Title: T.J. MCCONNELL IS PART OF THE PROCESS
Date: December 22, 2015
Original Source: Vice
Synopsis: I spoke with T.J. McConnell about the unlikely opportunity to find an NBA home because of “The Process” the 76ers are using to rebuild, and how that opportunity highlights the good and bad of said process.
There may be no avatar more suitable for the Philadelphia 76ers’ infamous Process than T.J. McConnell, an undrafted rookie who has started more than half of the team’s games at point guard. This is a complicated sort of compliment, but McConnell highlights the benefits and the shortcomings of the long-term rebuilding strategy. That he’s played pretty well is, as is often the case with the Sixers, almost beside the point.
If not for general manager Sam Hinkie’s approach to the end of the roster, which eschews veterans in favor of lottery tickets, McConnell might not be an NBA player right now. The 76ers brought him into training camp after a successful summer league stint, and the two-time All-Pac-12 Defensive Team standout fought his way onto the roster against heavy odds, beating out Pierre Jackson and Scottie Wilbekin—and their larger but insignificant guaranteed salaries—for a fourth point guard spot that wasn’t supposed to exist.
Continue reading at Vice.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 