Philadelphia 76ers: Veteran Free Agents To Target

Jodie Meeks, Orlando Magic

Meeks has endured two miserable seasons, playing a meager 39 total games. He played just three games in the 2015-16 season due to foot surgery, and missed the beginning of this past season due to additional surgery on the same foot. Furthermore, Meeks missed a sizable chunk of this past season due to thumb surgery.

But when Meeks was available, he demonstrated why he is a career 37.6 percent shooter from three-point range. In his 36 games last season with the Orlando Magic, Meeks averaged 9.1 points in 20.5 minutes per game, hitting at a 40.9 percent clip from behind the three-point line.

In just 36 games for a very underwhelming Magic team, Meeks hit three or more three-pointers on 11 occasions this season. Over these 11 games, Meeks shot an astounding 60.0 percent from downtown. Interestingly, the Magic had a 7-4 record during these games.

His best performance came during a road win against the New York Knicks. Playing 32 minutes, Meeks scored 23 points, which included 6-of-7 shooting from behind three. Impressively, Meeks was a +16 while on the floor.

As can be seen, running off screens and spotting up behind the three-point line is Meeks’ bread and butter. Recently when forecasting next season, coach Brown stated:

"“We want to play fast, we want to embrace a three-point line.”"

Considering this statement, it’s very noteworthy that Meeks’ best season of his eight-year career came during the 2013-14 season with the Los Angeles Lakers. His coach that season was current Houston Rockets head coach and offensive guru Mike D’Antoni. Brown’s ambition to play fast and embrace the three-point line is a calling card of any D’Antoni-coached team.

During that season, Meeks averaged 15.7 points per game, including 40.1 percent from behind three. Notably, Meeks’ usage rate was just 19.0.

This past season saw the Sixers ranked 25th in three-point percentage and 27th in field goal percentage. Granted, any player who has missed the amount of games Meeks has these past two seasons is going to carry a degree of risk.

However, considering Meeks’ strengths, and the manner in which Brown wants the Sixers to play, the pros certainly outweighs the cons. This past season, Meeks shot 46.1 percent on three-pointers at least four feet away from the closest defender.

On a team featuring the likes of Embiid, Simmons, Saric and the like, a shooter such as Meeks could thrive surrounded by such talent.