Michael Carter-Williams The NBA is full of talent, personality and suspense. During the offseason, It’s easy to forget how wonderful the league can be. So, I’ve assembled 67 Reasons I’m Excited For Next Season (67RIEFNS). They’ll be presented in no particular order.
Just 27 players have averaged 16-6-6 in a season. Most of them – by a 2-to-1 margin if you count players not yet eligible but who are locks – are Hall of Famers.
Michael Carter-Williams joined the exclusive 16-6-6 club last season.
Is he a future Hall of Famer?
The 76ers point guard stands out in two ways among the 16-6-6 group:
1. He’s one of only three to hit those marks as a rookie. The other two, Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson, rank among the greatest of all-time greats.
2. He has the lowest PER – 15.5 barely above league average – among the 92 16-6-6 seasons in NBA history.
Why was Carter-Williams’ PER, which I think fairly accurately represented his performance, so low? For one, he barely met the thresholds, averaging 16.7 points, 6.3 assists and 6.2 points per game. He also shot relatively inefficiently, 41 percent from the field and 26 percent on 3-pointers. The 76ers played at the NBA’s fastest pace, giving Carter-Williams plenty of opportunity to accumulate stats.
But even if Carter-Williams was only a tick above average, that’s pretty good for a rookie, and he deserved his Rookie of the Year.
Carter-Williams went No. 11 in the draft – directly behind two other point guards (Trey Burke and C.J. McCollum) who are shorter and less athletic than him. Playing at Syracuse, Carter-Williams showed flaws with his jumper and protecting the ball, and that’s why – despite his higher upside – he slipped behind safer options.
In year one, Carter-Williams showed enough refinement that it’s worth betting on his upside. Just how high that upside is and how close he’ll come to meeting it remain big questions.
Only Giannis Antetokounmpo among potential starting point guards is taller than the 6-foot-6 Carter-Williams. He uses his length well defensively to collect steals, and his potential as a stopper is high. He also sees over defenses, finding opportunities to pass or get to the rim himself.
But his jumper remains suspect, and he hasn’t completely eliminated the turnover concerns. There’s also the possibility his production was somewhat empty on an awful Philadelphia team.
For someone who accomplished so much as a rookie, Carter-Williams could see his career could go a number of directions. His second season should give us a better idea what’s next for the 76ers point guard.
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- connorchew - Oct 13, 2014 at 9:21 AM
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once he gets talent around him, expect his point totals to drop and his assists to increase. Averaged 7 assists on the equivalent of a D-League squad by last years end.
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- zukny1 - Oct 13, 2014 at 9:39 AM
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16.7 points per game, 6.3 assists, & 6.3 points per game
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- kclanton80 - Oct 13, 2014 at 9:59 AM
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I would ay about 85% of players come into the league needing to improve their jump shots and get better at not turning the ball over. Carter Williams has shown to have a very good head on his shoulders and a potentially huge upside. His size, athleticism, and ability to get the the rim are a tremendous asset for a PG. Watching him play, he looks like one of those guys whom the game just comes easily to them. I fear we wont see a huge jump this year because of his off season shoulder surgery but I could be wrong.
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- sixerstrong - Oct 13, 2014 at 1:01 PM
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I’m a huge fan of his game, but I’m really bummed that he wasn’t able to work on his jumpshot this off-season because of his surgery. Noel’s jumpshot looks a lot better after the rebuild of his shot all last year (it still doesn’t look GREAT, but it’s certainly improving).
I can’t be more excited to see this team grow. They have tons of young talent and a plan for the future. I can’t remember any time in recent Sixers history I could say either one of those things, let alone both.
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- campcouch - Oct 13, 2014 at 6:25 PM
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I can’t kick a man while he’s down,but I’ll poke him with a stick to see if he’s dead. MCW had a solid season on a bad team. He carried a huge load and produced, even let his parent handle his finances (trust no one bro), but this same guy was rumored to be on the trade block, rumors he couldn’t dispel himself even at the draft. The crop of ROY candidates were, let’s just say none were close to him so yes he deserved it because he was the best of the lot. Considering the PG talent around the league, yeah, this injury is going to set him back, but his talent alone may compensate…as long as the others on the squad show improvement as well.
