2. SG Gerald Henderson
This may be a head scratcher to some, but Henderson has all the tools needed to fill in nicely as one of the Sixers’ best players next season. He’s someone who, unlike the vast majority of the youthful core that has been detailed throughout this piece, doesn’t have any glaring holes in his all-around game.
Whether it’s Okafor’s lack of defense, Noel’s lack of offense, or Embiid’s looming injury concerns, a hefty bit of the Sixers’ core has some form of question mark that caps either their upside or, in Embiid’s case, their beginning floor. Henderson doesn’t. He’s a skilled offensive piece on the wing, and backs his ability to produce on that side of the ball with a strong defensive pedigree that he established during his tenure with the Charlotte Hornets.
Henderson isn’t exactly the most awe-inspiring player on the court, but he understands how to produce within an offensive system. He’s a solid outside shooter and a much needed boost to the team’s floor spacing, while his explosiveness off the dribble is impressive for somebody of his age (28) considering the knee problems he has dealt with in the past.
Henderson hasn’t averaged under 14 points per 36 minutes since his rookie campaign, and given the fact that the Sixers could offer him his most substantial offensive role to date, expecting somewhere within the range of 16 points per contest is far from unreasonable. Henderson will serve in one of the Sixers’ most stable roles and as one of their most stable, experienced producers on the offensive side of the ball next season.
Defensively, Henderson is in fairly solid company alongside the likes of Covington, Grant, and Luwawu on the wing. The Sixers are far from complete in that aspect, but they’ve compiled a nice group of rangy, well-versed defenders who can likely continue to improve with a veteran presence like Henderson guiding the starting group. The Sixers have a highly energetic and hard working group of talent in the secondary aspects of their rotation, and Henderson’s ” get work done” attitude should fit seamlessly into that mold.
After being an afterthought at times with Portland last season, this opportunity to fill a sizable role with his hometown team should breath a new sense of legitimcany into Henderson’s production. He was overshadowed far more than he’s used to by the likes of CJ McCollum and Allen Crabbe last season, a problem he won’t run into with Nik Stauskas and Hollis Thompson likely to be primary reserves at the two spot.
As two-way veteran who can contribute to extent that Henderson is able to is a commodity that Brett Brown and company haven’t had during the past handful of seasons, so watching his evolution over the course of the season will certainly be interesting. When you consider he trumps the expansive majority of the roster in both experience and aptness on both sides of the basketball, it’s not all that crazy to slot him second on this list at the season’s beginning.
Next: 1. Simmons