Confidence explains K.J. McDaniels' curious contract move

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Ultimately, K.J. McDaniels is betting on himself. Brett Brown is betting on the Sixers’ rookie wing, too, but more in a basketball-specific sense.

Big-picture-wise, career-wise, McDaniels is betting on himself. How else do you figure him turning down the team’s offer of a four-year contract (the first two guaranteed) and opting for a single non-guaranteed season at $507,000?

The unique terms of the deal were reported by Yahoo Sports’ indefatigable NBA writer, Adrian Wojnarowski, after McDaniels signed last week. It means he could become a restricted free agent next summer.

It also means McDaniels, taken in the second round (No. 32 overall) in June’s draft, believes he can recoup whatever cash he is sacrificing now. Again, he is betting on himself – even if he prefers not to look at it that way.

“Not betting,” he said after Wednesday’s 106-92 preseason victory over Charlotte, “because I’m sure I’ll get picked up if I go out there and play with the right attitude. Hopefully I can stay here for the Sixers, but if that doesn’t happen, it is what it is.”

Nor does he believe there is any undue pressure on his shoulders, even though he does not have the safety net guaranteed money provides (and even though there appears to be a significant hole in his game – his jumper isn’t quite up to snuff).

“I have enough confidence in myself that if I just go out there and play with the right attitude and the right mentality that everything will fall into place,” he said. “The decision I made, the contract, that’s just me believing in myself.”

And he insisted it was his decision, in concert with his family. (A family that includes his dad, Kevin Sr., who once played at South Alabama.)

The younger McDaniels’ agent, Mark Bartlestein, told Wojnarowski that while he and his client “totally respect” the offer made by the Sixers, they also “totally disagree with the idea of doing a four-year deal that includes a structure of two non-guaranteed years.”

“We think K.J. is going to be a good player,” Bartlestein was quoted as saying, “and it came down to doing a one-year deal and letting the market determine his value. … There's no hard feelings. The Sixers’ philosophy has worked for them. It just doesn't work for us.”

McDaniels reiterated as much on Tuesday.

“Mark communicated with me, before we went in (for negotiations),” he said. “I had to talk with my family as well, but it was more my say-so. I don’t work for the agent. They work for me. … It took a lot of thinking about, because it was so last-minute, my contract. We had to do what we had to do.”

The same holds true on the court, and certainly the 6-foot-6 McDaniels looms as an interesting prospect - a potential keeper, if and when the rebuilding process ever ends. Last year at Clemson he led the ACC in blocked shots (100) – a significant achievement for a wing player – and was the only player in the nation to top his team in not only that category but also scoring (17.1), rebounding (7.1), steals (41) and three-pointers (42).

In the first two preseason games there have been hints of his versatility. He has five blocks, most on the team, with four of them coming Monday in Boston. And in a run of nearly 25 minutes off the bench Wednesday he accumulated eight points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

The red flag is that his four baskets (in 15 attempts over the two games) have come on a stick-back and three dunks, all on Wednesday. Clearly his outside shot is a work in progress, as was indicated by his accuracy from the cozier college arc last year (30.4 percent) and in his three years at Clemson (31.3).

But Brown remains enthused about what McDaniels has to offer at the defensive end.

“I’m going to challenge him all year long,” Brown said. “I am not going to go away, on his role on this team being a defensive stopper. ... We all know how important this league is on matchups, and we’re going to challenge him all year long with some of the league’s hardest matchups.”

Fine with McDaniels.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “It should be fun.”

He played nothing but man-to-man in college, which should help him. That said, NBA defense is markedly different from that which is played in the ACC. There is an accent on the pick-and-roll – “It’s most of it,” he said - as well as isolation plays.

One other thing, too.

“Everybody’s a great player,” he said. “You have to be up and crowd them, and just try to do your best defending them.”

But as with everything else, he’s betting on himself. Or however it is he chooses to view it.

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