October 20, 2024
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
Andre Drummond's strong preseason is particularly encouraging given the uncertainty surrounding Joel Embiid.
Welcome to a new weekly series we will have here at PhillyVoice during the basketball season: Sunday stats, examining a batch of interesting Sixers-related numbers and figures that help tell the story of the team and its players.
For the first edition of the series, let's take a look at some statistics from the Sixers' six-game preseason slate in preparation for the beginning of the regular season, with the team set to host the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night.
Andre Drummond's total rebounds during 102 preseason minutes (good for a ridiculous 21.9 rebounds per 36 minutes).
Proud to proclaim himself the greatest rebounder in NBA history, Drummond is certainly the most dominant force on the boards within his era. His combination of instincts and pure mass is remarkable, enabling him to clean the glass at the highest of levels.
Drummond does not just use his rebounding prowess to terminate opposing possessions, he also revives opportunities for his own team. The veteran excels as a rebounder on both sides of the ball, and 20 of Drummond's 62 preseason rebounds came on the offensive glass.
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse has long stressed the importance of winning the possession battle. In addition to forcing turnovers and keeping the ball secure, a team must have quality rebounders to execute on this front. In Drummond, the Sixers now have the highest-quality rebounder possible.
Far too often last season -- particularly in the playoffs -- the Sixers put together strong defensive sequences, only to allow an offensive rebound which led to a quality look. Over the summer, Drummond admitted he believed the team's struggles on the glass against the New York Knicks in the first round of last year's playoffs directly led to his return to Philadelphia. But again, his value as a rebounder does not end with punctuating defensive stops. Drummond's presence will lead to so many more shots for scorers like Tyrese Maxey and Paul George and three-point shooters like Eric Gordon over the course of an 82-game season.
EG for THREE! pic.twitter.com/aMxvziHolf
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 7, 2024
One more thing to watch with Drummond: his excellent hands-on defense. Drummond always posts excellent steal numbers for a center, and racked up nine steals in the preseason (no other Sixer had more than five of them).
The percentage of Jeff Dowtin Jr.'s made field goals in the preseason that were unassisted, the highest of any Sixers player.
This outrageous number is certainly inflated by the lineups Dowtin typically played in during the preseason -- he spent much of his time on the floor as the lone reliable ball-handler in a unit filled with depth pieces -- but his self-creation skills were on full display during the preseason.
Dowtin is a decent jump-shooter and an okay athlete, yet routinely gets to the rim and his other preferred spots on the floor with little resistance thanks to a unique ability to effectively change paces and a mastery of angles. His style -- Nurse called it "herky-jerk" earlier this month -- is aided by above-average height and length at the point guard position. Dowtin uses every little advantage he has to find space and rise up for quality shots.
Jeff Dowtin Jr. uses his unique blend of change-of-pace skills and understanding of angles to create a basket for himself against a high-caliber, long defender. pic.twitter.com/LREJc3eXEo
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) October 20, 2024
It might take multiple absences within the point guard rotation for Dowtin to receive minutes, as veteran Reggie Jackson appears to be ahead of Dowtin on the depth chart. This is entirely understandable; not only is Jackson a far more proven player, but the veteran has a standard NBA deal, while Dowtin will begin the year on a two-way contract that affords him 50 games with the Sixers.
Nurse has a lot of belief in Dowtin, though, and has no fear of using him in real games.
MORE: Dowtin 'does a lot of things really solid' for the Sixers
Kelly Oubre Jr.'s free throw attempts per 100 possessions, by far the most of any Sixers standard roster player.
Oubre's most consistent ability -- and it is not close -- is his rim pressuring. His finishing once he gets to the basket is not perfect, but he is typically undeterred in his quest to go downhill. It generates plenty of opportunities for Oubre himself to try to score at the rim or draw contact and get to the free throw line. Oubre's foul-drawing was excellent during the preseason, culminating in this impressive mark.
"[Oubre is] a pretty good attacking player, and we have worked with him a lot on attacking the rim and playing through some of the physicality," Nurse said after Wednesday night's game. "He just looks really comfortable out there. Teams have seemed to play off him a bit, and when he's going, he can rise up and hit those."
Indeed Oubre can, and while he has always been more of a willing shooter than an accurate one, he is good enough that when a defender sags off him anticipating a spirited drive, the Sixers' swingman is perfectly happy to pull up for three.
The percentage of Guerschon Yabusele's preseason field goal attempts that came from three-point territory.
The vast majority of Yabusele's minutes during the preseason came at center, an unexpected development caused by Joel Embiid's absence. The primary challenge for Yabusele when manning the middle will be doing the traditional duties of a center -- protecting the rim against drivers and grabbing contested rebounds, for example. But on the offensive end of the floor, he needs to use his much-improved three-point stroke to prove to opposing teams that he is a genuine threat. That will make him an asset to the Sixers' floor spacing.
Yabusele did not just shoot the ball well from beyond the arc during the preseason, making eight of his 18 long-range tries (44.4 percent), but he was willing -- eager, even -- to get those shots off. That is the perfect recipe for success as a stretch five.
Guerschon Yabusele shows no hesitation on a catch-and-shoot three from above the break: pic.twitter.com/uNeBkfpohM
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) October 19, 2024
Assuming Embiid does not miss considerable time to open the season, logging power forward minutes remains Yabusele's clearest path to consistent time, making his reliability from three-point territory even more crucial.
KJ Martin's total minutes during the preseason, leading all Sixers.
Perhaps the most underrated player of the Sixers' preseason was Martin, who has an uphill battle ahead of him as he looks to convince the Sixers he can help them more than any potential trade acquisition they are capable of acquiring when using his contract as salary filler. Martin has done just about all in his power to earn a rotation spot on opening night, and my expectation is that the fifth-year frontcourt player will factor into Nurse's plans on Wednesday night.
Martin has jaw-dropping athleticism, but often struggled to utilize it during his limited action with the Sixers in 2023-24. As Nurse preaches the importance of pace, Martin believes he can fit perfectly into the sort of up-tempo environment his head coach is attempting to foster.
The results following Martin's summer of revamping his jump-shooting mechanics will be paramount when it comes to determining the extent of his success. But another subplot to watch during his minutes is whether or not the Sixers put him to work as a quick decision-maker when it comes to making passes. Martin's sneaky passing chops continued to be on display during the preseason.
Martin looked surprisingly comfortable as a short-roll passer as last season progressed, and Nurse eventually began deliberately setting up Martin to be the one making quick judgment calls in those situations.
KJ Martin draws multiple defenders on an explosive burst to the rim and finds an open three-point shooter in the corner. pic.twitter.com/A6mT85V0I6
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) October 20, 2024
Martin's progression over the course of the season will be fascinating to monitor, because he will not just be competing with players like Yabusele and Ricky Council IV for minutes. Even if Martin does emerge as the clear top option among that trio and becomes a quality regular contributor, his play will also be compared closely to that of various trade targets the Sixers have identified across the league.
Three more days, everybody!
MORE: Is KJ Marton more than a trade chip?
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