The Philadelphia 76ers have reached the All-Star break and will enter with a 34-21 record and sitting as the 5 seed in the Eastern Conference. With the break comes time for evaluations and ratings to pass the time until play begins again on February 20.
So this is the beginning of a new series by Sixers Wire to pass the time for everybody. We’re going to take a look back at the 3 goals series from the offseason and see how each player has done in achieving those goals as well as give them a rating on how their season has gone. The rating will be based on a scale of 10 with 10 being how their season has gone based on the goals.
We start with Marial Shayok who’s 3 goals were pretty simple:
Meeting Mr. Johnson
Shayok was buried on the depth chart to begin the season. Not only was he a very late second-round pick, but he was also behind a lot of veterans on the team who were guaranteed roster spots and playing time. That means he was ticketed for the G League and he has flourished.
Spending time with the Delaware Blue Coats and coach Connor Johnson, who is a direct extension of Sixers coach Brett Brown, has done wonders for Shayok’s game. He is averaging 22.4 points and 5.4 rebounds and shooting 36.6 % from deep in 26 games with Delaware thus far on his way to being named to the Eastern Conference midseason G League Team. His play even earned him some playing time with the Sixers as he has played two games due to various injuries.
Learning the NBA
This has been a season of learning for Shayok to continue to grow for the future. He has definitely continued to learn as he has clearly had himself a solid season with the Blue Coats and the Sixers have had their eyes on him. Obviously, he isn’t going to help this team at their current state after the acquisitions of Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III plus the emergence of Furkan Korkmaz, but his growth has been something to behold so far in his rookie season.
Growing body and game
Shayok has added a couple of pounds to his frame as he is now up to 198 pounds, but the biggest thing for him is his game at this point. He has a skill that is transferrable to the NBA and that is shooting. Especially on a team like the Sixers who have been having shooting and spacing issues all season, he could make an impact in 2020-21.
In his two games at the NBA level, he has made one of three attempts from deep. He still has to get quicker on the defensive end in order to stay in front of quicker guys in the league and that will come with time. His continued time with Johnson and the Blue Coats will prepare him for a real chance at the NBA level.
Rating: 7.5/10 [lawrence-related id=25700,25693,25670]