Forget Center, Philadelphia 76ers Logjam Is Roster Wide Now

With everyone’s focus on the center position, the Philadelphia 76ers quietly addressed the roster this off-season. However, now the perceived logjam is team wide.

Dario Saric has come to the NBA to play basketball. His natural position is power forward, which just so happens to be the natural position of first year rookie sensation Ben Simmons. But that’s okay. We can slide on of them to small forward. But that is where Team USA Select Jerami Grant and swiss army knife Robert Covington will play. No matter, slide Covington to shooting guard. But that’s where the team is projecting newly sign Gerald Henderson, returning veterans Nik Stauskas and Hollis Thompson, and perhaps rookie Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot. Perhaps one can slide to point guard? Not if the team is committed to returning T.J. McConnell, Sergio Rodriguez, or Jerryd Bayless.

It becomes apparent as the team continued to sign players for pre-season:

Plus

as well as:

And then one more:

The team roster is now at 21, even after considering the fact that shooting guard Furkan Korkmaz will remain overseas to play for Dario Saric’s former team – Anadolu Efes of the Turkish Super Basketball League.

Next: NBA Roster

NBA Roster

Centers:      Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel
Power Forward:  Carl Landry, Dario Sario, Ben Simmons, Richaun Holmes
Small Forward:  Jerami Grant, Robert Covington, James Webb III, Shawn Long
Shooting guard: Gerald Henderson, Hollis Thompson, Nik Stauskas, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Brandon Paul, Furkan Korkmaz
Point guard: Sergio Hernandez, T.J. McConnell, Cat Barber, Jerryd Bayless, Kendall Marshall.

Three centers, four power forwards, four small forwards, five-six shooting guards, five point guards.

We know that training camp uses extra position slots to add a competitive flavor to the pre-season, give coaches enough players to have meaningful scrimmages, have enough surplus to give teams chances to rest the bumped and bruised players before the season starts.

But there is some talent on this team now which may have started a season ago, but is now at risk of not even making the team.  In fact, of this group, one will be gone before training camp begins.

Next: Roster Battles

Roster battles

To be honest, right now the least competitive position appears to be: center.  While there is a culture of “positionless basketball” on the Philadelphia 76ers, the positional grouping are simply there to make it easier to follow the roster battles.  At the end of the day, the team will likely carry three players per “natural position”.  As you can see, that will likely translate into some talented prospects not making the roster.

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We had looked at the players most likely to make this roster in a previous article, and even in that article, we knew that the decisions of who does and does not make this roster will hurt more than recent years.  As we layer on the undrafted free agent signings, we can see that the team truly is bursting at the seems now.  Some undrafted players, such as Cat Barber, was a projected late first round prospect.

Now before anyone misunderstands me – the Philadelphia 76ers center position has the makings of three elite centers in the NBA, who will all be competing for minutes. Part of that will be addressed by a minutes restriction and alternating games schedule for Joel Embiid. But even on his off nights, the team will be working two very good centers into an NBA game.

At other positions? These have players who are known, and unknown, to the head coach.  In the upcoming weeks, the team will be gather knowledge about their new and unknown players.

Next: Domino Effect

Domino Effect

Of course, the player most likely to be “slotted” first is Ben Simmons, a player who could conceivably be slotted at any of the five NBA positions.  But where he goes dictates the team roster.  Why?  The domino effect.

If the team slots him at power forward, that will likely slide Dario Saric to small forward which will likely slide Robert Covington to shooting guard.   That may in turn trigger one of the shooting guards to slide to point guard.

If the team slots Ben Simmons at small forward, that could open up Jahlil Okafor to slide to power forward.  Once more, Robert Covington could slide to shooting guard and once more, a shooting guard could slide to point guard.

It’s the domino effect.

The Philadelphia 76ers are vulnerable to this as the team’s head coach, Brett Brown, likes to get his best five players on the basketball court.  But which five will that be?   And if the battle to start is across all positions, is that a good thing for the depth and durability of this roster?

One would think so.  Last year the team began the season with just nine of fifteen players able to suit up for that first game.  60 percent of the team’s roster to take the floor, 40% unable to do so.
While that has less effect in one game, over the course of the season, the team used more players with significantly more minutes than any other team. Last season, eleven players averaged 15 or more minutes per game.  If you lower the threshold to ten or more minutes per game, that number rises to 17 players.

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The Philadelphia 76ers have refurbished the roster, have upgraded at virtually every position, and are eager to get the new season underway.  Until that time, there will be plenty of action as the team will be working to form a roster and a nucleus going forward.  It will be a very exciting year for the Philadelphia 76ers fans.