The Philadelphia 76ers are looking to be more competitive, and may need a utility guy similar to Lance Stephenson in the future.
With the Philadelphia 76ers having been bad for the past several years, it’s really nice for the team to be able to focus on good players that look like they can be stars for the future. Guys like Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Dario Saric. To an extent, even players like Robert Covington look as if they can be solid as well.
On the flip side, some competitive teams that already have their stars look to bolster their roster throughout the season in different ways. The Indiana Pacers can’t add anything much more exciting than Paul George, but their addition of Lance Stephenson heading into the playoffs was one that caused fans to get a little happy.
Stephenson had a stint with the Pacers and really made his name in Indiana. The famous Pacers vs. Miami Heat playoff series years ago where Stephenson infamously blew in LeBron James’ ear to get in his head sticks in almost every NBA fans’ mind. Stephenson is not a star (although at one time it looked like he could potentially get there). Stephenson is a utility player.
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You can put him on the floor and have him do a bunch of different things, but he probably won’t do one thing exceptionally well. He can defend obnoxiously, and really get inside the opponent’s head. Scoring double digit points is in his wheelhouse provided he can get the minutes to do so.
The Pacers fell 2-0 to the Miami Heat on Monday night, but Stephenson has been decent as that utility piece. He’s averaged 14.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in the first two games of the playoffs.
Of course, the Sixers shouldn’t go after Stephenson specifically if given the chance at some point in the future (for goodness sake, this is the guy that compared his Indiana return to Michael Jordan coming out of retirement). He comes with a load of problems, and George criticized him after the game two loss for being unable to control himself, as well as his poor body language. Aside from being a utility piece, the only reason he got a chance with the Pacers this postseason is because he has history with the team and some of the players on it still.
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There is, however, value in trying to find a guy that can be a utility piece for when they do get competitive. The easiest thing the Sixers could do is look at which pieces could operate as such and develop them in that way. Dario Saric is pretty skilled in almost all areas, and seems like a good option. He could get a little bit bigger in order to defend bigger players.
Justin Anderson seems to be the type of high energy guy that Stephenson is that could really impact a game in any way you want him to. His defense is good, and his offense isn’t shabby either, and looks to be of high quality once it is a bit more refined.
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Or, when the Sixers are on the verge of the playoffs, if they feel they need a utility player, they could go out and get themselves one in free agency or at the trade deadline. The NBA Playoffs show us there is more to a final, cohesive and competitive unit than just star players. Let’s just hope the Sixers’ current plan accounts for that.