Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey announced yesterday that the team has signed forward Georges Niang.
“Georges is a talented player who can stretch the floor and he immediately bolsters our frontcourt depth,” Morey said. “He has shot over 40-percent from three for his career and has steadily improved his overall game each season he’s been in the NBA. We’re excited to welcome him to Philadelphia.”
Niang spent the last four seasons with Utah after spending his rookie year with Indiana, which selected him in the 2016 NBA Draft with the No. 50 overall pick out of Iowa State. For his career, he has appeared in 229 games, with averages of 5.1 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.6 assists per contest.
During each year of his professional career, Niang has increased his averages in points, rebounds and assists, including last season when he posted career highs of 6.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists. He also was the only player last season to appear in at least 70 games while shooting at least 40-percent from both the field and three-point range, while knocking down at least 95-percent of his attempts from the foul line.
For his career, he is a .404 three-point shooter, a mark that ranks 13th among active NBA players with 600-or-more attempts. This past season, Niang shot nearly 43-percent from three on a career-high 4.1 attempts per game.
Over his four collegiate seasons at Iowa State, Niang earned multiple accolades, including selections to the Associated Press All-America Third Team in 2014-15 and the Consensus All-America Second Team in 2015-16. As a Cyclone, he was also named to the All-Big 12 First Team as a senior, when he earned the Karl Malone Award as the nation’s top collegiate power forward. The 2015-16 season, Niang’s last in college, saw him average 20.5 points per game (second in the Big 12) as he led the conference in field-goal percentage at .546. The fourth-seeded Cyclones reached the Sweet 16 of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Niang will wear No. 20 for the 76ers.
