As of today, the initial 10-day contract between the Philadelphia 76ers and point guard Larry Drew II has expired, which leaves two options for the Sixers: let their most recent guard addition walk amidst a very concerning lack of floor general depth, or they can re-sign Drew for another 10-day evaluation period.
Over the course of his six games in 10 days as a Sixer, Drew certainly didn’t have enough of an impact to dull the pain of the recent news surrounding Tony Wroten, who will likely be sidelined for the remainder of the season with a partially torn ACL that requires surgery.
But Drew also played far from terrible, and considering the Sixers’ secondary options, or lack thereof with JaKarr Sampson and Luc Mbah a Moute in waiting, the Sixers would be wise to bring Drew back for the next 10 days.
In his six games with Philadelphia, Drew compiled a stat line of 4.7 points and 4.3 assists in 18.7 minutes per game. As one could conclude by simply looking at his scoring numbers, putting points up isn’t where Drew could make his money in the NBA as a backup; not yet at least.
But the vast majority of the Sixers’ roster struggles to find ways to score, so Drew’s lack of contribution on the scoreboard thus far isn’t something that should deter the Sixers from being him back for a second 10-day audition.
But on the other hand, Drew’s 4.3 assists per game average makes him the Sixers’ second-leading active facilitator, behind only Michael Carter-Williams‘ 7.1 per game. But even more impressive is where Drew’s numbers outdo those of MCW’s. Drew currently has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.0, which surpasses that of Carter-Williams’ 1.7.
But what do any of these numbers mean for the Sixers and a guy who has only suited up in six NBA games?
I’ll keep it brief.
In a nutshell, at this point, Philadelphia doesn’t have many more appealing options. Free agency has already been depleted of any eye-catching point guards. The Sixers still have 38 games left in Tank 2.0 to experiment with, and in reality, Philly doesn’t have much to lose by experimenting with yet another rotational piece amidst a season where competing consistently is really out of the question.
Additionally, it also helps that he’s caught onto Brett Brown’s “jargon” quickly, as seen by John Finger of CSN Philly:
"“In fact, Drew says he has been able to pick up on coach Brett Brown’s jargon and playbook quickly because he was around when his dad coached first as an assistant with the Lakers, Pistons, Wizards and Nets before serving as head coach for the Hawks and Bucks.”"
So there you have it. The Sixers have gotten 26 assists and only 13 turnovers in six games out of a guy who had never put on an NBA uniform only 10 days ago, while Drew did a fairly solid job of filling in where desperately needed as a backup to MCW.
With the only thing the Sixers have to lose in this situation being another 10 days of their time, which would result in Sampson seeing minutes running the show, he signs point to Drew deserving an extended look off of the bench in Philly.