Philadelphia 76ers: Michael Carter-Williams Quietly Becoming A Star?
By Cody Daniel
The past few days for the Philadelphia 76ers have provided reason to smile, as crazy as that sounds. After dragging through the first 17 games of their schedule without a single win and coming within two games of breaking the Brooklyn Nets’ record for most consecutive losses to begin a season, Philly has prevailed in two of their last three games with road wins in Minnesota and Detroit.
But an even greater sign for optimism comes in the form of the recent impressive play of the reigning Rookie of the Year, Michael Carter-Williams, which begs the question of whether or not MCW is quietly becoming a star for the Sixers.
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We knew from his well-roundedness as a rookie with 16.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.9 steals per game that Philly found the guy who was going to be their point guard of the future, but when you look at some of his developments in the early stages of his second season, it’s possible MCW might actually be growing into the star Sam Hinkie is so desperately searching for through NBA Draft after NBA Draft.
Thus far through his second season, MCW has compiled averages of 16.3 points, 7.4 assists and 7.1 rebounds. He’s practically averaging one more rebound and one more assist per game, which doesn’t seem like too much of an increase from his last season totals. But it’s what he’s been able to do and show over the last few games that makes the question of whether or not MCW is nearing the limelight of becoming a star a legitimate one.
After missing the first seven games of the season while recovering from shoulder surgery, MCW has kicked 2014-15 off on a tear after reaching double-digit scoring numbers in all but two games. In that includes four early double-doubles and a triple-double, which gives him three for his career.
Prior to his first triple-double of the season, head coach Brett Brown spoke out and let MCW know about his desire his for his floor general to be a true point guard and make it a priority to look for his teammates and set them up, which is crucial for a young team that struggles to find points. This, in turn, has led to MCW’s five consecutive impressive outings that make for the best small stretch of his young career.
Beginning with his first triple-double of the season with 18 points, 10 rebounds and a new career high in assists with 16 in a loss to Dallas, Carter-Williams has put up at least 16 points in each game, dished out 15 assists and 14 assists in the past two games and has flirted with two more triple-doubles. Over this five game stretch, Philly has won two, and lost to only San Antonio, Dallas and Oklahoma City, which are all teams nobody would expect the Sixers to beat.
So what’s different about MCW over this short stretch that gives hints on the 6’6” sophomore looking to become a star by season’s end, besides his averages of 19.6 points, 12.2 assists and nine rebounds per game? I’ll go with this not looking like a simple stretch of improved play, but rather, MCW looks like he’s adopted the new role coach Brown has asked him to fill and is more comfortable back as a true point guard, instead of being expected to shoulder a massive scoring load.
Yes, Carter-Williams will still need to provide his fair share of buckets for the Sixers to compete, but this new-look floor general for the Sixers is one that’s doing it all and showing signs of how much of an all-around star point guard he could become in the near future.
You can look at MCW’s struggles from the floor this season as a cause for concern and reason to discount any argument that he’s en route for stardom, but when you consider he’s still managing to average 16.3 points on 38 percent shooting from the field and 23 percent shooting from deep, it should be even more impressive that he’s managing to score at that rate without being a great shooter. And you must also consider that as he grows and understands himself and the NBA game more, MCW should learn what shots he doesn’t need to take as he improves his jumper overall.
It may be hard to believe that someone from the tanking Sixers could actually be growing into a star amidst a 2-18 season, but don’t blink because Michael Carter-Williams could very well being doing that right before our eyes.