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Basket-ball of Sunday, 4 January 2015

Source: buckscountycouriertimes.com

Could Embiid be only keeper on Sixers?

How many keepers are on the current 76ers roster?

I’m not talking about borderline NBA players — I mean guys capable of being difference-makers and perhaps all-stars.

While he has to improve his mid-range offensive game, on-the-ball defense and stop driving into crowds, rookie shooting guard K.J. McDaniels blocks shots on the perimeter and finishes on the break unlike anybody on the team.

The Sixers must give McDaniels, the second pick in the second round of last June’s draft, a qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent next summer, which would allow them to match another team’s contract offer. He has potential, though probably not as an all-star.

How about Michael Carter-Williams and Nerlens Noel?

Carter-Williams has some solid numbers (15.2 points, 7.3 assists, 6.4 rebounds through Friday) coming off of earning NBA Rookie of the Year honors in 2013-14. But his field goal percentage (38), 3-point percentage (24.3), free-throw shooting (62.3) and steals (1.3) are down, and his turnovers (a league-high 4.6) are up 31 percent from a year ago. He is only converting only 19.7 percent from beyond 16 feet.

MCW also needs to work on his man-to-man defense and shooting, and get stronger to better handle pick-and-rolls.

Carter-Williams could be a good point guard for years to come, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie trades him within the next 20 months.

Noel is an athletic shot blocker who completes plays well at the rim. But he is so raw offensively and must become more consistent, as well as add some bulk to his slender 217-pound frame and improve his shooting percentage of 42.6 (50 from the foul line). He is hitting just 36.6 percent of his attempts from 3 to 10 feet and 28.6 percent from 11-16 feet.

Is he a power forward or center? He’ll have to be a ‘4’ once rookie center Joel Embiid can play, which might not be until 2015-16, but his lack of effective offensive moves makes him better suited to the ‘5’ at that end.

An NBA source said ex-Sixer Samuel Dalembert might be the best-case scenario for Noel. Let’s hope not.

Like Carter-Williams, Noel could be traded if a team meets Hinkie’s price by the summer of 2016, when Croatian power forward Dario Saric could join the Sixers from Turkey.

Neither 2013 lottery pick seems to be a guaranteed franchise cornerstone at this point.

Embiid could turn out to be the only real keeper in the group. He has the size (7 feet, 250 pounds), agility and natural ability to be a franchise cornerstone. He’s raw, having only played three years of organized basketball, but he’s more offensively advanced than Noel and a legit center, which is the most difficult position to fill.

The caveat with Embiid is the stress fracture — and his occasionally troublesome back — have to hold up to the pounding of an NBA season.

Shooter Robert Covington and guard Tony Wroten — provided Wroten cuts down on the high-risk turnovers and either shoots fewer jumpers or upgrades his percentage from the perimeter — could be contributors once the Sixers try to begin being competitive next year and perhaps beyond.

But the bulk of the core players going forward, including the top pick in next June’s draft, probably aren’t here yet.