The Undervalued Veterans Of Philadelphia 76ers

Nature Abhors A Vacuum

The team no longer has field general Ish Smith to take the shot under pressure, or the familiar cheer of “CANAANBALL” following a clutch three pointer by Isaiah Canaan, so two of the top five scorers of the team are no longer with the group.

While the team has a very optimistic view of Jahlil Okafor this year on offense, the real burst may come from Robert Covington, whose season ended with the swiss army knife veteran of the 76ers putting up 18.1 points per game in April 2016.  In many trade rumors, Covington’s name mysteriously slipped into the demands from the tentative trading partner, and for good reason. Covington is extremely versatile, can perform both offensively and defensively, and is a solid player who is willing to start or come off the bench.  Last season , he appeared in 67 games for the Sixers, and started in 49 of those games.

Covington is one of those players who will benefit tremendously by the presence of Ben Simmons on the court. His accuracy at the perimeter is very dependent upon getting clean looks. As he became an offensive threat for the Philadelphia 76ers, his accuracy dropped. With Simmons, the point forward will attract plenty of defensive attention, but has that sweet pass to the open player as the shot opens. In that scenario, Covington becomes deadly accurate. If the shot is not open, Covington can dish the ball into the post for Okafor, or back to Simmons to place the ball elsewhere. If the team opts a tall ball lineup, Covington may land some playing time at the shooting guard position.

So too, both Hollis Thompson and Jerami Grant – both falling just under ten points a game last year, will have the opportunity to score much more in this new season.  Thompson had the purest three-point shot on the team, picking up three points on 38 percent of his attempts.  While Grant needs to work on his shot arsenal, he has an uncanny ability to pick up points on alley oops to the net – another attribute which will improve under Simmons.

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In the end, what lineup was with the Philadelphia 76ers is no longer.  This roster has pulled up the ramp to development of young players.  Now it’s developing a cohesive team that understands what the head coach is trying to accomplish.   The expectation for the team to run a completely new five man roster is a possibility, but not a path walked by Brett Brown before.

This team will rotate players early in the season, getting a feel for who can do what on the basketball court.  As players improve, they’ll earn they way into more playing time, . That’s  how it works in Philadelphia.  Brown rewards experience with starts, effort with playing time.

So far the results are pretty good.   Now the team simply needs to win.