Philadelphia 76ers: Shaquille Harrison has proven he belongs in the NBA

For the second year in a row, the Philadelphia 76ers‘ G-League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats, has been represented at the association’s end-of-year awards ceremony.

That’s right, after Paul Reed came away with the G-League MVP award and G-League Rookie of the Year for the 2020-21 season, Shaquille Harrison, who spent a minute with the Sixers in the preseason, has been named the G-League’s Defensive Player of the Year for the 2021-22 season.

Factor in a pair of runs in the NBA during the 10-Day signing spree of December and January, and the 2021-22 NBA season worked out pretty darn well for the former UDFA out of Tulsa.

So, as Shaq Harrison and the Blue Coats take on the Motor City Cruise in the second round of the G League playoffs, it feels only right to shoutout the 28-year-old combo guard, and pontificate on how his impressive run could be valuable to a team like the Philadelphia 76ers in 2022-23, as surrounding James Harden with solid two-way athletes seems like a pretty good way to succeed moving forward.

The Philadelphia 76ers could use a player like Shaq Harrison right about now.

As things presently stand, the Philadelphia 76ers are expected to play the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the 2022 NFL playoffs.

That’s… not ideal, as Nick Nurse and company have had Doc Rivers’ number all season long and that probably isn’t going to change anytime soon.

Would you like to know what else isn’t elite and probably won’t change anytime soon? Matisse Thybulle‘s ability to cross the Canadian border to play in Toronto, which would leave your hometown Philadelphia 76ers without their best defender, which proved disastrous for the club in their most recent bout versus their cross-continental rivals up north.

But what are the Sixers to do? They tried to turn to Paul Reed in their third-to-last game of the regular season to largely promising results, but he was used exclusively as a backup center behind Joel Embiid instead of as a dynamic switching combo forward who could fill the exact same role as Thybulle covering Pascal Siakam on the perimeter.

Sidebar: Could you even imagine what Nick Nurse would do with a player like Paul Reed? He would excel in the same role as Precious Achiuwa or Chris Boucher.

Assuming Danny Green starts at the small forward spot, I guess the team could turn to a player like Charlie Brown Jr., another former member of the Delaware Blue Coats who came to the team on a 10-day contract and parlayed his way to a two-way contract in place of Aaron Henry. While Brown is more of a backcourt defender who can occasionally swing to the three than a legit one-through-four defender, he’s still a better defender than Georges Niang, Shake Milton, Furkan Korkmaz, and could help to slow down opposing scorers for the 10-ish minutes Joel Embiid won’t be on the court in a playoff series.

*sigh* if only the Sixers could have foreseen this happening when Canada put into effect their COVID-19 policy back in January, then they could have signed a player like Shaquille Harrison instead of keeping four backup centers and only playing one in any given game.

Measuring in at 6-foot-4, 190 pounds – though Basketball reference curiously lists him at 6-foot-7 –  Harrison made a name for himself as a dynamic defender who can hold it down one-through-three. He’s averaged a steal per game over his 175 run split up between the Phoenix Suns, the Chicago Bulls, the Utah Jazz, and the Denver Nuggets, despite playing only 15.2 minutes per game, and is one of the few players in the association who has earned a positive Defensive Raptor rating in each of his five professional seasons.

Factor in an ability to dribble the ball up the court and play make a little bit for the players around him, and having Harrison available for games in Toronto would be an asset the Sixers could really use.

Sidebar II: You know, Jaden Springer could have been used in a similar way if he was worked into the rotation earlier in the seaso… nevermind, I forgot Rivers has a fervent opposition to playing young players even if they can go.

Whether in the City of Brotherly Love or elsewhere, Shaquille Harrison will earn an opportunity to prove his mettle with an NBA team this summer. Between his previous NBA pedigree, his on-court success in 2021-22, and his defensive dominance in the G-League, some team looking for a savvy defensive guard who can do a little bit of everything will be on the lookout for his services and make him an offer he can’t refuse. Will it work? Will Harrison be on an NBA roster this fall? Only time will tell, but after earning a spot on the Philadelphia 76ers last fall – at least in my humble opinion – it’s hard to imagine Harrison having a second season stuck in the G-League.