Sixers' point guards have some proving to do
The 76ers traded Michael Carter-Williams in February because they wanted to upgrade the point guard position. Eight months later, it can be argued that they've taken a step back.
The 76ers traded Michael Carter-Williams in February because they wanted to upgrade the point guard position.
Eight months later, it can be argued that they've taken a step back.
The Sixers will have Isaiah Canaan as their starting point guard for their season opener Wednesday against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. The third-year veteran is more of a scoring point guard on a team that could use a distributor running the show.
His backup, T.J. McConnell, is as gritty as them come. However, he's an undrafted rookie playing in his first NBA game. This is a duo that the team will have rely on for a while.
That's because the team's top two point guards - Tony Wroten and Kendall Marshall - are rehabilitating after suffering anterior cruciate ligament tears in their right knees. Marshall will be out at least until November. Wroten isn't expected back until December.
The point guards have perhaps the biggest job on the team: Canaan and McConnell have to run the offense well enough so rookie center Jahlil Okafor, power forward Nerlens Noel and guard Nik Stauskas can develop into offensive talents.
"I'm ready to go and trying to do the best I can to get everybody the ball, making sure everybody is getting the ball to be able to score easy baskets," Canaan said. "I think that's one area I'm pretty pleased with - and try to keep my turnovers down.
"I know at one point [in the preseason], I was [at] 18 assists and five turnovers."
The 6-foot, 201-pounder finished the preseason averaging 4.2 assists and 1.8 turnovers. He also was the team's leading scorer at 13 points per game.
Even though he missed two games, Canaan took the third-highest number of shots (55) behind Robert Covington (seven games, 70 attempts) and Okafor (five games, 57).
"He's a shooter," Sixers coach Brett Brown said. "He's a scorer. I'm not going to make him John Stockton. I'm not going to make him Steve Nash. So I have to take what he does, and what he does is quite well."
But don't get it twisted. Brown still wants Canaan to realize when it's best to feed his teammates the ball and best to look for his own shot.
This is the 24-year-old's second chance to prove that he can be the franchise's lead guard. Canaan came to the Sixers amid lofty expectation in a trade from the Houston Rockets on the same day they sent Carter-Williams to the Milwaukee.
The Mississippi native struggled while trying to play the role of a pure point guard. As a result, he was replaced by Ish Smith in the starting lineup with 15 games remaining.
McConnell, 23, has limitations one would expect from an undrafted rookie free agent. However, the former Arizona standout is a pass-first point guard who plays every position like it is his last.
He averaged 6.2 points, a team-best 4.8 assists and 2.0 turnovers in 22 minutes during the preseason. McConnell had 10 points and 10 assists in his first start of the preseason.
"Realistically, you've just got to run the team," McConnell said. "Whether it is a scoring point guard or a pass-first point guard, you need to be able to run your team and get guys open shots."
One of the main things in the NBA is playing with good pace. A point guard needs to realize when it's time to speed things up or slow them down.
"You have to play at your own pace and get people the ball," McConnell said. "I think we've done a good job of that so far."
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