Trevor Booker has made an instant impact with the depleted Sixers

In his first two games as a Philadelphia 76ers, Trevor Booker has made an instant impact with a team currently suffering through a string of injuries.

Though it’s only been a handful of games, it looks like the Philadelphia 76ers may have found a good one in new backup power forward Trevor Booker.

Booker, a 30-year old former first-round pick from Clemson, came to the City of Brotherly Love by way of the Brooklyn Nets in the now infamous Jahlil Okafor trade that sent the former Blue Devil, in addition to Nik Stauskas and a future second-round pick to New York. While not initially viewed as a particularly strong trade by many Philly fans, so far, the move looks like it could have a serious impact on the team moving forward.

In his first three games in Red White and Blue, Booker made his presence known among his new teammates, averaging 13.4-points and 7.3-rebounds in roughly 22-minutes per game as a second-team spark plug.

And the more impressively, he’s doing so without even knowing Brett Brown‘s playbook.

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Upon arriving in Philadelphia on Friday, December 9th the eighth year vet was immediately thrown into action, logging 20-minutes of action without so much as a day to assimilate into his new city. While this may be a challenge for some players, for a bruiser like Booker, a player who has compared himself to a bigger T.J. McConnell, it was no issue.

With Booker in the game, Brown chose to keep his rotations simple against the Cleveland Cavaliers, switching between simple zone concepts and man coverage on the defensive side of the ball, while largely maintaining the team’s signature up-tempo offensive sets with the Clemson product in the game. Even though his presence did ultimately limit the team’s ability to move the ball around, vying for an open look from three, Booker’s relentless motor and “my ball” mentality kept the 6-foot-8 forward right in the line of fire, fighting for rebounds and taking the most of second chance opportunities.

Even though he may ever be a true outside shooting threat, having only made 70-shots from deep over his eight-year career, Booker has proven immediately that he can add a unique spark to Coach Brown’s second team that they haven’t possessed in a long time.

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Brown himself compared Bookers to former Sixers fan favorite Thad Young, a player currently starting for the Indiana Pacers. While Booker may not be able to give his new team 14-points in 30-minutes of action a night like Young has consistently done over his 10-year career if Booker can continue to deliver double digits off the bench, it’ll be an absolute boon to Brown’s squad once the roster returns to full strength.