Seth Curry, the best Curry brother, has had an enormous impact on the Sixers despite only being in Philadelphia for one season.
Curry led the Sixers in 3 point percentage at 45.0%, shooting lights out for a team that desperately needed floor spacing around All-Stars Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. His consistency from beyond the arc was a driving factor in the Sixers’ excellent year in the regular season.
The 31-year-old sharpshooter was acquired in a trade with the Dallas Mavericks, where the Mavericks received Josh Richardson and the 36th pick, Tyler Bey. In this trade, the Sixers traded the consolation prize in losing Jimmy Butler to the Miami Heat the previous off-season but gained the valuable volume shooting that the Sixers clearly needed.
Last Season
In his first season as a Sixer, Seth appeared and started in 57 games for the 76ers, playing 28.7 minutes per game, scoring 12.5 points per game with shooting splits of 46.7/45.0/89.6 on 4.9 attempted threes per game. Curry ranked 6th in the league in three-point percentage (45.0%) and provided the much-needed volume shooting required around Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
Bringing in Seth Curry for an expiring Josh Richardson contract was an absolute steal of a pickup. This relates back to something President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morrey said in a Reddit AMA 10 months ago saying “… if a good player is in the last year of his deal, you often will look for players that have longer good contracts so you can ensure that the player you receive will stay….” This is exactly what happened with the Josh Richardson/Seth Curry trade, getting a good player for an expiring player and a second-round pick.
The highlight of Seth Curry’s season was during the second round of the NBA playoffs, where he was one of two players to score in double digits in a loss to the Atlanta Hawks. In this game, Joel Embiid dropped 37 while Seth Curry scored 36 points in a game where no other teammate scored even 8 points. The fact that Curry’s best game of the year was in a loss to the Hawks has a melancholy feel to it since we now know the Sixers would go on to lose the series in seven games. However, Curry proving he knew how to step up in the moments that it mattered endeared many fans to him even further.
Seth’s consistency on offense made him one of the most valuable players for the Sixers this past season, especially in the playoffs, where he really stepped up his game, jumping from 12.5 points per game to 18.8 points per game when it mattered most. He also increased his efficiency to 57.8 percent from the floor and an outrageous 50.6 percent from beyond the arc.
Grade and Future Outlook: A-
This season, Seth Curry was one of the best players on the floor for the Sixers and probably the second most consistent player in the playoffs for the Sixers. The only true drawback on Curry would be his defensive limitations, but the team was already aware of that and did not bring him to play game-changing defense.
Curry had one of his best seasons in the NBA this year, starting more games than he ever has before, scoring his second-highest points per game (12.5), tying his second-highest 3 point percentage (45.0%), and shooting his second-highest amount of threes per game (4.9). Curry’s season was phenomenal and was a massive success for everyone involved.
