Raul Neto Should be a Steady Backup Ball Handler for the Sixers
The Sixers needed a backup point guard and they got one in Raul Neto.
The former Utah Jazz player is headed to Philly on a one-year, veteran’s minimum deal, and gives Brett Brown’s team another ball-handling option behind Ben Simmons and maybe Shake Milton.
Neto played four years in Salt Lake City, putting together career averages that look like this:
- 14.2 minutes per game
- 44.3 field goal %
- 37.7 three point %
- 77.6% from the foul line
- 4.8 points
- 1.3 rebounds
- 1.9 assists
- 0.6 steals
That’s not bad for a second unit point guard. He was a +4.7 in 37 games off the bench this past season, which is solid.
Those 37 games were a career low , but he did post some of his best career numbers this year, including that +4.7 and a 2.6 assist to turnover ratio. He shot 46% from the floor this year as a low usage guy, attempting only 2.7 two point shots and 1.6 three point shots per game. Neto has played in 20 career playoff games, so that’s good experience to lean on as well.
Neto is the same age as T.J. McConnell with the same exact NBA experience (26 years old, 4 full years in the league.) Here’s how they compared last season, after the jump:
T.J. shot the ball slightly better from two-point range, while the three-point percentages are exactly the same. Neto got to the line with more frequency and shot it better when he got there. The assist to turnover ratios look pretty similar.
These are very nice numbers for a backup PG:
If this is the end, a small shoutout to Raul Neto's on-court splits… the best you'll ever see for a third-string PG. pic.twitter.com/zcX6cA0Tl7
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) July 1, 2019
I couldn’t find much in the way of video clips from this season, but here’s something the Jazz put together:
Four more things:
- He missed time due to a variety of injuries this year, then doctors later discovered the source was a pinched nerve in his back. Should be good this season with that problem identified and handled appropriately.
- The article I linked above describes him as “more of a caretaker than a playmaker,” which I think is perfect.
- He’s Brazilian, so his name is pronounced “How-ool.” In Portuguese, the “R” sound is an “H” sound instead, so it’s “How-ool” and not “Roww-ool.”
- He’s apparently single, which this young woman appreciates –
i just went through raul neto’s insta and i saw was no wife/gf , our time to shine ladies
— kos (@kostancaaa__) July 4, 2019