The Sixer Sense
Fansided

July 17 Just Became Important To The Philadelphia 76ers

By Bret Stuter

Jun 26, 2014; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Dario Saric (Croatia) shakes hands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number twelve overall pick to the Orlando Magic in the 2014 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 26, 2014; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Dario Saric (Croatia) shakes hands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number twelve overall pick to the Orlando Magic in the 2014 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 12, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; LSU Tigers forward Ben Simmons (25) is called for a technical foul after spiking the ball in the second half against the Texas A&M Aggies during the SEC conference tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Texas A&M Aggies won 71-38. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 12, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; LSU Tigers forward Ben Simmons (25) is called for a technical foul after spiking the ball in the second half against the Texas A&M Aggies during the SEC conference tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Texas A&M Aggies won 71-38. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /

July 17 Could Mean Much More To This Team

I’ve made no bones about it. I would prefer the Philadelphia 76ers to place projected first round draft pick Ben Simmons at either small forward or point guard.  But of course I am not making that decision.

Bryan Colangelo is.

And therein lies the rub.

"“I don’t look at Ben Simmons as just a pure-four,” Colangelo said. “I look at him as a ball-handling four. I look at him as a guy who is going to distribute the basketball and initiate the offense. I think there are a number of arguments that can be constructed with him. He sets teammates up for scoring opportunities. He’s really good on the grab-and-go. He grabs rebounds and runs the break, runs the transition and distributes the basketball. He drives and kicks. He finds the basketball. We just have to put adequate shooters around him.”"

These words, spoken during an appearance on The Mike Missanelli Show on 97.5 The Fanatic in Mid May, may have had an effect of a sledgehammer on the window pane of Dario Saric’s arrival to the Philadelphia 76ers this season.  You see, he plays the four position.

Now I know that even starters need to rest and share playing minutes with the bench, but when the decision make of the team names a draft prospect to your position, you would automatically think you would be coming off the bench.  And for all intents and purposes, you would probably be right.

If Dario Saric manages to join the team, there was the chance that his arrival would force the Philadelphia 76ers to move Ben Simmons out of the four position.  If the team was open minded as it had been in the past, they might have gone with either Nerlens Noel or Jahlil Okafor at the five, Joel Embiid or Carl Landry at the four, Dario Saric or Jerami Grant at the three, Nik Stauskas or Robert Covington at the two, and Ben Simmons or T.J. McConnell at the one.

That would be an exciting lineup.  But without Saric, the likelihood of any experimentation of Ben Simmons vanishes, and with it the chance to see the NBA version of “Tall Ball”.

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