McDaniels ready to play for a winner
Hasn’t made 76ers debut yet
The Sixers felt strongly enough that their newest player could help that they were willing to part with former firstround draft choice Matisse Thybulle. They just didn’t know just how strongly Jalen McDaniels wanted to begin.
It didn’t take them long to find out.
With less than a day to find his way from Charlotte to Philadelphia, complete a physical, have a brief sitdown with Doc Rivers and climb into a red No. 7 uniform, McDaniels not only was ready to play Friday night against the Knicks, but to play almost any position and accept any assignment.
“Three-point shooting, handling the ball, coming off screens,” McDaniels said before a 119-108 victory. “I’ve added a lot to my game that many people haven’t seen yet, but I know what my capabilities are. So when that time presents itself, be ready.”
Earlier Friday, the Sixers officially confirmed the trade that sent Thybulle to Portland and a secondround draft choice to Charlotte. The Sixers also gained a 2024 second-round pick from the Knicks.
The 6-9 McDaniels’ defense-first skill set is similar to that of Thybulle, though he is considered to be more likely to match up better against bigger forwards.
“He has athleticism,” Rivers said. “He is multi-positional. Watching film, he guards one through four and at times a team’s five. Great hands. Great roller. Energy player. Good rebounder.”
With the Hornets this season, McDaniels was averaging career highs in scoring (10.6), rebounding (4.8), assists (2.0) and steals (1.2). He had four 20-plus-point games, including a 26-point outburst against Boston Jan. 16 when he made five threepointers.
“We really think Jalen is sort of a hidden gem,” Daryl Morey said. “Sometimes, a
team struggles and there are players that need the opportunity to show what they can do on a better team. We feel Jalen is a player like that.”
McDaniels was excited to prove Morey correct.
“It’s like a dream come true,” he said. “I just wanted to be in the playoffs around franchise players. I’m here and I just to make the most of it, and help them help me.”
McDaniels did not play Friday as the Sixers snapped a two-game losing streak, but Rivers expects him to play when the Sixers visit Brooklyn at 6 o’clock Saturday.
••• Tyrese Maxey, who shot a combined 7-for-22 in the two-game losing streak, scored 27 Friday and posted a plus-27.
“I feel better,” he said. “I had a rough past week. It was rough mentally and I didn’t play well. I had a conversation with my parents for about an hour and a half and got out all the emotions I had to get out. I told Coach Doc that I was human and had to let it out, and when I let it out, I would be the best version of Tyrese I can be.”
•••
Once considered a rising star in the organization for his unique defensive style and two second-team AllDefense nods, the 25-yearold Thybulle had begun to lose that momentum.
“Matisse is still young,” Rivers said. “He has a chance to be a better player. There are things he has to work on. Being more consistent. His shot, obviously. But he’s putting in the work. We made the trade for other reasons, not because he has plateaued. He is too young to plateau.”
••• Though he has not played in 11 of the previous 13 games and hasn’t played more than three minutes since Jan. 10, Furkan Korkmaz — although known to be on the trading floor — made it through the deadline as a Sixer.
“I think Furk’s good, I really do,” Rivers said. “Obviously he’s not in a great spot. He wants to play like everyone else. But we’re fine and Furk is fine.”