The Philadelphia 76ers are in need of some more depth with Josh Richardson sidelined for a few weeks due to a left hamstring strain, so they dipped into their system and they called up one of their young prospects.
The Sixers on Friday announced the call up of second-year man Zhaire Smith who had been toiling with the team’s G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats, all season. Smith is averaging 13 points and 3.4 rebounds while shooting 36% from deep in 19 games with the Blue Coats.
“I have and we monitor him closely,” said coach Brett Brown. “We are so connected with our G League program. (Blue Coats coach) Connor Johnson and I talk, we follow his statistical progress, namely like how is he shooting threes in the corner? Like we get he plays hard, we get that he’s an athlete, and so now what?”
The big aspect surrounding Smith was his work on the defensive end of the floor. The reason why he was sent down to the G League was due to the fact that Matisse Thybulle has shown off more of an offensive game and he has passed Smith in that area. So the challenge for Brown and his staff now is to get the most out of him on the offensive end of the floor.
“Like how can we tap into a little bit offensively what he’s been growing?” asked Brown. “I think that there is an upward trend, a growth that we’ve seen for two reasons. First, him. He’s embraced the fact that he’s with the G League, some people would treat that as you’ve been scolded and he’s handled it maturely.”
The best thing going for Smith is that Johnson was on Brown’s staff so he runs the Blue Coats the exact same way Brown runs the Sixers. That will give him a bit of a comfort level when he gets called up and he continues his NBA career.
“Two, there’s chemistry with the programs that has enabled him to feel like there’s a progressive path and the next step when he comes up here, it’s the same word, same language, same system and I think for those two reasons, we’re looking at him a bit more seriously, especially without J-Rich,” finished Brown.
The Sixers will return to action on Saturday when they host the Los Angeles Lakers where Smith will be active and available to play for them. [lawrence-related id=24141,24131,24124]