The NBA draft is less than a week away. Should the Sixers use one of their two picks and bank on Joshua Primo’s potential?
For those who have seen an Alabama Crimson Tide game this year, the name Joshua Primo stands out. Standing 6’6 with a 6’9 wingspan, Josh is the poster child for how a shooting guard should look. Tall, lean, and quick, he tends to be all over the floor in the best possible way. Unlike your typical guard, Primo works best when the ball isn’t in his hands and can run around the floor looking for the perfect opportunity to catch and shoot the ball.
Known for his shot creation and quickness on the court, Primo holds a high basketball IQ and knows how to space the floor to his advantage. Shooting threes comes natural to him, and has the unique ability to catch the ball off-balanced and ensure it ends up in the basket. His stat line of 8.1 PPG, 3.4 RPG, and .8 APG truly does not do him justice. Primo is very confident in his abilities on pull-up jumpers and is a great shot-maker with quick releases off his fingertips.
Looking past Primo’s offensive game, he holds his own defensively as well. Having a leaner build, Primo could benefit from putting on a few pounds to build up strength to match up better with guards his own height. However, it’s not hard to see that Primo is a hustler and has the room to grow into a solid defensive player. He never backs down and is a fairly accomplished rebounder.
Like every player, Primo has his fair share of flaws. To start with, he was the youngest player in the draft this year at 18 years old and 7 months. While this is out of his control, to some, it may be a red flag as maturity is crucial to play in a grown man’s league.
Primo was highly considered a 2022 draft pick, but after having an incredible Draft Combine, he chose the one-and-done pathway into the league. Primo might have benefited from staying in Alabama another year as he lacks the physicality we normally see from a more well-seasoned prospect. That being said, being so young, there is so much untapped potential that Primo holds; he just needs time to mature.
Another weakness of Primo’s is his lack of aggressiveness driving to the rim. Primo would much rather catch and shoot a 20ft jumper than take the ball to the basket. He has a pretty solid mid-range floater, but that’s about as far as he’ll come inside. While his shots go down fairly well, he shoots 43% on the floor and 38% from beyond the arc; he is primarily right-handed, which creates problems when he wants to get into the paint.
Joshua Primo will likely fall around the 20-32 pick, so he’s definitely an option for the Sixers at 28. He’s quick-footed, and his abilities as a shot creator would be appreciated coming off the bench. Shooting is an ability that’s always needed on this Sixers team, and while we have improved tremendously this year, Primo could be another spark we could add to the fire. If the Sixers don’t mind taking the time to develop him, he could be a great asset in the future.
