look at what Sampson could bring to Brett Brown’s team, should he make the final cut.

Dating back to his days at St. Johns, Sampson has always built his staple upon his athleticism and hustle, which is what in large helped him average 14.9 points and 6.6 rebounds as a freshman and 12.8 points and 6.1 boards as a sophomore in college. This same grit and grind and vigor is what also led to an impressive Orlando Summer League showing for the Sixers with 8.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per contest, which were numbers that matched up with the No. 4 overall selection by the Orlando Magic, Aaron Gordon, just do give you something to compare his performance to.

Sampson has proven he can, at very least, keep up with the role players and newbies of the NBA off his sheer athleticism alone. With his ability to play both the small forward and power forward roles, he could bring to the Sixers and coach Brown a project to work with throughout how ever much of his contract he does actually see. As any Sixers’ fan would know, there isn’t much certainty surrounding these positions and to be able to add another high-upside guy like Sampson alongside rookies K.J. McDaniels, Jerami Grant, Brandon Davies and Arnett Moultrie could add some depth and provide some in-house competition to a roster that severely needs options.

On the other hand, there are some apparent weaknesses that could also hinder Sampson’s chances of seeing much court time or even simply making the final roster. As a 6’8” stretch-forward, Samson doesn’t exactly have the bulkiness to match up with most NBA competition and lacks a notable shooting touch and ball handling ability that your average wing player would possess. This adds to his horrid free throw shooting, which was only 56 percent last season at St. Johns along with a clear inability to hit a shot from beyond the arc in a game after only hitting 1-of-5 as a sophomore.

It’s safe to say there is more than a handful over aspects in Sampson’s game that could use some major touch-ups, but that has seemed to become the norm with a Sixers’ roster littered with upside and potential with very minimal proven talent. That just shows that Sampson is in the right place to begin his NBA career but as far as what he can bring to a bottom-feeding organization…well, as it stands now, Sampson is just added depth and athleticism. He’s nothing more and nothing less at this point.