Filling holes: Part Two Development League
The Philadelphia 76ers had a surplus of solid young NBA talent in the preseason of 2016-2017. As a result, the team ended up placing five players onto the roster of the Delaware 87ers this season. That list includes James Webb III, Cat Barber, Shawn Long, Dionte Christmas, and most recently, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot.
.@timcabs has just been assigned to the #Sevens. Catch TLC in action tonight against the @greensboroswarm! Tickets: https://t.co/Rrr8jbgR4P pic.twitter.com/NJUAMgsaDN
— Delaware Blue Coats (@blue_coats) November 21, 2016
As a matter of fact, the Philadelphia 76ers enjoy a strong relationship with the 87ers in a number of ways. Most recently, the organizations have swapped coaches, even in 2016 where the team promoted Kevin Young to assistant coach of the 76ers, after serving as the head coach to the Delaware 87ers. To fill the 87ers head coach role, the team assigned shooting coach Eugene Borroughs to fill the spot.
As it stands, the team finds expiring contracts at center, power forward, small forward, and two at point guard. Can the team restock the shelves from the 87ers?
As a matter of fact, yes. Yes they can. If you want to learn more about the rules regarding NBA teams and D-league call ups, I suggest you check out a previous article here. Right now, the only player on the Delaware 87ers exclusive to the Philadelphia 76ers is Luwawu-Cabarrot.
If no NBA team poaches the prospects from the Delaware 87ers, those players would likely be the first in line for consideration for next year’s 20 man roster. That would mean guards Dione Christmas and Cat Barber, center/power forward Shawn Long, and forward James Webb III would be 76ers once more. Since they are apart of the team’s extended network, the players would be more familiar with the 76ers style of offense and defense. It’s a strong cast, and they could take it to the next level next season.
But the team has other options for young talent