How did he get here? The Curious Case of T.J. McConnell

By Josh Liddick, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The transformation of one Sixers player has been one of the most up-and-down ones you will ever see.

T.J. McConnell has went from being the bottom of the Sixers' bench rotation to the starting point guard in just a couple seasons. The 2016-17 season will go down as the year that McConnell quite literally became one of the most polarizing players in the City of Philadelphia for just a couple of months.

The McConnell storyline is an interesting one, because at one end of the spectrum, during the 2015-16 season, it almost seemed as if Sixers fans were calling for McConnell's head, basically proclaiming that he wasn't good enough to compete in the NBA.

But the tables turned, and forced into more of a starting role, McConnell turned on the jets and proved that he could lead this team with the little experience he possessed.

McConnell struggled shooting the ball last season, that part is obvious, but the intangibles were what made McConnell so special and so unique as the season progressed even further.

When the game was on the line, McConnell seized opportunity after opportunity and made everyone around him forget that he missed so many shots before or turned the ball over too many times. With the game on the line, McConnell became a gamer, and that's not something that you can just teach and expect a player to learn on a dime.

Going into this offseason, the urgency for McConnell to develop a long-range shot or a just a shot in general was imperative. In order for the team to even consider McConnell for a role similar to last year's, he needed to get better in these important areas.

This offseason though has seen so many changes that probably even T.J. himself didn't see before.

The Sixers added a long-term guard in Markelle Fultz via the draft that will be guaranteed a starting spot when the season rolls around.

Jerryd Bayless, the veteran point guard that Bryan Colangelo brought in last year, will more than likely assume the backup point guard role, now that he's healthy enough to play again.

J.J. Redick, the 33 year-old sharpshooter, was brought in to fill up the shooting guard role, and as we all know, Furkan Korkmaz will be filling in every so often in that role as well off the bench.

With the guard spots almost completely taken and filled up, where does this leave McConnell?

It seems that most people at this point in the offseason have almost completely forgotten about T.J.

What happened to the guy who started all these games adequately for a team that has been on the up-and-coming?

Well, after this season, we all knew what T.J. was going to have to accomplish to maintain the spot that he already had assumed from the very start. He's already been working hard on his outside shot, and seems to have gotten a little bit stronger in that area than he was prior.

T.J. has already shown his incredible leadership qualities by mentoring the younger players at rookie camp before the Summer League action got underway.

He's done all of these things, worked hard during the season and the offseason, and it seems as if by the start of the upcoming season, all these things may be all for naught.

How did McConnell get here?

From the guy everyone wanted out, to the guy everyone revered.

And now, a guy who's future is in doubt.

How many players do you know of that went from the waterboy, to the everyday one, and back to the back-end of the rotation?

Not many, but this further exemplifies the roller coaster career of T.J. McConnell.

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