Sixers make SHOCKING Signing…

Sixers make SHOCKING Signing…

The news first broke last week that the Sixers were bringing in Kai Jones for a workout and interview to potentially offer him a contract well it seems like things went well as the Sixers have officially offered the 23-year-old a 10-day contract to join the team now I’ve digested this a little bit we’ve

Had a little bit time to think on it and honestly I feel even better about this signing than I initially did of the first report you guys can check out that video if you want to see my full thoughts I do a little deeper into kind

Of the off court stuff and kind of the on court abilities that he does have this video I’m going to try and tailor a little too more to a Sixers specific and what Kai Jones I think can believe can lead can bring to this team so I want to

Talk a little bit about everything so I’m going to kick things off with a couple different reports and articles from some of these Sixers writers want to begin with Adam arenson here Sixers Adam of Philly Voice who writes Jones 23 played 67 games across two seasons for Charlotte after being drafted drafted

19th overall in 2021 but was waved by the team entering the season after missing some training camp due to personal reasons for the Sixers this signing represents a shot in the dark as moobile continues to struggle as as the part of the team Center rotation many

Have been claming for the Sixers to add a big man who can help the Sixers get by for as long as Joell and beat is sideline with his left miniscus injury these Sixers entered the day with two open roster spots so even if they were to keep Jones around for the duration of

The season they still have another spot open with which they can either add a veteran or convert a two-way player likely Ricky counts the fourth into a standard NBA player which would make him eligible to play in the playoffs so a couple things to note off this that

These six have have been at the 13 player limit for quite some time the NBA restricts you from going through the entirety of the season with 13 players so they had to add somebody and Kai Jones essentially becoming that somebody and something to note with Kai’s position specifically is the Sixers can

Offer him a second 10-day contract to get another look at him so essentially you can basically have 20 days three weeks to get a feel for what he brings to this team and then truly make a decision to the year decision from there of if you want him as a part of this

Team for the foreseeable future for this year or maybe Beyond if you want negotiate that or if it is just not worth it and with Kai Jones specifically I do think it is relevant to have that type of experience that little try out period for him that the biggest

Questions for this guy have nothing to do with basketball that from a basketball P perspective I’m pretty excited about what he brings to this Sixers team he’s got a different style he’s more athletic he competes really hard he’s a guy that I really liked in college and then really liked early on

In his NBA career and it would be a bummer if whatever these issues he’s dealing with are something that derails him that we still don’t have the full answer what exactly happened we saw the Instagram lives of him seeming like he was either tweaking or on something or

Whatever was the case and then when you kind of dive into things like critiquing lamelo Ball online those are things that you can’t do when you’re playing for that same team or really ever he’s this is the same guy that spoke about that he’s better than Michael Jordan better

Than LeBron James but I do want to give him a little bit of the benefit of the doubt but there’s I think there’s a real chance that that could have just been a wakeup call for a kid that’s just 23 years old that this could have been a

Situation where he really dealt with the repercussions was released from the team and had a real look in the of like okay this is my chance I need to make the most of it and from a basketball perspective again I do think that he has something that he can bring at the NBA

Level so I want to bring in what Paul H hudrick of Liberty Ballers writes here he says the Hornets wave the 23-year-old earlier on this season after a string of odd social media posts including some that criticized teammates and the Hornets organization he did not participate in training camp because of

Personal reasons and has not played a game this season because of the circumstances surrounding his release Jones was not able to find a new home until now on the court Jones is an athletic Marvel with a 7 fo1 wingspan and 9 fo2 standing reach the best way to

Describe his him is active something these six could use as an alternative to Mo Bamba Jones is far from perfect though he’s only played 67 NBA games and his skill set is mostly raw but if you’re looking for a guy who will fight for rebounds challenge shots at the rim

And finish lobs ferociously I’ll but I’ll be it a little recklessly a lot of the time Jones isn’t a bad option and that’s exactly what these Sixers should be looking for is this bit of activity this little X Factor that you brings is something that’s important to the team

Right now and when you look at this current Sixers team there’s a lot of you know what you’re getting that Kyle Lowry is who KY Lowry is Tobias Harris is who Tobias Harris is you kind of have an expectation of what these guys are going to bring Kai Jones has a little

Something extra that he could be more than what we’ve seen from him so far and frankly I would take that gamble that he can be that level of player that just from the basketball’s perspective again I’ve really liked what I’ve seen from him and he’s been a guy that I’ve been

Excited about to touch a little on his past taking a look at his college stats here he spent two years at Texas I know I mentioned this on the the last video but Texas tends to always recruit trying and get at least one big man with a massive wingspan massive catch radius

Use him as a lop threat Mo Boma also went to Texas and plays a little bit of a similar role although Kai Jones another level athletically and really just the the functional athleticism that he has when we’re talking about driving to the paint the pace that he plays with

Speed is a real weapon in his game and that’s rare for a guy that’s 6’1 and that’s what we’re going to see from Kai Jones but to touch on the college stats here as a freshman just 3.6 points per game and his 16.7 minutes of play added

3.2 rebounds in that time saw a bit of a bump in experience or opportunity in his second year playing 22.8 minutes per game averaged 8.8 points per game in that 4.8 rebounds per game the blocks 1.0 block per game across his time in college that’s solid based on the lack

Of opportunity he was a guy that didn’t see the floor a ton and frankly he’s been a raw basketball player through the entirety of when I’ve watched him and really seeming like his entire basketball career there’s still steps that needs to polish from just a skill standpoint but the effort in athleticism

Absolutely does make a difference and that is stuff that you cannot teach that there’s no way that you can all of a sudden make Tobias Harris a freak athlete we know who Kai Jones is he is a freak athlete so now have to refine this and teach the basketball skills and I do

Think that there has been some progress with this if you want to look at his g-league stats here which he saw a greater sample size in playing 24 games his workie season at 31.6 minutes per game during that time averaging 18.3 points per game and 10. 8 rebounds which

Is an awesome number there also 2.2 blocks per game really intrigues me shooting 62% from the field and this is something that I think is interesting to note he attempted 2.8 three-point per game uh three-point attempts per game in his rookie season that DRFT to just6 his

Sophomore year his second year in the league which I do think is a little bit concerning but just something to keep an eye on there not something I’m going to read too heavy into but the thing that I will note is in this second year you do

See the opportunity and minutes drop a little bit that had more to do with him getting more opportunity at the NBA level I didn’t want to pull up those numbers cuz they are pretty small and not enough of a sample size that I think we can truly read into but I do think

That’s something worth noting before I kind of critique this but in his second year playing Just 14 games at the g-league level 13 that he started 27.9 minutes per game so as I mentioned a slight dip from his rookie year but still averaging 15.5 points 8.5 rebounds

1.4 assists 1.1 steals 2.0 blocks and as I mentioned the three-point attempts did did go down a significant margin but overall shooting 75% from the field is super impressive there when he chooses is the correct shot diet which for Kai Jones will be catching lobs finishing in

Around the rim getting out in transition those are essentially what they’re going to want from him he should be shooting a skyh high attempt from the field and that is what indications have shown so far that I wanted to pull this up from Austin Kell of 973 ESPN he does a nice

Job putting this saying that Jones registered a block rate of 2.5% and a steel rate of 1.3% ranking 79th and 72nd percentiles among bigs respectfully in 468 minutes in the 2223 season according to cleaning cleaning the glass Jones shot 81% 43 of 53 at The Rim That season

Ranking in the 95th percentile for Bigs in that campaign perhaps his eye turning is that he had an and one rate of 53.8% which ranked the 998th percentile of position that’s pretty ridiculous there sure the sample size is small if you take it a macro level view but if you

Scale it to Jones’s total volume of shots 56% of his attempts come at The Rim 81% of his shots come between the rim and the fre throw line you’re suddenly thinking about an athletic big who is strong to the ball and well put here good job diving into the numbers by

Austin for Kai Jones that’s going to be the the question and the expectations that he is going to be a guy that pretty much shoots it in and around the rim that you’re going to be catching lobs going to be attacking the basket and that seems to be where he’s at his best

Again I think he’s going to have some real flashes in transition we’re going to have some freakish lobs uh Kelly UB did spend some time down in Charlotte with Kai Jones last year both of those guys on the team there’s a couple highlights floating around of Kelly UB

Toing up lobs to Kai Jones which I would love to see just redone in a Sixers uniform with a little more there but overall I think this is a really good move by the Sixers I’m not saying that Kai Jones is going to fix the season or

Help them to stay afloat but he is a guy who I think is automatically challenging both Paul Reed and mo Boma for minutes moama has had his ups and downs and frankly it’s more been more Downs than UPS of late it’s very frustrating that even though him having the frame the

Size and a functional jump shot the effort level or the coordination or how locked in he is just has never felt quite right with moama and the amount of times he gets rebounds ripped from his hands or isn’t able to be the first one of the ball things like that are super

Frustrating so having another option with Kai Jones I think is a great thing I think it pushes both those guys to continue being better making it known that they’re not satisfied with the level of play coming from the big man position right now and as a whole I am a

Believer in kij Jones skill set and talent so if he has his head on straight if there’s no other issues that are lingering in the offc court nature I would have no issue with this guy playing his way into a real full-time contract track and that opportunity is

Absolutely on the table for Kai that if he comes in he plays his best ball makes an impact on a night by Night basis and flashes the potential and ability that he has always had the red carpet has been laid out for these Sixers to sign him to a legitimate full-time NBA

Contract these are the types of players that I think are by low lowrisk high reward that if it’s worst comes to worst then you can tell that maybe there’s still a screw loose or things aren’t quite there’s still some offc court stuff going on with Kai Jones it’s as

Simple as you let the 10day expire and you move on and go to the next one that you covered the base you push back the limit for only having 13 guys and you can find somebody who can make more of a positive difference that nothing on this

Sixers team truly matters for now until Joel embiid returns so why not take a shot on a guy that could end up making a strong impact moving forward but let me know what you guys think in the comments are you with me that you think this is a

Good decision that Kai Jones could make an impact on this Sixers roster I’m in on his skill set I’ve liked him as a player and I’m willing to give him a second chance for whatever went wrong on the off the court situation but let me know what you think drop it in the

Comments make sure you’re smashing that like button and dropping a subscribe to the channel got to keep that Sixers dig family growing appreciate each and every one of you for tuning in this video I’ll be talking to with you next time right here on six years d

Sixers make SHOCKING Signing…

The Sixers have officially agreed to a contract with Kai Jones bringing their roster total to 14 on the year. Sean Barnard breaks down what this means for the team, what to expect from Kai Jones, and if this has the potential to turn into a full-time roster spot.

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