During the NBA All-Star break, we'll take a look at some of the Sixers’ newcomers and their prospects for the future with the team.
Jerami Grant
Height: 6-8
Weight: 210
Position: SF
Breakdown
Apart from Robert Covington, Jerami Grant might be the biggest surprise of the season. But while the Sixers had an idea that Covington could shoot, Grant’s jumper fell somewhere between completely unknown and worrisome.
The Sixers selected Grant in the second round of the 2014 draft (39th overall). The 6-foot-8, 210-pound wing is long and athletic, but no one was quite sure what to make of him. He missed the first 15 games of the year with an ankle injury. When he returned, Brett Brown hinted that he might play Grant at power forward.
The concern, again, was Grant’s shot, particularly from distance. He took only 20 three-pointers while at Syracuse. He made just six.
Maybe he worked on his shot between college and the pros. Maybe the NBA game and the Sixers system — both of which encourage taking open three-pointers — is more to his liking. Either way, he’s been better than expected as a shooter. Grant is hitting 37.5 percent from the field and 38.7 percent from three (on 1.6 attempts per game). Only Robert Covington has made a higher percentage of his long-range shots.
Through 38 games, Grant is averaging 5.7 points, three rebounds and 1.1 blocks. He's hitting just 63.3 percent of his free throws, though, and he has yet to demonstrate a feel for passing at the pro level (0.8 assists per game). That last part is troublesome, especially because he plays in an offense that emphasizes ball movement. (The Sixers are eighth in the NBA in assist percentage.)
NBA
But considering that the expectations were low to nonexistent for Grant, he has so far been a net positive for the Sixers.
"He can defend multiple positions,” Brown said recently. "He has shown the ability to drive and finish with authority with dunks. He can rebound and start a fast break with kick-aheads, finding the open man. Now he is showing he can pick and pop and hit threes. Defense and offense, his growth is rapid and right before all our eyes."
Highs
Between late January and early February, Grant scored in double figures in four out of six games. In a loss at Cleveland earlier this month, he scored a career-best 18 points and added seven rebounds and two assists. He also made 3 of 5 from distance and 5 of 7 from the line.
But the moment that made a lot of people notice came against the New Orleans Pelicans. For much of the year, K.J. McDaniels has been the team’s most athletic player and best dunker. And maybe he still is. But now he has company.
Lows
In the four games before the All-Star break, Grant struggled a bit. He made only 2 of 17 shots over that span and didn’t sink any of his five three-point attempts. The good news is that he made 13 of 16 shots from the line in those games. He averaged 21.9 minutes in January, but he played more than 20 minutes only twice in five February games. It probably wasn’t the way he wanted to head into the league’s mid-season sabbatical.
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As Brown mentioned, Grant is strong and athletic and can guard multiple positions. The Sixers have improved dramatically on defense this year, jumping from last in defensive rating a year ago to 12th, and Grant has fit right in on that front. He has the ability to step out on the perimeter or fall back into the paint depending on which personnel units the opposition is running and rotation assignments.
His shot has been better than expected, but it’s a small sample size. He also has to be more consistent at the offensive end. When he doesn’t play more than 20 minutes, he can sometimes disappear.
Like a lot of the Sixers, Grant has an opportunity. He’s on a team-friendly contract (as most second-round picks tend to be). If he plays well and improves his shot, he’ll get minutes. But that’s altogether different than saying he factors into the team’s long-term future. As Tony Wroten put it, when you play for the Sixers, you’re basically auditioning for everybody.