Eric Hartline – USA Today Sports Images
The night of the 2013 NBA Draft, the Philadelphia 76ers and new general manager Sam Hinkie made it clear that they were blowing things up and going in a new direction when they traded Jrue Holiday for the rights to the injured Nerlens Noel. It’s clear the Sixers aren’t looking to win this season, but in the future.
Later in the draft, the 76ers selected point guard Michael Carter-Williams with the 11th overall pick. With Holiday out of Philly, Carter-Williams is likely going to have to shoulder the responsibility of being the Sixers’ point guard for the future. The Orlando Summer League is the first time they are getting to see him against pro-level competition.
The rap on Carter-Williams is pretty simple. People know that he’s a playmaker that is fantastic when it comes to game-managing and facilitating for his teammates, but he’s a really poor shooter. For Syracuse last year, he shot just 39.3 percent from the field and 29.2 percent from long-range.
However, it’s clear in Summer League that the Sixers want to see what they have to work with regarding MCW’s scoring ability. Through Philadelphia’s first two games at Summer League, it appears that Carter-Williams has a really long way to go until he’s an effective scorer in the pros.
In Philly’s first game he put up 26 points, but he did so on just 8-23 shooting from the field and 0-6 three-point shooting. In their second game on Monday, Carter-Williams struggled even more so, putting up just 13 points on 4-20 shooting and 1-3 shooting from beyond-the-arc.
We all know that Carter-Williams isn’t going to be asked to carry the scoring load during the regular season, but if he wants to develop into a quality NBA point guard and a leader for the Sixers, he’s going to have to find his niche beyond just facilitating. He’s not going to need to score 20 points per game, but he’s going to need to shoot over 35 percent from the floor.
Cody Williams is a Senior Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20, add him on Google+ and like his Facebook page.
