Philadelphia 76ers: Landry Shamet is already paying dividends in LA

While the sample size may be small, ex-Philadelphia 76ers shooting guard Landry Shamet is already paying major dividends with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Don’t look now, but we are officially two weeks removed from the trade deadline, and on the precipice of basketball’s return following a Philadelphia 76ers filled All-Star weekend.

Over the next 24 games, the Sixers’ playoff placement will be effectively determined, and for better or for worse, the team’s fate will be determined by the players procured by Elton Brand throughout the season.

Whether it’s Tobias Harris, Mike Scott, Jimmy Butler, James Ennis, Jonathon Simmons, or Boban Marjanovic (boy, that’s an expansive list), the new-new look 76ers are a team with a lot of potentials, but only a finite amount of time to get it all together.

More from Philadelphia 76ers

Will they be able to rally around a signature cause, in this case, representing the East in the NBA Finals, and become local legends in the City of Brotherly Love? Only time will tell, but it’s safe to say that this team has gone all in on procuring a roster that can win now and potentially build for the foreseeable future.

However, you don’t get a roster filled with four (or five) potential All-Stars in the starting five without losing a few quality players along the way, and one of those ex-Sixers who’s currently thriving in his brand new scenery is Landry Shamet.

Yes, Shamet, the 6-foot-5 combo guard from Wichita State that some (me) assumed had the upside, athleticism, and outside shooting to one day become a fixture of Brett Brown‘s starting five in the J.J. Redick-role for years to come.

Boy, was I wrong.

No quicker could I write the phrase “The next Lou Williams” before Brand shipped the 26th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft out to LA to join up with the actual Lou Williams as the centerpiece of the Tobias Harris-deal, and so far, Shamet has thrived in his new, much less cold home.

While the sample size may be small, as he has only appeared in three games following a February 7th DNP, Shamet’s numbers are even better than they were in Philly; scoring 13.4 points and three assists in 28 minutes of action a night.

Furthermore, Shamet has been lights out from three-point range since taking up the number 20, hitting 9-16 attempts from 3 point range.

That’s a 56.25 shooting percentage ladies and gentleman.

This is obviously impressive, but what’s even more impressive is that Shamet’s hit at least a .500 clip in each of his first three games with the Clippers, a feat he’d only accomplished 25 times in Philly over 54 appearances.

Shamet played so well over his first three games with the Clippers that Doc Rivers gave him the rare start in only his third game with the club, an accomplishment he only achieved four times in Philly. Now granted, said game was a bit weird, as the Clippers started three guards and a center they’d also just traded for in Ivica Zubac against the lowly Pheonix Suns, but it’s still pretty showing that Shamet received the nod over players like Williams and Garrett Temple who have combined for 1,348 more appearances in NBA games.

That just shows how much confidence the Clippers already have in Shamet moving forward, a feeling fans in Philly can surely relate to.

And moving forward, the future looks incredibly bright for Mr. Shamet.

While many initially assumed that Jerome Robinson, the 16th overall selection in the 2018 draft out of Boston College would be the Clippers’ shooting guard of the future next to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the next decade, Shamet has very quickly passed his draft classmate on Rivers’ depth chart and could eventually still become a starter in the NBA, only now wearing a different red, white, and blue jersey.

Shamet’s versatility could become even more invaluable if Jerry West and company are able to land some big fish free agents in July like Kawhi Leonard and *gasp* Jimmy Butler, as his cheap contract and position versatility could vault the team into contention for years to come, right past LA’s ‘other’ team.

And for the Sixers? Well, they have Harris, they have Boban, and for the first time all season, they haven’t had a single rookie log a minute of action for four straight games.

Elton Brand is already the anti-Dell Demps. dark. Next

Sure, Justin Patton, Jonah Bolden or Shake Milton (post-injury) could help to alleviate this disparity moving forward, but by shipping out Shamet, Markelle Fultz, and future draft capital to go all-in right now, the Philadelphia 76ers’ reserve of young, ascending talent has all but dried up. The Los Angeles Clippers, on the other hand, have nine players under contract under the age of 26, with Landry Shamet among their brightest prospects moving forward. The question is: Which strategy is better?