Started from the Bottom – The Joel Mercer Story

[zike_42]

Raw. That’s what everyone was telling me. You’re too raw to jump from high school to the pros. Go to college for a year and you’ll improve out of sight. No thanks. This is the first year that high schoolers have been allowed into the NBA since 2005 and I’m not going to let that slide. Everyone will be going to college because they don’t want to be that guy who stuffs up but I’m ready to take the challenge.

So with Golden State beating the Lebron led Cavs 4-2 in the NBA Finals it was my time. I went to every combine and shoot around and schmoozed every person that was associated with an NBA team. It didn’t really help though.

Before I go on, I should introduce myself. My name is Joel Mercer, and I’m a 6’4” point guard from the East Coast. I got offers from places like Auburn, Texas, Gonzaga and Michigan but as I said, college isn’t for me. They may call me raw but I’m dripping with potential. Too bad my high school coach didn’t see that as I played back up minutes at the two guard positions and averaged 11.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists a game in my senior year. Not so great, but I’m putting that on horrible coaching rather than my skill level. Jerk. Everyone knows that someone of my athletic measurements is much more suited to the NBA.

Anyway, back to my story. As I said, it didn’t help, as at the end of the NBA season I was ranked #76 on the big board. And as you know, there are only sixty draft picks. I better do something quick.

Milwaukee goes one better from last season where they drafted Jabari Parker number two and snagged the number one pick ahead of perpetual underachievers Philadelphia. That’s the dream to go #1 to the Bucks but right now it’s not that feasible. I just need to put in everything I have, otherwise it’s off to China or freaking Australia and try and make a living off basketball.

Alvin Mance goes to Milwaukee and my dreams of going number one are dashed. Yeah, coming from Virginia Tech and averaging 18 points and 15 rebounds is probably a better selection.

What.

What.

Why?

Philadelphia pulls something out of nowhere and drafts me number two! How does that even happen? What are they trying to pull here? I walk up to the stage with my brand new hat and the boos are raining down on me, it’s unbelievably embarrassing. Well tough titties Philly fans, I’m your pick. So I turn around and wave my arms up and down to make them boo louder, which they do but I hope they get them all out because when I’m finished here they’ll look back on this day and hang their heads. I’m the man the Sixers need. Bring it on.

I pick number 18 as my jersey number to signify me being the first 18 year old to be picked in ten years, and how all the coming 18 year olds will want to follow in my footsteps.

My first ever taste of NBA action was in the summer league, and I didn’t do too badly in my first outing. We won easily over Washington 108-86 but I should have got more minutes. I only played 22 minutes behind Tony Wroten (who is not a point guard) and had 3 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists (and 8 turnovers). Hey, it’s my first game! Hollis Thompson was our leader with 23 points.

Great job Tony Wroten, hogging all the minutes and shots. I could have got 28 points if I shot it 25 times and those 10 assists were lucky as hell. Try having 4 assists in only 14 minutes buddy. Anyway we won again 99-86 over Minnesota.

We wouldn’t have lost if I started, because the starters were a combined +66 while the bench guys were -133. So stick me in the starters and it would have been much better! My minutes are going down as well, this time only 19 minutes. Of course I couldn’t get a groove on which means I missed all three of my shots and turned it over 4 times. The Pacers beat us 99-86 with Tony Wroten again hogging the ball with 19 points and 11 assists.

And again my minutes drop again, this time to 15. And look what happens, we lost, this time 98-84 to New Orleans. Tony Wroten shows exactly how bad he is with a 5/18 shooting night while I go an amazing 3/5 for 8 points.

Coach finally wakes up and gives me more minutes and I use them to perfection with 4 points and 6 assists which means we won 102-90 against the Clippers. Tony Wroten again plays badly (predictable) with a 4/13 shooting night, meaning yours truly had to mop up the mess. Hollis Thompson on the other hand plays really well with 25 points.

So all in all I played alright in the paltry minutes I was given, averaging 18.6 minutes, 3.4 points (7/24 FG, 3/11 3P, 0/4 FT), 2.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 3.2 turnovers.

Onto the proper season to prove those haters wrong!

[I'm going to be doing a personal journal of sorts of a brash teenager who sucks so badly but hopefully in the end he'll be a superstar. Like, THE superstar. Anyway, this is going to be a yearly update dynasty story of Joel Mercer. Hopefully his potential is reached, or maybe not reached to see how he reacts. I started him as all 25 ratings across the board and his potentials are all 100s so it could go either way.

[zike_42]

Season 1 – 2015-2016

So my first game in the NBA wasn’t the stellar beginning I thought it would be. In our 104-89 win over New York I played all of one minute for no other stats. Boo. At least I played more than Denny Dickerson who didn’t play any minutes! Ha! It also makes me feel good that Tony Wroten also had a shocker, going 2/10 from the field and sucking it up.

The rest of the season wasn’t great either, as by the All Star break my highest point total was a paltry three points. You would think that they’d send me down to the D-League or something if they weren’t going to give me any minutes but who am I to judge? It was a little embarrassing to be left out of the Rookie/Sophomore game and I got a few mean tweets from stupid so called ‘fans’. I’m a project, don’t these people know that? Philadelphia knew that. Speaking of Philadelphia, they were the #2 seed in the East at 53-29 and made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to Cleveland. Who then lost to Oklahoma City.

I did my best with the minutes I was given. I played in 46 games which is a good start to a career but only averaged 5.3 minutes a game. The rest of the stats weren’t great at 1.0ppg, 0.5apg, 0.3rpg and 0.7tpg but seriously, who can get a rhythm in only five minutes a game? They should have played me more as my Per36 assist numbers were the third highest on the team! Behind stupid Tony Wroten and his .211 three point shooting.

To be honest, this team is just not put together right. They have great forwards in Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid, Al Jefferson and Rudy Gay but seriously their guards are downright awful. Michael “I’m tall and that’s it” Carter-Williams and Tony “I shoot 32.7%” Wroten as well as Hollis “I’m completely average in every way” Thompson. Get it together guys or you’ll waste my brilliant prime.

Anthony Davis wins MVP with gaudy stats of 26 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Not bad but wait until I get to his age. The travesty is that I didn’t get on either of the All Rookie Teams which is going to make me work so much harder to prove these haters wrong.

Who cares about the draft as I wasn’t in it so I’ll skip over to summer league where yours truly has been asked to strut his stuff again. In our first game (a 115-102 loss to Houston) I was on fire. Playing 17 minutes I had a crazy 7 points and it’s pretty obvious that I carried this team to a close game. Unlike that spud Denny Dickerson who turned the ball over six times. Butterfingers much.

Game two was pretty similar to the first one as I played 15 minutes and had 5 points but Ben Harrington could not stop shooting the ball, going 5/22 for only 10 points. Ugh. Get me in there coach!

Five rebounds! In only 16 minutes I had a massive five rebounds in our 95-90 win over Miami. To make things even better, my +/- was a team high 14 so screw you haters!

It’s getting better in Mercer town as not only did I lead the team to a 111-100 win over Phoenix, I had a whopping 13 points in 18 minutes to completely take over the game. 5/7 from the field and 2/3 from behind the arc. Who knew I would be this good this soon?

Being a young guy I was too tired from the last two superstar performances so my last summer league game was a bit of a downer. Going 0/5 from the field, it was a given that I’m not quite consistent enough. I may be good, just not that good to do it every night.

The 76ers from office obviously liked what they saw and picked up my rookie option, keeping me here for at least another two years. Pretty stock standard.

In a move that should have happened last season, I’ve been sent down to the Delaware Colonels where I’m going to tear up the D-League. With my ever improving game and the much inferior opponents, I should destroy these chumps and be back in the big league in no time.

And guess who’s starting? Not me. Sucks.

[zike_42]

Season 2 - 2016-2017

Man you should have seen me this season, so good. It may only have been in the D-League but seriously, I showed the goods. My highest score was 21 points and I also had an eight rebound and an eight assist game as well so things are looking up. Too bad I only played 20 minutes a game but making the most of my time (as I always do) I averaged 7.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists while also keeping my turnover rate to a steady 1.4 a game. My shooting might have been a bit on the low side, which I’m blaming on my big hands. Shaq wasn’t a good shooter either and he had massive hands but it was better all around and I’m nearly up to 37% from the field.

Other than that life in the NBDL is pretty boring. Everyone is playing for themselves which is why I didn’t get much of a go, especially when the team goes 19-43 all teamwork goes out the window. I can’t wait until next season when I know I’ll go up into the pros again and show them how good I am if I get the chance. Speaking of Philly, they did really well, getting to the top of the East with a 59-23 record and even made it to the NBA Finals, but were beaten by OKC who won their second consecutive championship. Of course they would have probably won the whole thing if I was playing point instead of overhyped Michael Carter Williams. But oh well, I’m sure that will happen soon enough.

It’s my last summer league so I better make the most of it if I’m going to get my last rookie option year. And good news! I’m starting! Sure, it’s summer league so my minutes will be limited because the plebs need their numbers. Luckily for me this was much easier as I feel like the elder statesman in my third rodeo. Which meant that I was third on the team in scoring (9.0ppg) and lead everyone on the team in assists (2.4apg). It just felt like I had control of the game a lot of the time which bodes well for next season and hopefully the Sixers.

Success! The Sixers make the right decision and pick up my last rookie option, keeping me in this lovely (cold) city for another two seasons. Hopefully this season is a little better than the last two.

2016 – DEL – 37 games, 20.0 minutes, 7.5 points (.368 FG, .363 3P, .412 FT), 2.5 assists, 3.1 rebounds, 1.4 turnovers
2015 – PHI – 46 games, 5.3 minutes, 1.0 point (.281 FG, .242 3P, .625 FT), 0.5 assists, 0.3 rebounds, 0.7 turnovers

[OzzieLaker]

Love your work again Zike, taking a new approach to it. Looking forward to see how Mercer ends up!