Sixers Making Moves…SNEAKY Big Man Signing for Philly | Sixers News

Sixers Making Moves…SNEAKY Big Man Signing for Philly | Sixers News

The Philadelphia 76ers have made a huge addition and I do mean huge as all 275 pounds of Kenny Lofton Jr have joined the Sixers organization on a two-way contract we got this announcement from ESPN’s Adrian wowski early early in the afternoon today where he tweeted the Philadelphia 76ers are signing forward

Center Kenny Lofton Jr on a two-way contract sources tell ESPN Lofton played parts of his past two seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies Lofton adds to the Sixers Frontline depth so Kenny Lofton is a guy that has made his way pretty much widely known in the NBA circles one

Of the more unique players across the entire basketball world because of his size and frame and style of play it is not something that people are super familiar with I am a believer in his game we have not seen a ton of him at the NBA level to this point in his

Career thus far he’s played Just 275 minutes at the NBA level but he has done some damage in the g-league this guy who won g-league Rookie of the Year he’s had his moments where he shine and still has taken advantage of his limited opportunities at the NBA level so to

Dive in fully and get touch on his stats I’ll kick things off with the NBA stats here as I mentioned not a significant sample size this isn’t something that you can have any massive determinations off but you can still see the numbers of him making his impact slightly

Concerning that there was a little bit of a dip from that rookie to sophomore year as far as play time comes but not nearly enough to have any sort of legitimate concerns and that has much more to do with the Grizzlies as a team than Kenny Lofton Jr specifically and

Obviously that they did have to release him and need to use that roster spot he became a free agent earlier this year and the Sixers jumped on it by doing this now I did want to mention that in the process the Sixers did have to release javante smart from his two-way

Deal that he they only have three spots to use up on two-way contracts Javon smart was the odd man out in this situation so that brings these Sixers two-way deals to tquan Smith Ricky Council I fourth and Kenny Lofton Jr now I do hope javante smart sticks around he

Is a guy fun little player out of LSU who can shoot the ball create a little bit and looked really good in summer league so would not mind him sticking would not surprise me of another team Scoops him up but I would make the argument that that Trio of two-way

Talents that the sixer have is now the the most dynamic Trio of any two-way Contra or two-way grouping of any team in the league that tquan Smith and Ricky counil the fourth are each balling down with the blue coats and Kenny Lofton junior is now going to provide a new

Element to that team now it has been a little frustrated that we have not seen any of these guys at the NBA level yet with turkon Smith and Ricky Council the 4th that does come back to the Sixers depth that for all the trade talks we have for all the conversations about the

Missing piece things like that the bottom line is this is already a deep basketball team now when you think about a player like Robert Covington who’s a legitimate role player a guy who’s proven it at the NBA level for several years at this point starting right here

In Philly he has not carved out his Niche yet that he’s still scratching and trying to get on the floor earn more minutes or even a guy like Furon corkas who at one point was a regular rotation piece on the Sixers and a quality role player he’s not even getting on the

Floor and obviously that happened over time and this is nothing new but that does is still telling to if Talent a veteran like that are not getting the opportunity that the the two-way guys and these rookies these young players are even further down on the pecking order now obviously these Sixers have

Been very healthy so far this season and that is a good thing starting to see some of the injuries sneaking now Nicholas Paton battling the hamstring injury DeAnthony Melton had a little thigh contusion that he to leave the game the other night things like that

Are starting to pop up so it would not surprise me if there is an extended period of time where a guy needs to miss time that we see an opportunity for a guy like Kenny Lofton or tur Quon Smith or Ricky counc forth to get an opportunity but until that time that

These guys are going to be staying ready at the g-league level now to get it bring it back to Kenny Lofton specifically let’s talk about his g-league stats because this is a sample size that we can draw a little more conclusions off he was the g-league

Rookie of the Year in his rookie season obviously and is alltime averages at the gleue level are 24.0 points per game 11.5 rebounds 2.0 assists in the 2022 to 2023 g-league showcase he averaged 25.2 points per game also along with 9.7 rebounds shot 4.3 threo attempts per

Game shot 54.4% from the field 1.1 steel not a lot of verticality no real blocking uh ability in Kenny Lofton but still some real deal numbers and what’s even more impressive to me is there’s only been one opportunity where he’s really had a chance to shine at the NBA

Level this being the last game of his rookie season with the Memphis Grizzlies that was seating decided with players resting there was no need for the gries to really go for it so they did give some guys a chance Kenny often being one of the Prime beneficiaries of that and

He took every bit of the advantage of it dropping 42 points taing 14 rebounds shooting 17 of 25 from the field now obviously I don’t think that he is a 40 Point per game scorer on an every night basis but the fact that he’s proven to

Be capable of doing that at the NBA level I don’t think should be overlooked that so often we get lost in these conversations of potential or this guy could grow into this we have hard evidence of watching Kenny Lofton Jr doing this at the NBA level now I spoke

A little bit about kind of his unique game if you want ask me to put kind of a player comparison on it the closest guy that come I can come up with is Zack Randolph a little bit of a throwback there Michael Beasley kind of a a little

Bit similarity there but he is very unique obviously his frame 275 lb 6′ 7 he is a big dude that this is a dude that is huge he’s wide and he uses every bit of it that he will wear on you in the post he will back you down he will

Use his size there’s some cool footage of that floating around from way back of him like this is not an example of a guy who got to the NBA and gained a bunch of weight Allah Williamson this is an example of Kenny Lofton being like this

His whole life that this is how he’s built this is how he played even dating back to his high school days at lisiana Tech where he became a fan favorite largely because of the way that he plays and his frame and it is impactful at the

Same way that you can find some footage of him matching up with Chad holgren which is very funny to watch obviously two drastically different body types there Chad being as Slender as he is and lanky and frame and then Kenny Lofton really giving him the business by just

Backing him down using his weight throwing his body around and it works that he will use every ounce of his frame and it’s impactful to other Defenders it is not fun to guard a guy that weighs 275 lbs and it’s just backing you down using that body weight

That wears out a guy that takes out a lot now a couple other stats that I did want to get into with Kenny Lofton specifically and that I think are valuable and where he fits in this is his rebounding ability that obviously he’s not going to be a high flyer by any

Means that he’s not going to be skying for these big rebounds but he does the work that he gets position he boxes out and small sample size once again but he ranks in the 85th percentile of bigs in offensive rebounding rate and he’s also in the 94th percentile in Miss free

Throw rate so kind of impressive there and that being rebounds off Miss free throws and then rebounds offensive rebounds obviously so the offensive rebounding is a big deal that when you have a guy that is capable of getting a an offensive rebound more than likely it

Leads to an easy bucket that when you’re in that position and Kenny lofton’s obviously a guy who’s going to be under the basket getting these and kind of using his weight you’re more more likely than not going to get an easy put back and those are free opportunities that

Are created there is a little playmaking in his game as well I’m honestly surprised I thought the assist numbers would be a little higher from his time in the G Le but every time I’ve seen him play you can tell he has a good basketball Instinct that it isn’t this

Guy just solely focused or Tunnel Vision on scoring and rebounding like he’s a Hooper he has a feel for where to be where the ball needs to move making the right basketball plays he’s a high IQ player that I I quite like that about him a lot and I don’t think he gets

Enough credit for that in the overall sphere now he is still limited like obvious we know the the frame is not going to work in every single matchup and he’s still 21 years old that we’re not sure what the finished product of Kenny Lofton jior is ultimately going to

Be as a player but this is a great example of the Sixers continuing to work the margins add to the bottom of the roster and make this team better without breaking the bank so adding Kenny Lofton to this Trio of two-way players is a great option for this team it is a

Potential future piece that he could grow into something worth keeping around like the best case scenario obviously we don’t expect him to turn into a superstar this is not something that moves the margin from the Sixers to that standpoint but if you Flash Forward 3 years from now and Kenny lofton’s

Capable of being a backup center at the NBA level this is a worthwhile move right here at the minimum this is going to be a guy that people love to watch that will be hyped in those few minutes that he does get in the game and will be

Thoroughly entertained by him on the floor at the best this guy could grow into a real deal contributor for this Sixers team he’s a different style of player that they have had that I can remember and really across the League that he is kind of in a a league of his

Own for what he’s capable of doing and kind of his stylistic ability to play basketball so I am happy that the Sixers did make this move I a little upset gavon smart will no longer be with the organization hopefully he can stick around and have a full g-league contract

That nobody swoops him up but it would not surprise me if any other team sneaks in there and goes and grabs javante smart but the bottom line is I do think Kenny Lofton Jr is the better overall basketball player and it’s a better use of of resources when you think about

Both turqu Von Smith and Ricky Council the fourth already kind of competing for that guard spot there that young guard spot so having a different position and a big man in Kenny Lofton Jr is worthwhile to bring around and especially on a Sixers team that has struggled to have legitimate backup

Centers for years now for most of the entire Joel embiid era finally hitting a a pretty good point at B with moamba and Paul Reed of course doing some solid impact there but we’ve been through the Greg monrose the Amir Johnson’s the ban marianovich Dwight Howard the list goes

On and on DeAndre Jordan the corpse of DeAndre Jordan all these guys that simply did not have it it’s a good use of organizational resources to continue investing in that or guys that can grow into that so to me I’ve been very impressed by the Sixers organization’s recent attention to working the margins

With this that never being satisfied with what the roster is using these minimum deals these two-way contracts coding the bottom of the roster with high quality talent that is what successful organizations do and these Sixers have done a much better job of it of late so I’m very impressed with their

Ability to do that I’m very very happy that Kenny Lofton Jr is the guy that was now on this team as I mentioned at the worst he’s going to be a thoroughly entertaining player who’s electric to watch on a nightly basis he’s an old school basketball player people are

Going to love him and I can’t wait to see him on the actual floor I want to hear what you guys think of Kenny Lofton Jr in the comments as I mentioned that I am fully on board with this I’m excited to see what he brings to the team but I

Do want to hear from you guys as well so make sure to that you drop a comment in there smash that subscribe button and don’t forget to leave a like and I will talk with you next time right here on Sixers Digest peace

Sixers Making Moves…SNEAKY Big Man Signing for Philly | Sixers News

As the NBA season continues, Daryl Morey continues to work the margins and improve the overall roster. The Sixers made a surprising addition by adding Kenny Lofton Jr to their young core. Sean Barnard breaks down what to expect from the 21-year-old and what to be prepared for in his game.

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