At one point, Michael Carter-Williams looked to be an imperfect hero that would drag the Philadelphia 76ers out of the porous abyss. After being tabbed the franchise’s point guard of the future in the 2013 NBA Draft, Carter-Williams exceeded expectations en route to claiming the 2013-14 Rookie of the Year award.
It looked like the lacking roster had one position locked in for the foreseeable future. Instead, Sam Hinkie shook up the Sixers core and dealt his lead guard at the 2015 trade deadline. Carter-Williams was shooting just 38 percent when he went north Feb. 19 of this year.
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Hinkie looked past his gaudy 16.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 6.7 assists per game in order to extract whatever value MCW had left in the league.
Now, the Sixers are dealing with the ramifications associated with the departure of Carter-Williams. The Sixers have been relatively devoid of scorers and playmakers since the start of Hinkie’s rebuild in Philadelphia. The Syracuse product provided both, to an extent, and made players around him more efficient.
The incumbent last year was Isaiah Canaan, whose iso-heavy sets and lack of facilitating resulted in a demotion to the bench, opened the 2015-16 season as the starting point guard for the Sixers. The past three games have been anything but spectacular, as Canaan has averaged 11.7 ppg, but has shot only 29.0 percent from the floor.
As the lead guard, he has a frightening 1.7-to-2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Philadelphia’s offense has showed fluidity with other ball handlers in T.J. McConnell and Nik Stauskas, who starts at shooting guard but handles the ball in many sets, but has stagnated with Canaan manning the show.
I have no idea what Isaiah Canaan just did right there. Lou Williams would be proud of that 15-second ISO.
— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) October 31, 2015
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There aren’t many other options Brett Brown can go to. McConnell, despite performing better than expectations as an undrafted rookie, is a limited scorer, who has only averaged 4.3 points per game, and was more known as a passing maestro during his time at Arizona in college.
He has a much higher shooting percentage than Canaan (46.2 percent), player efficiency rating (14.88) and assists per game (6.7), and is a healthy alternative as a starter at the point. Injuries have derailed the Sixers hopes for a more viable lead guard to open the game with Stauskas, whoever will take Robert Covington‘s place after aggravating a right knee sprain, Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor.
Tony Wroten, who, at spurts, was a revelation last season as the starting point guard after transitioning from a shooting guard role. In 30 games last season, Wroten averaged a robust 16.9 points and 5.2 assists per game. During a time of trial and error, Wroten personified that theme in his game.
He has rare athletic talent and was given the opportunity to showcase his physical traits on the floor and the luxury of running the offense.
Not feeling content with the assortment of point guards heading into the season, Hinkie signed young journeyman Kendall Marshall to a multi-year contract despite being on the shelf recovering from an ACL tear he suffered last season. Marshall was drafted in the lottery in the 2012 NBA Draft due to his upside as a facilitator and has translated that ability at the NBA level.
Unlike Wroten, Marshall wins with setting up teammates effectively and splashing a few triples per game. He’s not one to blow by defenders, but wasn’t brought in to be a Wroten clone.
Getting efficient looks for the primary scorers looks to be why Marshall was brought in and he’s shown the ability to do so in his previous two stints playing for the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks.
Now, the Bucks are starting the Sixers starting point guard from last season and the Sixers could start Milwaukee’s backup from last season, this season, who might serve as their best option at the position. It’s all by design though. The Sixers are in this dubious position due to Hinkie’s notorious quest for stars.
Carter-Williams, in his eyes, wasn’t going to develop into one of the league’s best point guards.
He desired what could eventually formulate into a more talented player down the road if the Los Angeles’ pick conveys and is favorable to the Sixers. An important figure who wasn’t joyous of the trade of his starting point guard was head Brown.
An avid supporter and developer of Carter-Williams, Brown was shellshocked after learning his most prominent player was dealt for an entity not in the form of a player.
In the end, Brown understood the deal and had to move on without the star talent of his first year as a head coach:
"“My faith and belief in Sam has been spoken many times,” said Brown, per The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Keith Pompey. “I have faith in Sam. I say this is his time – trade deadline. We talk all the time. It’s shared communication.”"
The Sixers will face Carter-Williams for the third time since the trade and he’s evidently had a chip on his shoulder the past two times he has faced his former team. While the Sixers, currently are struggling to find a way to find productivity from the point guard position, MCW is learning from one of the best of all time in Milwaukee head coach Jason Kidd.
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Currently, he’s in the more fortuitous situation playing for the Bucks. Over time, it could shift in the favor of Philadelphia.