The Sixer Sense
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Ranking the Sixers: No. 7, Richaun Holmes

By Mitchell Cohen

CAMDEN, NJ - SEPTEMBER 25: Richaun Holmes #22 of the Philadelphia 76ers poses during Philadelphia 76ers Media Day on September 25, 2017 at the Philadelphia 76ers Training Complex in Camden, New Jersey. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
CAMDEN, NJ - SEPTEMBER 25: Richaun Holmes #22 of the Philadelphia 76ers poses during Philadelphia 76ers Media Day on September 25, 2017 at the Philadelphia 76ers Training Complex in Camden, New Jersey. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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Richaun Holmes emerged as the Philadelphia 76ers‘ best backup center option last season, and he’ll look to continue that momentum into what will be a pivotal season for the team as a whole.

As a brief reminder of how this works, we here at TSS averaged rankings from 14 different staff members in order to get a composite list of the Philadelphia 76ers‘ best players, from No. 1 through No. 16.

Next is Richaun Holmes, who comes in at No. 7.

One of the biggest questions for the Philadelphia 76ers this season, along with seemingly every season for the last decade, is health. The Sixers’ two most important players, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, are coming off a 2016-17 season in which they combined to play 31 games. This isn’t ideal! With uncertainty surrounding how Embiid will recover from a knee injury sufferd last year, it’s important for the team to employ a “next man up” mentality. For no one will this apply more to than Richaun Holmes. Holmes will most likely spell Embiid off the bench, and on nights where the team chooses to rest Joel.

Holmes is somewhat of an Embiid-extra lite. Listed at 6-foot-10, 245 pounds compared to Embiid’s 7-foot-2, 270, Holmes possesses more quickness and agility. He also slimmed down quite a bit this summer, as seen below:

The newer, more-toned Holmes should theoretically have more success within the structure of the team’s defense. The only way for teams to combat the Golden State Warriors is by having long, mobile athletes who can defend all over the court and shoot from outside. Teams all around the league have attempted to follow this formula and the Sixers are no different. Holmes is the epitome of this movement.

Holmes was the Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year his senior year at Bowling Green. After his first two seasons in the league, he’s continued to show that same ability. He’s an instinctive shot-blocker and a ferocious rebounder on the defensive end. It’s been noted many times over the past few months how impressive the Sixers defense has been with Joel Embiid on the court. But with Holmes on the court, the team maintained their 106 defensive rating for the season. Not too bad with Jahlil Okafor also spending time on the court!

In addition to his defensive presence, Holmes has surprisingly offered some offensive skills. He’s proven to be adept at rolling to the hoop in the pick-and-roll and occasionally even hitting an outside jumper. Richaun went from shooting 18.2% of his threes during his rookie season to hitting right at a league average 35.1% last season, while nearly doubling his attempts. That sort of improvement could just be luck. But Holmes’ free throw percentage and overall field goal percentage improved also so let’s chalk it up to real-life improvement.

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With the uncertainty of Joel Embiid’s health this year and beyond, there are worse backup options than Richaun Holmes. He showed enough over the past two seasons to make Bryan Colangelo and Brett Brown feel confident about moving on from Nerlens Noel and inserting Holmes as the backup to Embiid. Let’s hope he continues to make similar strides to the ones he’s made the past two seasons.