FanPost

Should the Sixers be interested in Nik Stauskas?

Leading up to the 2014 NBA Draft, many Philadelphia Sixers fans attentively followed prospects due to the team having two draft picks (3 and 10) in what was believed to be the strongest draft class since 2003 (LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony just to name a "few"). Among these prospects who might have been available with the New Orleans pick (belonging to the sixers via the Jrue Holiday draft day trade of 2013) was shooting guard Nik Stauskas. He was eventually selected at pick number 8 by the Sacremento Kings. How is he doing this year? It's unfair to predict because he's averaging 4.3 minutes per game...

The Sacremento Kings sit 13th in the west and 25th in the NBA with a record of 26-45. They are headed to the lottery, again, despite all-star play from Demarcus "boogie" Cousins and Rudy Gay. This position the Kings find themselves in would lead one to believe they are not good enough to compete in the west, so player development of their young lottery draft picks would be the first step toward a championship level roster. However, that is not necessarily the case. If you look at their previous draft history, most of their picks have not panned out as hoped one of these is 2014 draft pick Nik Stauskas.

Stauskas has rarely seen the floor this year, averaging 4.3 points in 14.7 minutes per game. And one big reason why is attributed to a loaded backcourt. Sacramento often runs two point guard sets with Andre Miller (coming off the bench) or Darren Collison. And the main (only other) shooting gaurd on the team, Ben McLemore, is finally displaying the improvement one would expect from the 2013 7th overall pick. McLemore is averaging 11.8 points in 32.5 minutes per game with a somewhat respectable 36% from three. This means Stauskas is desparate for minutes so he can his improvement.

Overall, this type of player would fit well with the sixers. He isn't the athlete Hinkie generally covets, but since so many fans were savoring this shooting guard with our #10 pick last year interest makes sense for both sides. This is a typical buy-low asset Hinkie would target, possibly with some of the numerous draft picks we possess. And as McLemore continues to improve, Stauskas is going to face difficulty getting any chance at expanded roles. With the lack of scoring the sixers have and an undervalued shooting gaurd in Stauskas, he very could be on the sixers' radar come this summer or in next February at the next trade deadline. Stauskas is a player we might want to keep an eye on going forward.

Liberty Ballers, what are your thoughts on the idea of acquiring Stauskas down the road? Would his firepower be uncovered with an influx of minutes on the sixers roster? Here's a link someone posted about a rookie ladder with Nerls taking the top spot, the interesting tidbit on Stauskas motivated me to write this piece about him:

http://www.nba.com/2015/news/features/scott_howard_cooper/03/25/2014-15-rookie-ladder-week-21/index.html

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