Philadelphia 76ers: Jakarr Sampson is still fighting for his NBA dreams

After laying the blueprint for Ben Simmons’ role with the Philadelphia 76ers, Jakarr Sampson is still fighting for a career in the NBA.

Before there was Ben Simmons, the Philadelphia 76ers had Jakarr Sampson.

In 121 NBA games, his first 121 games in the NBA, Sampson found a home in the City of Brotherly Love after two productive seasons at St. Johns in New York and gave fans a glimpse of what was to come for fans desperate for a brand new basketball identity.

Though no one is going to confuse one for the other, as Simmons is already a head and shoulders better player despite being three years younger, the duo share a similarity that’s pretty rare: being a supersized primary ball handler.

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Sure, Sampson has technically played small forward for the brunt of his NBA career, as opposed to Simmons’ role as a point guard who occasionally moonlights as a power forward, but in a lot of ways, they can be used in basically the same way.

Much like Simmons, Sampson plays his best ball in the full court set; quickly driving to the basket with his eyes pointed to the wings while fighting tooth and nail for rebounds at both ends of the court.

Sampson came to Philadelphia as an undrafted free agent, joining a crowded roster featuring primary ball handlers like Ish Smith, Isaiah Canaan, Tony Warton (remember him?) and eventually T.J. McConnell, but in the ‘Process’-era 76ers, it wasn’t about where you came from, but what you did with the minutes available.

The results were mixed-to-positive.

In 1,822 minutes of action, Sampson recorded 626 points, 107 assists, and 227 rebounds, good for a stat line of 5.2 points, .9 assists, and 2.4 rebounds.

Again, not fantastic, but encouraging for a player who only averaged 15.1 minutes of action a night.

However, things took an unfortunate turn in the leadup to the 2015 NBA trade deadline; one that almost certainly changed the trajectory of Sampson’s career moving forward.

Firmly in the fray of Sam Hinkie‘s asset acquisition mode, the 76ers opted to waive Sampson to take in Joel Anthony and a 2017 second round pick, only to have the trade voided a day later due to Donatas Motiejunas’ medical evaluation. With Sampson subjected to waiver wires, the 76ers thoroughly hoped that they could resecure the 22-year-old guard/forward, but it was for not, as he instead signed a multi-year deal with the Denver Nuggets.

From there, Sampson played 22 games with the Nuggets, averaging 5.2 points, .6 assists, and 2.6 rebounds a game, before being waived going into the 2016 season.

Said release set Sampson off on a long and winding road towards an eventual NBA career, spending time with the Iowa Energy, the Sacramento Kings, the Windy City Bulls (twice) and even a short stint with the Shandong Golden Stars in China.

For even the most studied NBA fans, it seemed like Sampson’s shot at catching on with an NBA team was all but over, at least until March 31st, 2019, when the Bulls opted to sign the 6-foot-9 positionless wonder to a 10-day contract to all but finish out the 2018-19 season.

With another fleeting chance to turn NBA talent evaluators’ heads, Sampson has seemingly left it all on the court, going off for an average of 23 points, and eight rebounds in 31.3 minutes of action a night.

And in a weird sense of NBA serendipity, Sampson’s best game as a pro came in his most recent outing; against his first head coach Brett Brown and the club that gave him his first chance to shine.

Playing 35 of a possible 48 minutes, Sampson scored 29 points on 11-17 shots from the field (1-5 from 3) while blocking two balls and grabbing eight boards against the shorthanded Sixers. While this obviously wasn’t enough to stop the 76ers from recording their 50th win, as they were blown out by 20 points, it all but cemented that Sampson is an NBA player who should have a handful of suitors come July when free agency opens up yet again.

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Will he ever become an NBA starter? I doubt it, but after being counted out for years and bouncing around the basketball world looking for another opportunity, it looks like Jakarr Sampson may have finally found his footing in the league. Who knows, maybe he could even find his way back to the Philadelphia 76ers and #CompleteTheProcess once and for all?