Marial Shayok named G League Player of the Week

Marial Shayok, selected 54th overall in this past summer’s NBA Draft, has been named the G League Player of the Week, according to a press release from the Philadelphia 76ers:

WILMINGTON – NOV. 18, 2019 – The NBA G League announced today that Philadelphia 76ers two-way contract player Marial Shayok has been named NBA G League Player of the Week for games played Nov. 8 – 17. Shayok is the first Player of the Week award recipient of the 2019-20 G League season.

In three games played for the Delaware Blue Coats, Shayok averaged 35.0 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 32.7 minutes per game. The Ottawa native currently leads the G League in scoring average (35.0 ppg), while shooting 48.7 percent (37-76) from the field, 33.3 percent (8-24) from beyond the arc and 85.0 percent (17-20) from the free throw line.

In front of a sellout crowd at 76ers Fieldhouse on Opening Night against the Maine Red Claws, Shayok posted a game-high 34 points with six rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes for Delaware. The rookie out of Iowa State followed that up with a 42-point performance (nine rebounds, three assists) in a 141-135 home win over the Greensboro Swarm on Nov. 11. When the Blue Coats posted the second-highest point total in franchise history in a 152-137 road victory at Long Island on Nov. 15, Shayok netted 29 points and grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds in 33 minutes to pick up his first career double-double.

While the level of effort from and effectiveness of G League defenses is possibly closer to that of your local rec league than the NBA, the Sixers have to be elated with Shayok’s early play. When selecting a four-year college player like Shayok, the hope is typically that the player will be ready to contribute immediately. The fact that the Sixers stashed Shayok in the G League is enough evidence to suggest their expectations weren’t too high for his inaugural NBA season, but they did get Shayok on a two-way deal, which suggests they saw a possibility of the rookie providing some value at some point this season. Maybe that value was simply the spacing presence of a career 38.1% 3PT shooter in some spot call ups. But if Shayok keeps up this level of production, the Sixers may raise their hopes for him significantly higher, and sooner or later they just may have to give him the sink-or-swim test in NBA waters.