Point guard depth has been an issue — albeit a minor one — for the Sixers all season. With Michael Carter-Williams playing after offseason shoulder surgery and Tony Wroten dealing with his second knee sprain of the season, the Sixers need some ball-handling help.
Enter Larry Drew II, a point guard with some big-time pedigree, on a 10-day contract.
Drew, 24, made his long-awaited NBA debut in the Sixers' 96-81 win over the New Orleans Pelicans Friday night (see Instant Replay), notching five points with an assist and a rebound in 15 minutes.
“We’re a young squad,” Drew said pregame. “They want me to come in and bring some leadership to this young team, even though I am a rookie technically.”
Drew, the son of Cavaliers assistant Larry Sr., has been around the NBA and basketball his entire life. Drew was born as his dad was winding down an 11-year NBA playing career and was a toddler when he began his coaching career.
In fact, Drew says he has been able to pick up on coach Brett Brown’s jargon and playbook quickly because he was around when his dad coached first as an assistant with the Lakers, Pistons, Wizards and Nets before serving as head coach for the Hawks and Bucks.
“He’s the commander-in-chief,” Brown said. “I’m going to throw him in there and we’ll try to keep his package simple. It’s not like we’re going to groom him into anything.”
NBA
Drew was a McDonald’s All-American out of Taft High in Los Angeles, was a freshman for North Carolina when it won the NCAA tournament and played for UCLA for his senior season, when he set the single-season assist record once held by Philly’s Pooh Richardson.
Though he went unselected in the 2013 NBA draft, Drew played summer league ball for the Miami Heat, which led to a spot in the D-League playing for Sioux Falls and Grand Rapids.
In 21 starts for Sioux Falls this season, Drew is averaging 11 points and leading the league with 10 assists per game. He set the D-League record with 23 assists in a game on Dec. 25.
Playing in the D-League taught Drew a thing or two about the cutthroat nature of the game. Fortunately for Drew, he found a niche as a playmaker and had the stats to back him up.
“Sometimes, [the D-League] is like crabs in a bucket, guys trying to crawl over each other just to get to the top,” Drew said.