NBA Philadelphia 76ers

Michael Carter-Williams May Be Monkey-Wrench In 76ers Long-Term Plans

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By @TheSizzle20

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While the Philadelphia 76ers were beginning their massive tanking and rebuilding project last season, they still remained one of the more entertaining teams in the NBA. The pace they played at was a big part of that, but another big factor was the fact that rookie Michael Carter-Williams was looking like a world-beater.

On his way to winning the league’s Rookie of the Year award, Carter-Williams produced all over the box score. In the 70 games that he played, the then rookie averaged 16.7 points, 6.3 assists, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.9 steals in 34.5 minutes per game. The only real knock on him last season was his efficiency as he shot only 40.5 percent from the field and just 26.4 percent from long-range. However, many people chalked that up to inexperience and something that would improve.

Through MCW’s first nine games of his sophomore season for a now even worse 76ers team, the point guard looks like he may have serious issues to work through in his career.

After missing the first seven games of the regular season, Carter-Williams has been part of the quagmire of atrocities in Philadelphia this season. Playing 30 minutes per game, the guard is putting up 14.7 points, 5.8 assists, 6.3 rebounds and one steal per game. While that may not look terrible, what does is the fact that he’s shooting an abysmal 34.1 percent from the floor thus far and has hit on only 21.4 percent of his three-point attempts.

The people who were skeptical of Carter-Williams after his rookie season cited the fact that he may be a nice-stats-on-a-bad-team type of player rather than an actual difference-maker in this league. Though it’s still an incredibly bad team that he’s a part of, he’s putting up his numbers in a remarkably inefficient manner that has to leave the Sixers worried.

While having Nerlens Noel and the injured Joel Embiid as their frontcourt for the future is seemingly Philly’s ace-in-the-hole going forward, a big part of their plans for the future seemingly lie in the development of Carter-Williams. They need him to become an above-average point guard that can effectively run a team, even one built around two big men. As of right now, it’s questionable as to whether or not he can do that.

There’s nothing definitive that you can say about Carter-Williams right now. He could still be getting back into a rhythm from his injury this season. He’s also still only 23 years old. Despite that, though, there is certainly a cause for concern when you look at how he’s performing to start the 2014-15 season.

Cody Williams is a Senior Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20, add him on Google and like his Facebook page.

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