When people discuss the future of basketball in Philadelphia, you hear the names of the reigning Rookie of the Year, Michael Carter-Williams, Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid and even Dario Saric once he makes his way to the NBA from Croatia. But a name you rarely hear thrown around in discussions, and unjustly so, is the Sixers’ third-year shooting guard, Tony Wroten.
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Through his first two seasons, Wroten has been in a situation where his name and abilities haven’t been given much exposure. As a rookie in Memphis, he never started and only played 7.8 minutes per game. Last season served as Wroten’s welcome to the NBA campaign and he flourished when given the opportunity.
During his 72 games, which included 16 starts, Wroten clocked 24.5 minutes per game and compiled averages of 13 points on .427 percen shooting, 3.2 rebounds and three assists. But this also came after sharing minutes with guys like Evan Turner – while he was still a Sixer – and James Anderson.
But as for his third season, Wroten will undoubtedly have a heightened level of offensive freedom and with some further sculpting to his noticeable limitations as a scorer, the Sixers could find the answer to their shooting guard questions for the future answered in this hidden gem.
As a scorer, Wroten has some glaring strengths and glaring weaknesses to match.
Wroten is a phenomenal athlete and can seemingly bully and maneuver his way to the rim at will, which often leads to posturizing dunks and crowd-wooing layups. In addition to this scoring ability, Wroten is an exceptional facilitator, especially in the absence of MCW, as he has averaged five assists per game during the preseason without playing the quantity of minutes normally seen by a starting guard.
Then on the defensive end of the court, his athleticism translates into him being a feisty on-ball defender.
But with the good comes the bad and Wroten has his fair share of that as well. I mentioned how well Wroten finished around the rim, but once he gets even the slightest bit away from that safety zone, his numbers take a huge dip. Per Basketball-Reference.com, Wroten shoots the pitiful percentages of 28 percent between three and 10 feet, 25 percent from 16 feet out to the perimeter and 21 percent from beyond the arc.
These certainly aren’t numbers worthy of any praise, but on the brighter side, Wroten realistically has only one season of experience underneath his belt and with a head coach that specializes is development in Brett Brown, this is something that shouldn’t be much of an issue after another season or two, which is about the time the Sixers hope to enter the realm of competitive basketball.
When you look at it, Wroten is in the perfect place for where his skill set stands right now. He’s a young prospect with a world of upside and a run-and-gun play style that is ever so familiar to the 76ers’ preference.
Although Sam Hinkie will likely use his early lottery pick in next year’s draft on an explosive scoring wing player, if Tony Wroten can continue to show the glimpses of dominance he has thus far as a Sixer, he could find himself as a crucial piece in the rebuilding process in Philadelphia.