By now if you are a fan of the Philadelphia 76ers you know that they have point guard problems, and have all offseason. The 76ers brought seven point guards into training camp but four were undrafted free agents, and two were hurt. Tony Wroten and Kendall Marshall are still recovering from injuries that ended their seasons a year ago and are expected to miss some regular season time which leaves Isaiah Canaan as the only healthy point guard that was expected to make the team. T.J. McConnell though has impressed this preseason and may force his way onto the regular season roster, according to Philly.com.
Brett Brown's ideal plan was to carry three point guards into the regular season with Wroten and Marshall being the starter/backup combo and Canaan being the third stringer. With Wroten and Marshall expected to miss about a month though Brown still held to the idea that he might want to keep only three point guards. That would leave Canaan as the starter with no clear backup for the time that the other two guys are out.
Brown did say that he could use Nik Stauskas as the backup point guard but Stauskas is dealing with an injury of his own and he is going to be the starting shooting guard so that might be too much to put on his plate. Undrafted free agent T.J. McConnell might be the short-term answer to their problems though as he has really impressed in training camp and preseason games.
McConnell spent four years in college, the last two of which were spent at Arizona where he started at point guard and led the team to two consecutive Elite Eight appearances. McConnell is 6 foot-3 and never was the best player on the team but he is a very good leader with a high basketball IQ and has great court vision.
So far this preseason McConnell has averaged 7.3 points, 5.8 assists and 4 rebounds in 23.5 minutes per game while shooting 52 percent from the field. McConnell signed with the 76ers this offseason on a deal with a little bit of guaranteed money but not much was expected of him. The point guard has taken advantage of his opportunities though and now has a chance to stick and play some minutes as the backup point guard when the season begins.
McConnell is still not a lock to make the team but there seems to be a pretty good chance he does. It would be wise of the 76ers to keep him as they need a backup point guard for the beginning of the season. After Marshall and Wroten come back it is unclear what his future would hold but the former Wildcat is already surpassing expectations and making a mark.
