The 76ers made some notable improvement at the point guard spot with Jerryd Bayless, however, there is certainly room for improvement at the position, and giving Trey Burke a fresh start could be an intriguing option.
After a few down seasons with the Utah Jazz, Trey Burke has found himself in a logjam of mediocre point guards in Utah, now overshadowed and likely knocked out of the starting rotation by newly acquired George Hill. With Hill and Exum likely being Utah’s focal point moving forward, with Shelvin Mack also putting in valuable minutes last season after the trade deadline, they could be more than willing to look for a trade partner in connection to Burke, according to Marc Stein — and the Philadelphia 76ers could be an option.
Burke was a highly coveted rookie coming out of Michigan, but never lived up to expectations of being the next franchise point guard in Utah. He’s a skilled facilitator who shoots well from deep, but has been plagued by injuries and ensuing inconsistency that has diminished his chances for success with a budding Jazz squad.
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Even with his downfall, however, Burke is far from a bad player. He’s capable of contributing in the right situation and is still plenty young in regards to the improvements he can continue to make as his career progresses. He won’t be a star by any means, but as a solid rotational player and skilled playmaker alongside Ben Simmons, the 23-year-old is an appealing option.
The fit here is pretty obvious, with his shooting aiding in the seemingly endless pursuit for spacing in Philly, while his ability to play the role of another facilitator alongside Simmons, at a higher level than Bayless, is a positive moving forward.
Burke is also extremely effective in the pick-and-roll, something Brett Brown could utilize extensively with the Sixers’ plethora of bigs. Burke put up 10 points per game last season, a slight decline in comparison to his 12 per game total career wise. In addition, he added 2 assists per contest after being limited to just 21 minutes of play per contest, largely as a scoring burst in reserve.
Philadelphia likely won’t stumble upon their long term solution at the point guard spot this offseason, but Burke gives a player with the talent indicative of somebody who could be a legitimate part of the unit moving forwards. He may not be the starting guard off the future, but he’s a viable sixth man option in the long run and someone who is likely playing with a chip on his shoulder after being largely excluded in Utah.
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As mentioned before, he’s merely 23. His age fits well into the long term scope that the Sixers, even under Bryan Colangelo, are likely still monitoring to some extent. His talents exceed those of any point guards left on the roster at this point, while his contract is beyond reasonable at this point, with a team option for 2017-18 season that would cost them just shy of $4.6 million. Burke was once considered the best point guard in the 2013 NBA Draft, and although he didn’t live up to those lofty standards, the talent requisite of a strong NBA player remains.