Philadelphia 76ers

3 Reasons to Keep Sergio Rodriguez Around Past This Year

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Sergio Rodriguez was a huge unknown for the Philadelphia 76ers coming into this season, but he has shown that there’s good reason to keep him around past this season.

Coming into this season, it was incredibly unclear what Sergio Rodriguez could be for the Philadelphia 76ers. His role with the team was clear — be a point guard that can pass and score when needed — but how well he would fill into that role was incredibly unknown leading up to opening night for the Sixers.

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Rodriguez was a previous NBA point guard that did not fill out quite as well as people would have hoped he would. He did not live up to expectations, and after a few lackluster seasons in the NBA, he went to play in his home country, Spain, for a while.

The Sixers had been keeping tabs, and saw that he improved his craft greatly while over in Spain. That was important for Sergio and the Sixers. Both had something to get out of a deal that gave Rodriguez a roster spot in the NBA.

As the season neared, there was an anticipation surrounding Rodriguez that was curious. Fans wanted to know what he was able to do. His role also increased as the season neared. During points of the offseason, it seemed obvious who the starting point guard would be for the Sixers — Jerryd Bayless. The signings of Rodriguez and Gerald Henderson were nice, but far and away the best signing the Sixers pulled in the offseason was Bayless.

Bayless unfortunately ended up starting the season injured, with ligament issues in his wrist. Suddenly Rodriguez went from being looked at as a possible decent option as a backup to being thrust into a starting role where he might not be able to be as good as he was as a backup.

Much like T.J. McConnell did for the Sixers last season, though, Rodriguez was able to be solid right away. The first basket of the season was a lob from Sergio Rodriguez to Gerald Henderson. He made his presence known quickly.

Over the past few months, Sergio has brought up a curious question. Do we keep him around next season? Out of caution regarding how well he would play out as an NBA player again, the Sixers signed him to just a one-year deal. Keeping him on past this season will almost certainly cost more money.

Despite the Sixers likely having to shell out more money for him, he has shown he is worth it. Here’s some reasons why the Sixers should keep him on even past this year.

Nov 19, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Sergio Rodriguez (14) passes past Phoenix Suns center Alex Len (21) during the first quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Crafty passing

One of the greatest things we’ve seen from Sergio this season is how good of a passer he is. Whether it’s a no-look back out to the 3-point line as he’s driving into the lane, or a behind the back dime to Embiid cutting into the key, Rodriguez has demonstrated a knack for knowing where the ball needs to be and knowing how to get it there.

It’s easy to see that without Rodriguez on the floor, the Sixers wouldn’t be nearly as good of a team as they are now. Not only do his passes look good, though, he’s putting up great numbers as far as passing is concerned as well. Rodriguez has the most stats per game at 6.8, and assists just under 40 percent of his teammates field goals while he is on the floor.

He’s also regularly setting up the team’s best player, Joel Embiid, with assists, as 1.2 of his assists per game are due to passes to Embiid. He also has nearly one per game to Dario Saric, and over one per game to Gerald Henderson. Embiid also shoots over 50 percent off of passes from Sergio.

Those three players aren’t low-volume pass-catchers from Sergio, either. Rodriguez’s passing goes most to those three players.

The fact that Rodriguez’s ball movement has not only been effective, but has been effective for two massive pieces of the rebuild moving forward in Embiid and Saric is important. I don’t see how you can justify letting him walk easily when he’s inclusive with those players, unless you have a really solid option lined up for an equal or better price point when it’s time to make contracts.

Even with Ben Simmons back — who is likely to take over as the primary ball handler — you need someone to run backup. Sergio seems like a really solid option in that regard.

Nov 27, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Sergio Rodriguez (14) reacts after his turnover against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the third quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

A solid backup

Speaking of being a solid backup, Sergio really could fall into that mold perfectly behind Ben Simmons who is almost a lock as the point-forward once he’s back and acclimated with full basketball activity again.

No other point guard — aside from possibly Jerryd Bayless, but we have yet to see much of him as a Sixer — can really score and pass like Rodriguez can. This is true for not only this season, but previous seasons as well with the Sixers.

Rodriguez has shown — as discussed in the previous slide — that he can pass really well, but he has also shown that he is not afraid to take over the game when he needs to. Rodriguez has made it clear that he is the leader when he is on the floor, and if he doesn’t see an option to pass to, he takes control and scores himself.

Even when Sergio has a defender on him, he challenges him and drives to the lane, scoring at a high rate. With a defender within 0-4 feet of him, he shoots 50 percent from the field. Generally, when he gives himself a decent amount of time to make decisions as well, he is a good scorer. 35 percent of his shots come with him having touched the ball for 2-6 seconds, and he shoots 41.5 percent from the field in those scenarios.

His shooting dips just a little when he touches for longer than six seconds, shooting 39.5 percent from the field in those scenarios.

Rodgriguez’s 7.7 points per game is nothing to marvel at, but that’s not all what it’s about. It’s the fact that even though he’s not a score first point guard, he has shown that he can be if he needs to be.

Nov 17, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Sergio Rodriguez (14) dribbles the ball past Minnesota Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio (9) during the first quarter at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Chance to get him on an affordable deal?

Rodriguez also brings up an interesting advantage in that he could potentially be signed to a fairly affordable deal for what he can offer the Sixers. Although the Sixers will almost definitely have to pay Sergio more than $10 million per season unlike this year, they may still be able to get him on a deal that is considered team-friendly.

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Rodriguez will have the right at the end of this season to barter with whatever teams decide to give him the light of day. Even if the Sixers aren’t completely decided on him, he will likely be on their interview list come July. Still, other teams will want him as well, and will give him interviews and offers.

Rodriguez genuinely seems to appreciate the oppruntity to be back in the NBA and seems to appreciate that the Sixers took a chance on him. Money talks, but so does loyalty, and perhaps Rodriguez will show his appreciation to the team even if they offer him a bit less than some other teams. The Sixers also do still have more buying power than 60-80 percent of the league since they don’t really have any star players taking up too much cap space, so if they want to, they can offer him more.

Also, external teams may not end up offering Sergio much money, and the Sixers possible offer to him could end up being one of the most lucrative ones he gets. He has proven a lot so far this year, but it’s on the Sixers, so some teams may be leery of the positive effects of being an average player on a bad team create.

We thought that would be the case with Ish Smith too, however, and he got paid quite a bit of money ($18 million over three years) this offseason. So the opposite could easily occur as well.

Overall, being an international player that has played just one season back in the NBA, albeit a good one if he keeps this pace up, doesn’t warrant huge money from many teams in the NBA. Rodriguez is likely a backup point guard on a competitive team, so that’s money the Sixers can easily pay out if they want him.

And based on the things he’s done this season, the Sixers should re-sign him to a short deal. With Ben Simmons still working into the point-forward role in the NBA, Rodriguez could be a solid fallback plan for next season and beyond if Simmons doesn’t do well as a primary ball handler.

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