How does Mac McClung fit into current Philadelphia Sixers roster coming out of G League?
The high-flying Mac McClung has found himself on a two-way contract with the Philadelphia 76ers. The news comes on the heels of McClung playing for the team's G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats.
Over the course of the 2022-23 G League season, McClung has averaged 19.1 points per game.
As he gears up to participate in the NBA slam dunk contest, he is set to become the first player from the G League to compete. With the latest news, however, he will now do so as an NBA player. He also shoots at 50% from 3-point range at an average of 25.9 minutes per game.
As the Philadelphia 76ers look to make a push into the playoffs, the addition of Mac McClung will help give them a scoring boost off the bench. With an average of just 31.8 bench points scored per game, the 76ers rank in the top 10 for teams with the least bench points scored.
The Philadelphia 76ers plan to sign guard Mac McClung on two-way NBA contract out of their G League Delaware Blue Coats affiliate, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. On cusp of his Dunk Contest appearance, McClung gets call up to the NBA.
With the signing of Mac McClung, let's take a look at the Philadelphia 76ers depth chart, and how he fits into their rotation.
Mac McClung's place on the Philadelphia 76ers
Below, you can see the current Philadelphia 76ers depth chart.
It is important to mention that both P.J. Tucker, Fukan Korkmaz and Dewayne Dedmon are all listed as day-to-day with injuries. The Philadelphia 76ers are sitting in third place in the stacked Eastern Conference behind the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks. As they look to make a deep playoff push, McClung's scoring off the bench will help.
As McClung prepares for the Dunk Contest, he spoke to NBC Sports Philadelphia about his plans for the contest, as well as his development in the G League.
“I’ve been thinking of some things just in case. I’ve been trying to think of some unique things that I haven’t seen before. Hopefully, I just make my dunks and go from there.”
“I think my defense has been pretty good the last few weeks, and as a team we were playing great defense. I think we all kind of just let it slip tonight. We need to figure out a different approach come next game, and we will.”
Of course, as a smaller guard, McClung could be in some trouble when it comes to his time with the 76ers. As Blue Coats head coach Coby Karl recently explained, Mac McClung has struggled at times in recent weeks.
At the same time, however, coach Karl believes that McClung's unique creativity and athleticism will open the game up for him.
"But I think his creativity is a strength of his ... so mixing that creativity and athleticism, and figuring out ways to use that to create open shots for your teammates — draw two defenders and get the open man the ball."
With the dunk contest rapidly approaching this weekend, it will be interesting to see how McClung's play with the Philadelphia 76ers is leading up to it.