Brett Brown has had Justin Anderson for all of six games, so he's not yet rushing to judgment about whether or not the 23-year-old swingman is a keeper.
But he's liked what he's seen so far.
"The more time that we spend with him, I'll be a better judge of how quickly he picks things up, a better judge of what you think peoples' ceilings might be," Brown said after Anderson's 19-point game against the Bucks Monday.
"It's been such a quick snapshot that it's unfair really to project out. I think that, from my gut feel, when you talk with him and ask him different questions, there's a good vibe that comes out of that conversation and you feel like there possibly is a keeper because he ticks so many skill packages."
Anderson has had 19 points in two of his last three games, shooting 8 for 12 against the Knicks and 9 for 16 against the Bucks. In the Milwaukee game, he went 0 for 6 from three and 9 for 10 from two, also contributing six rebounds and three assists.
Anderson, acquired on trade deadline day from the Mavericks for Nerlens Noel, has also brought the Sixers a sorely needed infusion of energy during this down period. He's already proven to be the best dunker on the team and the second-most active defender to Robert Covington.
As with most swingmen, Anderson's ceiling will be determined by how well he shoots from long range. In 112 NBA games, he's taken 224 threes and made just 28.1 percent of them, an ugly figure.
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If the Sixers can ever get Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons on the court at the same time, they're going to need to surround them with 3-and-D players like Covington. If Anderson can become another complementary piece, he could have a role on their second unit.
"Does he fit how we want to play? Can he play fast? Can he make a shot? Does he have a toughness?" Brown asked rhetorically. "Defense, pace and space. From time to time he shows, yes he can, in all three of those categories.
"When you look at his age, his body and physical gifts, I get excited to coach him."
If it was 1985, you could look at a player like Anderson and say, "Drive to the basket, finish in traffic, play some D and you'll have done your job." But in today's NBA, if you're a 2 or a 3 and you can't shoot from distance, you're just not that valuable.
With much more opportunity for playing time as a Sixer, Anderson will have the chance to keep shooting threes in game situations. You can take as many wide-open treys as you want in practice, but those are no match for live game reps.
"Luckily, I now have a coach who's super cool, who comes down to the end of the bench and he says, 'Because this team is so long, space out even further. Shoot with confidence, be cocky with your shot,'" Anderson said, referring to the Bucks' length.
"As a player, when you hear that, it just gives you that thing in your mind that you let all doubt go, it doesn't matter what you're shooting, you take the best three available.
"One of the first things that [Brown] told me when I got traded is that he thinks that I can improve my three-point shooting. He likes the way I shoot the ball, thinks I have a nice stroke. He said I'm gonna take a lot of threes and there may be a lot of misses, but we're going to keep taking them.
"For him to tell not just me that but the whole team, it shows his trust in our ability to shoot the basketball and we've just got to keep letting it go."
The Sixers lack a go-to scorer and rely on constant ball movement, so Anderson will have many more opportunities to let 'em go this season.
How much progress he's able to make in that department will determine whether he becomes a valuable piece in the Covington mold or just another player who came through town during the process.