Sixers’ K.J. McDaniels with a two-handed rejection, has more preseason blocks than Anthony Davis (VIDEO)
Oct 21, 2014, 8:30 PM EDT
Getty Images On the surface, to the vast majority of the league’s casual fans, K.J. McDaniels is nothing more than an unrecognizable fringe player on a 76ers roster that’s full of them this season by design.
But in reality, he’s proving to be an elite defensive player, and an extremely smart business man.
In Monday’s preseason contest against the Nets, McDaniels gets a hold of Alan Anderson‘s shot in midair, and pins it to the glass with two hands. Thanks to the mics behind the backboard, watch this one with the volume turned up, because the rejection sounds as good as it looks.
It’s worth noting that this was far from a random highlight play for McDaniels; he’s been blocking shots like crazy all preseason long. He’s fourth in the league with 14 total, behind only Andre Drummond, Pau Gasol and Samuel Dalembert, and ahead of proven rim protectors like DeAndre Jordan and Anthony Davis.
McDaniels took a unique approach to his rookie scale contract, foregoing additional dollars up front in order to ensure he’d be a restricted free agent at the end of this season. Plays like this one, along with his cumulative preseason body of work give us an early indication that he may have made a very wise decision.
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- chicitybulls - Oct 21, 2014 at 9:22 PM
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Pau is second in the league in blocks (yes I know its only preseason). I remember when he signed many people were saying that he isn’t an upgrade to Boozer defensively.
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- 00maltliquor - Oct 22, 2014 at 1:38 AM
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Who said that!?!?!?
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- chicitybulls - Oct 22, 2014 at 2:49 PM
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A lot of people when he first signed.
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- captainwisdom8888 - Oct 21, 2014 at 10:16 PM
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This kid is an absolutely vicious shot-blocker, and if he manages to sharpen his offensive tools than he’s gonna be a real force for the 76ers. He may already be the best shot-blocking perimeter player in the NBA, he’s just that good. He’s proven he can jump outta the gym, which certainly helps, but it’s the impeccable timing of his jumps that are the true key to his shot-erasing prowess. I expect to see him locking down the best scorers on opposing teams for years to come, while continuing to slip over from the weak-side to provide us all with a few more show-stopping rejections which is quickly becoming his calling-card.
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- geejon - Oct 21, 2014 at 10:30 PM
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Philly’s trying to get him to shoot a consistent 3 point shot so he can become a ‘3 and D’ type player that the Spurs made famous with Bowen and now Green and the rest of the league now is always on the look-out for.
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- youcantbesirius - Oct 23, 2014 at 9:35 PM
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You need to better learn your NBA history. Plenty of players were doing that before Bowen, who honestly wasn’t all that great a shooter and was a dirty player. “3 and D” guys existed way back in the days of Micheal Cooper and even before then.
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- geejon - Oct 24, 2014 at 11:11 AM
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Actually, you need to stop embarrassing yourself by telling others to learn their “history” when yours is woefully poor.
First of all, the 3 point shot was only installed by the NBA the year after Cooper came into the league so your statement regarding others doing it “way before” him is hilariously dumb unless you’re trying to tell me you were referring to ABA players lol.
Secondly, Cooper, while one of the greatest defenders in NBA history was not a good 3 point shooter. 34% for his career while Bowen shot 39% for his career so to say Bowen wasn’t that good of a 3 point shooter and bring up someone who was much worse is comical.
Thirdly, despite being in the NBA for 35 years, the 3 point shot wasn’t very popular for the first 15 years. Yes people shot it but to nowhere near the extent that they shoot it now. Guys like Kyle Korver make as many 3’s in 2 years as Michael Cooper made in his whole career. The game has changed. Teams in the 80’s were still taking loads of mid-range jumpers whereas today the use of analytics has shown that mid-range jumpers are the worst shot you can take when combining the likelihood of making one with the “reward” (2 pts) of making one. Specifically targeting 3 and D players is indeed a relatively new concept for the simple fact that the 3 point shot wasn’t fully embraced by teams for a long time after it was installed by the league. Cooper didn’t even average ONE 3 point make every game … he averaged one 3 point make every TWO games. That is NOT a 3 and D player. That is a great defensive player who shot a 3 every now and then.
Get it? Next time you try to sound smart around here make sure you have a clue. Clown.
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- youcantbesirius - Oct 25, 2014 at 12:38 AM
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Wow… so many words and yet not one of them refuted what I said. Who embarrassed himself again?
Cooper was a lockdown defender who could shoot. That’s what they call a “3 and D” guy.
And of course your entire argument is based on stats. Nobody trains a “3 and D” guy. It’s not even a real thing. Small forwards have to be able to shoot and have to be able to defend because of the current NBA. It’s as simple as that. Players being able to defend and shoot is not a new concept though. nor is it in any way related to Bruce Bowen.
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- tcclark - Oct 21, 2014 at 11:49 PM
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He has been amazing. I have never seen a player like him before. I am a huge fan of defensive players and I’ve seen a lot of good ones, but he’s averaging 4.3 blocks per 48 minutes and he’s listed as a shooting guard. It is really impressive that on a team with Nerlens Noel on it, he’s looking like the best defensive player on the court.
I really like Hollis Thompson, but K.J has been better overall this preseason and deserves more playing time. He’s tied for third in bpg right now and he’s only averaging 22 minutes per game. He needs more playing time. He has the potential to be one of the top defenders in the NBA, but he needs time to develop.
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- sixerstrong - Oct 22, 2014 at 10:12 AM
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Agreed. I think Hollis is better as a 6th man off the bench. An “instant O” kind of player. Although imagining him and Wroten playing lots of minutes together scares the daylights out of me. I would be surprised if anyone else touched the ball with both of them on the floor.
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- tcclark - Oct 22, 2014 at 11:42 PM
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I’m more worried about Wroten and Moultrie together. Hollis shoots a lot early in the game and then you don’t see him again. Moultrie said that he’s the best midrange jump shooter on the team and he’s been putting up ridiculous numbers of shots. He’s catching the ball and shooting it regardless of the flow of the offense. Against the Knicks I think he was 8/19. We will never win a game with Arnett Moultrie shooting 19 shots.
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- youcantbesirius - Oct 23, 2014 at 9:51 AM
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Wroten is a ballhog for sure but Hollis Thompson? He’s a shooter. He’s no ballhog. Moultrie isn’t either (in response to the person under me). He’s just a good offensive big man who hits most of his shots and in college showed a really solid offensive game.
All of you “Sixers fans” need to chill. The Sixers have a ton of guys they got for next to nothing who could turn into solid players if not more. Hollis proved himself last year. KJ still has to prove himself in the regular season before he should be considered to replace Hollis in the starting lineup. Give both of them adequate time to develop.
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- sixerstrong - Oct 24, 2014 at 8:21 AM
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There is a fine line between being a “shooter” and being a “chucker”. I just don’t want him drifting into Nick Young territory (although I will always have love for Swaggy). My point is just that between the two of them, there isn’t going to be a whole lot of ball movement.
Why you put Sixers fans in quotes is a mystery to me. I don’t see anybody panicing or speaking ill about the team. We also aren’t delusional, and we know exactly what to expect this year.
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- youcantbesirius - Oct 25, 2014 at 12:42 AM
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The line’s not as fine as you think. I’m not sure how you could even remotely compare the kid to Nick Young or think he could even possibly be that type of player. Nick Young has the been the same player since high school. He’s never grown up or evolved. Hollis Thompson is the opposite of that. He doesn’t ballhog or dominate the ball and he never has. That’s not the kind of player he is. It goes against his nature.
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- misremembered72 - Oct 22, 2014 at 10:08 AM
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Man I knew it wasn’t good when we only signed him to one year. Good thing for the sixers is that they’re not exactly strapped for cash when he becomes a restricted free agent
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- whealy86 - Oct 22, 2014 at 2:43 PM
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The sixers won the Lottery .. We will have a top 4 pick next year guaranteed. It’s amazing to think that two years ago we had Holliday and bums stranded in mediocracy and next year we will have MCW,Noel,Embiid,2015 top pick,KJ, and the following year we add Saric and another 1st rounder. Those are just the high value players for us we still have tons of young players and 2nd round picks that could amount to something. I’m not expecting all of our lottery picks to match there potential but what better franchise could a young promising kid come to where there’s time to build a championship instead of getting thrown in the fire. This tanking by the sixers has really been full throttle and I can’t remember ever seeing a team slash there roster as fast as this team, and if there lottery picks all stay healthy and form together then this team will be a contender for the next 5 plus years. I’m excited to be a fan and as much as this year will be tough to watch , we will actually have some product on the floor that the Sixers will start building around (MCW,Noel,Wroten?,Thompson?kj?,grant?etcc…).. I see a 8 win season.
