Philadelphia 76ers Fans Forgot About Carl Landry

The Philadelphia 76ers have had injury issues, but fans may have forgotten about one of their injured players–Carl Landry.

The Philadelphia 76ers started off this season with a ton of injuries. In fact, in a way it’s defined how their season has started, throwing their guards into positions they should not have been in, and making a young guard T.J. McConnell step up.

McConnell stepping up wasn’t a bad thing, but forcing Isaiah Canaan to play point guard was. A lot of these things could have been solved if the injuries weren’t happening. Kendall Marshall and Tony Wroten are both out, and have been since the beginning of the season, putting the backcourt at a huge disadvantage from the get-go.

Joel Embiid is also out for yet another season, as most are well aware of.

Some fans may have forgotten about one of the huge injuries, though. That is veteran forward Carl Landry. If you’re big into the money side of things, you probably didn’t forget about Landry though, since his contract is taking up the third-highest amount of the Sixers’ cap, at $6.5 million. The two higher ones aren’t currently on the roster (yeah, let that sink in), so Landry is the highest paid current member on the roster.

Landry, by some, is seen as a do-nothing type of player on the team, simply taking up a roster spot, but I see some upside in having him on the team.

For one, Landry is a veteran presence on the team, which has proven to be important to a lot of teams. The Washington Wizards’ success was largely due to Paul Pierce‘s efforts for them last year. Landry is no Paul Pierce by any means, but he’s the closest thing to a “veteran presence” that seems all-so-necessary nowadays that the Sixers have.

Obviously, having Landry on the team hasn’t taught young guys like Jahlil Okafor that they shouldn’t drive 108 miles per hour down the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.

Secondly, Landry is really not a bad player. His shooting is pretty good, as he shot well over 50% from the field last year, and averaged 7.2 points per game, while playing just 17.0 minutes per game. Per 36 minutes, he averaged over 15 points.

Landry won’t be able to space the floor, as 55.5% of his shots are within 10 feet of the rim, and none were from beyond the arc.

This doesn’t seem like much spectacular, and without sugar coating it, it’s not. Landry has not proven himself to be anything hugely impressive, but does add some depth to an area where the Sixers need help, the front court.

Right now in the front court, Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel have been forced to dominate if the Sixers want to stick around in games, and don’t get much help from the bench when they sit. Since the Sixers don’t have many options at the front court, head coach Brett Brown has even started Jerami Grant at the four spot in a few games, which makes for an incredibly small lineup. This would be okay, if that small lineup could stretch the floor for Jahlil with longer shots, but the team has next to no shooters, so a smaller lineup really just puts the team at a disadvantage.

Richaun Holmes and Christian Wood, the only current true front court backups, together are averaging nine points per game, and 4.8 rebounds per game.

Richaun Holmes has also been out for the past several games with a hamstring injury. He finally appears almost ready to go, but still, is putting the team at a large disadvantage even when he is playing.

Having Landry back at least gives the team another option on the bench, and could be bigger than some people think. Don’t forget about Carl Landry, he may be the most neccesary currently injured Sixers.