Philadelphia 76ers, may we approach the bench?

The Philadelphia 76ers entered the season with the potential to boast a great NBA bench. While that didn’t develop, have the Philadelphia 76ers landed a post-season worthy bench?

These Philadelphia 76ers have done more with less than any other NBA team.  In the 2017-2018 season, this team is winning. As of early March 2018, the 76ers are fighting through the fifth worst scoring bench in the NBA. Does that surprise anyone? After all, the team has seen almost no production from top-pick Markelle Fultz.

But Fultz, although the marquis name on the team, did not sit on the bench as  the only injured player for the 76ers this season. The team lost the opportunity to develop shooting guard Furkan Korkmaz thanks to an untimely foot injury.  And after trading Jahlil Okafor and Nik Stauskas (plus a pick) for a temporary rental of Trevor Booker, the team paused at filling the vacated roster spot.

Short handed bench

While other teams field 15 players, the Philadelphia 76ers seemed to be content to play 12 on a season everyone considered as a potential playoff run. On a bench intended to have enough fire power to pull in plenty of rebounds, score enough points, and have plenty of real depth, nothing seemed to go right. The starting five is certainly capable enough.

But it’s a long 82 game season. And with a shallow and somewhat unreliable bench,  the starters began to fall to injury. Simultaneously, the team had to compensate for resting starting center Joel Embiid on back to backs.  All the while,  the depth of the shallow bench found itself strained even further. Without a bench, Coach Brett Brown was forced to “make do” with young players who were learning roles.

Casual fans blame Brown

Casual fans, unclear of what the underlying roster quality and depth was, quickly fell upon head coach Brett Brown to fix the team throughout first half struggles. Let’s face it, Coach Brown found out the hard way just how shallow this bench is when be was forced to try either Jerryd Bayless or Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot in a starting role when J.J. Redick fell to injury.

But fans would hear none of it.  Even when the coach scrambled to find a suitable backup center for Joel Embiid, those same folks used the opportunity to call for Brett Brown to be fired. Fire the coach for a shallow bench? As crazy as it sounds, that was the social media reaction. And it became so hilariously ironic that many others joined in to emphasize the irony. A head coach who finds ways to win despite being outmanned losing support from the fans? Well, from the recent additions to the fanbase it seemed.

Neglected bench begs for attention

But the underlying cause was a bench that was left unattended and neglected. Team president Bryan Colangelo traded away Nik Stauskas, Jahlil Okafor, and a second round draft pick to the Brooklyn Nets for Trevor Booker in December 2018. The result of that move opened up a roster spot for the team. And there was the untimely injury to Furkan Korkmaz.  That injury derailed the team’s timeline for developing wings. And there was the mysterious injury and rehab and miscommunication over Markelle Fultz.  Suddenly, the urgency to fill that roster spot heated up.

But that roster spot did not get filled. In fact, six weeks later, we reviewed the shallow bench and called out the team’s front office for their deriliction of duty to build bench depth. It was an disturbing situation, and unnecessary. In the end, this is a Philadlephia 76ers team which finally found itself competing for post-season play, but left to 12 of 15 active positions. And the team suffered. Not only with a shallow bench, but in finding meaningful starters when needed. Losses began to pile up. All the while, Bryan Colangelo failed to act. Even through the trade deadline.

Colangelo finally acts

It was not until the Atlanta Hawks bought out shooting guard Marco Belinelli that Bryan Colangelo finally acted to fill the open roster spot.  With a bench inept at scoring, and struggling to meet the needs of picking up quality minutes, something had to be done.  And yet, with the expiration of the NBA Trade Deadline, the team had to await the availability of veteran buyouts. The first buyout rumored to the Philadelphia 76ers was that of the Hawks buyout of Belinelli.  And so, Colangelo signed Marco Belinelli to a deal to add wing production and depth for the team.

But those Atlanta Hawks continued to pursue buyouts. In fact, they did so once more with a player they had obtained via a trade from the Philadelphia 76ers previously, power forward Ersan Ilyasova. Ilyasova’s availability did complicate the situation somewhat, as his availability would force the team to waive an existing player to remain at the roster limit of 15. But who?  In the end, that same player who cost the team Jahlil Okafor, Nik Stauskas, and a second round pick was waived: Trevor Booker.

Bench rebuilt – with duct tape

The team’s addition of Belinelli and Ilyasova was the right thing to do, for now. Belinelli has played in eight games for the 76ers, and Ilyasova just three. But those 24.9 minutes for Belinelli and 19.7 minutes for Ilyasova have netted 11.0 points and 10.3 points off the bench respectively.  And neither generates turnovers at a rate comparable to any of the five starters. So that’s a win for the team.

By comparison, Ilyasova scores more than double that of waived Trevor Booker, on just 4.7 more minutes per game. And with his return, the team now has an offensive option to put into the game to rest Embiid. In similar fashion, Belinelli proves to be a much more effective shooting guard than Bayless. As such, he is a far more capable replacement for Redick as well. And that finally gives Brown some options. But the addition of Belinelli and Ilyasova are segues. Neither player’s contract lasts beyond this season.  What does this mean for the team preparing for that 2018-2019 season? The team must replace Amir Johnson, Ersan Ilyasova, J.J. Redick, and Marco Belinelli this off-season.  A starter and three productive bench players.  So how does the team avoid another shallow bench season?

Hope for health

Well, you have to look at the current roster to find the first sign of hope for that bench. If you do, you will notice that 2017 top-pick Markelle Fultz is as worthy of his preseason reputation as both Embiid and Fultz before him.

And so, the matter of who takes over at the wing guard role may be solved already. But it doesn’t solve two matters: depth, and competition for starts. The team will also likely see the return to the team from Furkan Korkmaz. That will help somewhat as well.  But both players will need plenty of playing time even to familarize themselves with this team. And that happens at a pretty slow pace if the player is not getting onto a basketball court.

International intrigue, similar story

A second option to reinforce the bench next season is to import those overseas players: center Anzejs Pasecniks, power forward Jonah Bolden, and small forward Mathias Lessort. 7-foot-1  Pasecniks brings a badly needed big to the team who should be a suitable backup for centerpiece Embiid. While still raw, his versatility and style are close enough to the team’s star to be a workable bench piece. And he brings a touch of Kristaps Porzingis, and that opens up a possibility of putting him on the floor with Embiid as well.  If that happens, the Philadelphia 76ers truly end up with a Twin Towers for Coach Brown.

But the dynamic Bolden will likely be the first player offered a roster spot next season. And why not? His summer league performance was enough to whet the appetite for Philly fans eager to see versatile energetic play in the front court. At 6-foot-10, Bolden is a power forward form who can play hard on both sides of the basketball court. Imagine Robert Covington with an added inch and you land in the vicinity of Bolden. Not only will Brett Brown love the opportunity to work with another two-way threat, just as he did with Covington. But Bolden hails from Australia, a continent Brown called home when he coached there. Two players, two solid bench pieces, but two players who will need time to realize their true worth – perhaps several years down the road.

Curious case of that 2018 NBA Draft

At some point in time, the Philadelphia 76ers will once more squander their advantage when it comes to the NBA Draft. But that isn’t the case in 2018. In fact, the current projection of six picks for the team feels very much like gluttony. With no true top ten pick projected at the moment, the Philadelphia 76ers currently sit at 11, 17, 36, 39, 46 and 60.  With the team aiming at the post season already, and with a roster now looking for bench players, the 2018 NBA Draft feels like three players too heavy at this point in time.

So let’s just discard the last three picks, in much the same way the team sold 2017 NBA Draft picks.  Who can the Philadelphia 76ers add, and where?  If the team targets bench play, there is certainly the sense that perimeter shooting will be the focus. But will the right players be on the board to make that happen?

Niche needs for blossoming bench

The premise of any 2018 draft prospect is the harsh reality that they face limited playing time, possible redshirting their rookie season, or simply never making it across the big ocean. Even if one or more of  the 2018 rookies make the roster, they will find themselves at the back of the line in terms of playing time. After all, Brown and the entire coaching staff will be overtaxed with efforts to get Furkan Korkmaz and Markelle Fultz caught up to the rest of the team.

After that urgency passes, they will find a new crop of international players to shape, develop, and mold into players capable of coming in off the bench and contributing as quickly as possible. There simply will not be much capacity for ramping up a new crop of incoming rookies to NBA playing speed.  But the team has the picks. And with the influx of new players from the Euroleague, new opportunities exist for draft-and-stash scenarios. So where and who will the Philadelphia 76ers pick?

Mock Draft 3.0

Well, let’s examine latest Sixer Sense mock draft. At 11, 17 and 36, the team will still see enough quality players on the board to make it interesting. And at 11, the team could find Villanova wing man Mikal Bridges.  Bridges is a home town favorite, and per Christopher Kline he is:

"“…one of the draft’s best 3-and-D prospects.”"

And that’s a good place to start. At 17, the mock projects the appearance of PG Trevor Duval out of Duke. But Duval simply cannot shoot from the perimeter, and that rules him out. Instead, I turned to Tankathon.com, and looked for a nearby international player. Lo and behold, 6-foot-9 small forward Dzana Musa is there. And we already know Bryan Colangelo loves international players.

More mock mania

Musa shows up at 16 in the Sixer Sense mock, but I believe Colangelo is one of the few NBA execs with a bias to the Euroleague. As such, Musa’s 11 points and 39.5 shooting from deep will be a huge addition to the Philadelphia 76ers.

At 36, another international player is available by the name of Isaac Bonga. 6-foot-9 Bonga hails from Germany (that international bias) and has that novelty of good size and basketball IQ. His perimeter shot, hovering near the 28 percent mark, is the only true blemish on this otherwise gem of a prospect. And with the team likely in draft-and-stash mode at this point in the draft, look for him to get serious consideration.

But Brett’s bench suffers

We’ve covered a lot of ground, but the bottom line so far is that the team’s bench suffers dramatically next season.  How so? Not one of the scenarios described- whether healing players, international imports, nor rookie arrivals – adds the most important and necessary ingredient to the team’s bench next season. Consistancy. Blue-collared, no frills, dependability. The most scarce atttribute to anyone with limited NBA experience.

We can talk potential, upside, down-the-road all we want. But to get that bench to a point where the team needs it to be, there is that gaping void of veteran presence. I do not willingly walk in this direction.  But from Carl Landry in the heart of the rebuild, veterans have brought dependable production to the team. Well, for the most part. Let’s pass up some signings for the moment.

Why not re-sign Redick, Belinelli, and Ilyasova?

The first question is the most obvious. Why wouldn’t the team wish to re-sign the current bench group, and then limit the youth movement altogether? After all, we’ve discussed the immediate boost to the team’s bench offense since Belinelli and Ilyasova signed. And that improves next season as the team and players finally have some stability and roster consistancy.  So what does that mean for the team?

The team needs to give strong consideration to re-signing J.J. Redick for two more years, and perhaps offer a one-year deal to Belinelli.   While I believe that Pasecniks can absorb the center backup role well enough for this team, it’s clear that the team will need someone solid to have at the wing. And if Redick won’t consider a two-year deal, then the team should shop the free agent market. There are younger capable wing players hitting free agency, and the 76ers are a coveted landing spot for NBA players right now.

Bryan Colangelo, may we approach the bench?

The 2017-2018 bench strategy was very nearly a disaster for the Philadelphia 76ers. What appeared to be a cohesive jig saw fitted approach quickly devolved into a mad scramble of healthy bodies for an NBA team short on experience, bench offense, and healthy players. And the fact that Colangelo fell asleep at the wheel, in an almost pseudo-tanking approach to this team, was an egregious lapse in his responsibilities to this team.

The hole grew deeper as starters began to fall to minor injuries. This bench, intended to showcase Markelle Fultz and feature veterans like Trevor Booker, Jerryd Bayless, Amir Johnson, Justin Anderson, and even Nik Stauskas never happened. Oh, don’t blame the coach. He tried giving each player ample opportunities. Amir Johnson even got 10 starts. Bayless started 11 games. But the results were the same. Inconsistancy.  And on a team with five starters who play well enough for a playoff spot, that is unfair to the team, and to the fans.

Swimming to the playoffs means no wading pool

Playoff teams cannot dilute efforts to develop players who will see significant playing minutes. Not only does it distract the coaching staff from events on the basketball court, but no rookie should be counted on to deliver night after night. While some are forced into starting duty due to injuries, that is the exception.

So, it’s time to call the Philadelphia 76ers what they truly are. This is a rapidly improved team with post-season potential this season. In the future, this team should be in the hunt for an NBA Championship.  That means the front office has to up their efforts and effectiveness in building the roster for next season. I will even help them out.

Mix vets and youth

The trick is to mix enough youth and veterans on this team to make sense. A playoff bound team can carry no more than five young developing players on the roster. So that places the team into three categories: starters, veterans, youth.  And that needs to be the average mix of this team going forward.

Right now, the team is carrying Markelle Fultz, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Furkan Korkmaz, and Justin Anderson at the wing position.  Like it or not, that is two players heavy. Even if you consider Anderson and Korkmaz as small forwards, they overlap the cycle of TLC and Fultz. So the team needs to move on at least one if not two players this off-season.

Some players worth keeping

Richaun Holmes, although still developing, is more power forward with an ability to play center. His versatility is enough to keep him on this roster. But the team needs another young player at both center and power forward to develop. So the addition of both international players Pasecniks and Bolden makes sense. T.J. McConnell is a good veteran to back up the point guard role, and Markelle Fultz is the solid young player to develop. Considering TLC a developing backup at shooting guard is a strong possibility.

Next: Richaun Holmes is out of the regular rotation

So that leaves C, SF and SG  as team needs this off-season.  Translated, need dictates targeting free agency for a veteran shooting guard backup, a small forward backup, cut ties with Justin Anderson and Jerryd Bayless, and see what’s available in the draft.  Belinelli could fill the team’s veteran need at shooting guard. Ilyasova could fill the team’s needs at power forward / center. But the fact is that the 76ers have 15 slots to keep. It’s time that the front office stop the impulse buying, trading, and giveaways which have resulted in 33 games of Trevor Booker for Okafor, Stauskas, and that second round pick. It is a simple recipe. Lets hope that front office can boil a championship roster.