The great December 2015 jump start in Philadelphia is still a work in progress, yet it could still create ripple effects on the 76ers’ rookies. Jerry Colangelo is in as chairman of basketball operations/director of credibility, Kendall Marshall is playing after missing the first six weeks because of a torn knee ligament, and that’s it for now.
But if those two moves are followed by the third possibility — Mike D’Antoni signing on as an associate head coach — what an impactful time this could become for the entire rookie class.
It may be good, it may be bad, but it will definitely be impactful.
Marshall’s return could shake The Ladder on its own. He will probably take minutes from T.J. McConnell, the sometimes-starter and one of the best rookies the first quarter of the season. Beyond that, Marshall is the new hope in coach Brett Brown’s plan to play faster because Marshall, though never to be confused with an athletic point guard, has more experience running an NBA offense than McConnell or Isaiah Canaan do.
And if D’Antoni joins the staff, watch the Sixers really try to rev the engine (we’re working under the assumption he wouldn’t be brought in to contribute thoughts on the defense). The Sixers are already 10th in the league in pace, but could play faster still. That’s true if Marshall is the point guard who can make long passes to push the ball ahead, as Brown envisions, and if D’Antoni can inject some life into the dormant offense of few scorers, bad shooters and poor ball handlers/decision makers.
All of which comes back to Jahlil Okafor, the No. 3 pick in June, at some point. He is a post presence at 6-foot-11 and 275 pounds projected to one day regularly command a double team. He’s an interior threat with great footwork for someone who went high school to college to the NBA in successive seasons and has the potential to beat double teams with his passing. But, front offices were certain heading into the 2015 Draft, he is not built for the transition game.
Okafor is not slow. Going away from the power game reduces what he does best, though, and so one of the best newcomers could face another transition less than two months into the season.
If D’Antoni comes and Marshall becomes the upgrade at point guard and if Okafor handles those adjustments well, maybe he makes it a three-man race for Kia Rookie of the Year. If not, maybe he drops more, maybe McConnell goes with him from a shrinking role, and the impact of December in Philadelphia is as dramatic as was imagined, only the opposite way.
For now:
1. Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves (Last week: 1)
No. 1 vs. No. 2 on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden (7:30 ET) is the start of the Timberwolves playing three of four on the road. Which isn’t such a bad thing. Towns is shooting 56.5 percent away from Target Center compared to 50.3 in Minneapolis and 84.4 from the line compared to 77.8 while averaging 10.6 rebounds on the road and 7.8 at home and 15.4 points compared to 14.5 with less than one minute’s difference in playing time. It’s either fun with numbers after about a quarter of a season or an interesting trend.
2. Kristaps Porzingis, New York Knicks (2)
Kings coach George Karl: “After 20-something games, I think it’d be between the two big guys for Rookie of the Year, between him and the kid in Minnesota. Right now, he seems to have more polish, actually more confidence to his game and definitely has a lot of weapons. He’s intriguing, that big and that long. He can face. I think a lot of people thought he’d get worn out a little bit and maybe beaten up some. I haven’t seen that yet. He’s not going to be a physical player, but he’s not being pushed around either.”
3. Jahlil Okafor, Philadelphia 76ers (3)
Okafor made at least half his shots in two of the last three games, an encouraging sign of recovery after six games in a row at 50 percent or less, a particularly bad stretch for someone with about 72 percent of their attempts on the season within 10 feet. He is still at just 45.5 percent overall. But Okafor is first in the class in scoring, first in minutes, third in rebounding and third in blocks while posting some good defensive numbers.
4. Justise Winslow, Miami Heat (4)
This isn’t just Winslow leveling off after turning high-energy bench play into a surprisingly large role for a winning team. This is Winslow flailing on offense. He is at 30.3 percent from the field the first seven games of the month and 16.7 percent on 3-pointers with 2.6 attempts a night behind the arc. Oh, and 37.5 percent from the line. While he is still consistently playing high-20s/low-30s in minutes, the 25.4 minutes per game in December is a drop from 29.8 the previous month.
5. Nemanja Bjelica, Minnesota Timberwolves (5)
He’s in no position to make a move on Winslow and re-take No. 4. Bjelica has problems of his own at 38.5 percent overall in December and 28.6 percent on 3-pointers, a setback after previously climbing based in part on his range as a stretch four. Just as concerning, he went from 28.4 minutes the first 10 games to 17.7 the next nine. But the second-round pick from 2010 is also fourth in 3-point percentage among rookies, sixth in rebounding, seventh in assists and 11th in scoring.
6. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Brooklyn Nets (6)
Hollis-Jefferson will slowly drift off The Ladder after surgery last Wednesday torepair his fractured right ankle will keep him out eight to 10 weeks (or until sometime just before the All-Star break). But it won’t be a quick exit. For one thing, he had been one of the most-dependable rookies after being drafted at No. 23, contributing in different areas without standing out in one. For another, and what will probably keep him in the rankings for at least a few more weeks, it is difficult to believe many players will suddenly improve enough to pass RHJ even when he is standing still.
7. T.J. McConnell, Philadelphia 76ers (7)
For one thing, going from starter to reserve is not such a big hit for someone who wasn’t supposed to be in the league in the first place, before McConnell went from undrafted to the top rookie point guard. For another, he is playing well as a backup, appearing anything but defeated by the demotion. McConnell is shooting better off the bench than as a starter (47.7 to 45.5), shooting better behind the arc (46.2 to 28.6) and has a better assist-to-turnover ratio (3.00-1 to 2.00-1). His 46.3 percent from the field overall is No. 3 overall and No. 1 among non-centers.
8. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets (8)
Finding solid ground again was an important development in the wake of the three-game stretch of 10, 14 and zero minutes. The 17, 25 and 22 that followed would have been welcome no matter what, but especially because Jokic also had 19 points and six rebounds and nine and seven, respectively, in another. He is sixth in the class in scoring, tied for seventh in rebounding while averaging fewer minutes than anyone in the top 13, second in PER and defending.
9. D’Angelo Russell, Los Angeles Lakers (10)
Russell quickly recovered from the obvious disappointment of losing his starting job to an encouraging week that included scoring 23 points last Wednesday at Minnesota followed by 24 points Friday at San Antonio while also returning to the opening lineup. That was several days of a step forward. But he also has just seven more assists (36) than turnovers (29) the first nine games of Decemberwhile also shooting 40.7 percent this month. If Russell’s 3-point shot continues to improve (34.5 percent in December), he could soon climb at least a couple spots.
10. Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns (not ranked)
The prospect regarded as one of the best, if not the best, perimeter shooters in the Draft is not disappointing. Booker is actually exceeding expectations by making 70.8 percent of his 3-pointers while shooting 51.7 percent overall. The lack of minutes — 14.2 — is the obvious problem, but 17.2 the last nine games is enough to get on The Ladder when no one around the bottom of the list is playing like they want to stay. If Booker maintains a prominent role in Phoenix and keeps anything close to the current hot hand, he could last. If he dips back into the low-teens, or worse, the newly deposed Emmanuel Mudiay, Frank Kaminsky, Stanley Johnson or others have a chance.
Dropped out: Mudiay (9).
