JaKarr Sampson was not too difficult to find last summer. For anyone looking, the 22-year-old small forward lived in the gym at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Nearly every day Sampson, Isaiah Canaan, Robert Covington, Jerami Grant and Hollis Thompson worked out at the team’s practice facility, firing up shot after shot and pushing each other to improve.
With his second season in the NBA to begin in a week, Sampson is confident his workouts paid off. His coach Brett Brown can see the improvement even before Sampson steps on the court, along with the rest of his summer workout teammates.
“I think they feel like they’re a little further along and that they have a right to be here,” Brown said.
Sampson should have that confidence because he knows he is going to play an integral role with the Sixers this season. Sampson likely will be assigned to guard the opposition’s best offensive player, and with Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel patrolling the paint, his offseason shooting workouts are going to be put to the test.
Considering where Sampson’s perimeter game was just two years ago playing for St. John’s, that’s quite a development.
Sampson attempted 13 three-pointers in two seasons at St. John’s, and he made just one. A slasher on offense, Sampson’s ability to get to the basket and draw fouls was all he focused on in college. As a pro, Sampson still relies on those abilities, though he is a bit more discerning about what shots to take and when.
“It’s improved a lot. I’m taking better threes,” Sampson said after Wednesday’s practice at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. “Last year, it was all about showing people I could shoot, but I’m a slasher and I’m good at getting to the rim and getting to the foul line. But when I’m open I can knock that shot down.”
Last year, that wasn’t necessarily the case. Pushed into a point guard job after a trade deadline deal sent Michael Carter-Williams to Milwaukee, Sampson hit just 24.4 percent of his threes. Considering nearly 37 percent of all his shots were three-pointers, it wasn’t exactly the shot defenders were too worried about.
Sampson is a threat from three-point range now, albeit one that still has some fine-tuning to go. Instead, the real value to Sampson’s game is his defense and it’s what he wants to be known for.
“That’s my focus,” Sampson said. “That’s why I’m here. The playing time I get is because of my defense.
“I want to be that guy who makes it tougher for great players.”
That means the Cleveland native wants to guard fellow St. Vincent-St. Mary High School alum, LeBron James, and Brooklyn’s Joe Johnson. At 6-foot-9, Sampson has the size and athleticism to be the defensive stopper, but the experience and knowledge will have to be earned.
According to Brown, Sampson will get a chance to show what he can do.
“Our best-balanced team is with JaKarr, because he can guard,” Brown said.
“I see more of a veteran-type of mentality. [Sampson and Grant have] been with me longer and they had an amazing summer. They had summer league and they had hard workouts and then they were early September arrivals. They’ve just been consistent and they are reaping the benefits for a bunch of ways — their games have improved, their chemistry has improved. I see them through a whole different lens in that they are actually mine. They’ve been with me for a while.”
While defense is his focus, Sampson understands that work on his shooting and ball handling could take his game up a notch. And though he has improved his shooting, he doesn’t quite have the green light to fire up shots whenever he wants.
Not yet, anyway.
“JaKarr would not be among our more credentialed shooters, yet you want to find an environment where you can use what we worked on,” Brown said. “Balancing whether to shoot the three or catch and go and get to the rim is the test.”
With Okafor and Noel in the paint, Brown and the Sixers are going to need all the shooters they can get. Sampson will get an opportunity to carve out a niche for himself if he shows he can hit a couple.
