Philadelphia 76ers: How should Brett Brown balance youth and winning?

As the Philadelphia 76ers chase a playoff berth, how should they manage their younger prospects.

In general, the Philadelphia 76ers are a young team. Their three best players — Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Dario Saric — are all 23 or younger, which makes their recent success even more impressive.

This season, however, has presented Brett Brown with a new luxury: veterans in the rotation. Amir Johnson and Trevor Booker have diminished Richaun Holmes‘ role, while Jerryd Bayless spent most of the season as one of Brown’s go-to reserves on the perimeter.

For a team that is finally capable of competing, relying on veterans isn’t bad. The Sixers have always had a strong culture, but establishing a group that can consistently win games is difficult nonetheless. It’s even more difficult to do that without playing veterans.

Where the issue lies is with players like Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Justin Anderson. Neither of them got regular playing time until Bayless got hurt. Bayless hasn’t been that great either, struggling with inconsistency all season.

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TLC was admittedly bad early in the season, but presents far more upside down the road. The Sixers are looking to compete, but should that come at the cost of developing their younger pieces?

There a few different angles worth exploring here. Philadelphia is a solid team, but they aren’t genuine competitors in the East. They might be able to steal a couple of games from Boston or Toronto in the first round, but the likelihood of advancing past those groups (or Cleveland) is still thin.

On the other side of that debate, you have to consider the caliber of players who aren’t getting minutes. TLC was considered a steal back in 2016, but he has disappointed in many respects since then. He might not be a player worth giving valuable minutes to, even if he is younger.

Now that Marco Belinelli is on board, the Sixers have a capable reserve who fits Brett Brown’s system markedly better. He can help carry some of the scoring load when Embiid sits, while his constant off-ball motion keeps the offense from getting stagnant.

We’ve seen how much smoother the Sixers’ offense runs with that kind of player (see: J.J. Redick).

With a legitimate reserve who can a) help win games and b) make life easier for Philadelphia’s stars, the argument for playing TLC and Anderson diminishes. Anderson has earned some playing time, but he’s not on Belinelli’s level. TLC, aside from a handful of games during Bayless’ absence, has regressed across the board in his second season.

The Sixers are finally showing signs of becoming a competitive group, which means winning is important. The long-term results still hold more weight — keeping Embiid healthy, above all else, is the main goal — but winning games will help build up the culture that’s already in place. If there are veterans who deserve minutes ahead of the younger pieces, they need to be on the floor.

Next: What if Paul George joins the Sixers? (Mailbag)

You can’t risk forward progress as a team for pieces who might not make the roster in a couple years.