the Philadelphia 76ers overstretched themselves by bunching four young wings nearly simultaneously? No..."/> the Philadelphia 76ers overstretched themselves by bunching four young wings nearly simultaneously? No..."/>
The Sixer Sense
Fansided

The numbers game: must Philadelphia 76ers prune young players?

By Bret Stuter

PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 12: Joel Embiid
PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 12: Joel Embiid /
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INDIANAPOLIS, IN – FEBRUARY 03: Head coach Brett Brown of the Philadelphia 76ers gives instructions to Trevor Booker
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – FEBRUARY 03: Head coach Brett Brown of the Philadelphia 76ers gives instructions to Trevor Booker /

Second verse, not the same as the first

Let’s try this again, this time with roster moves which allow the team to bring in two first round rookies from the six pick 2018 NBA Draft.  To do so, we are looking at the 15 man roster for the 2018-2019 season. and as such, this roster has some options.

For starters, any name you do not see on the roster can replace a name which appears, but where? If you like TLC, do you bump Korkmaz? Or perhaps you trade out from one of the 2018 first round draft picks?  If you don’t retain a current veteran, do you instead opt to keep a young player? But we learned first hand the disasterous results when younger players are not ready to handle significant roles on successful teams.

Reexamine that roster

The results are a clear indication that the roster requires some painful pruning in the off-season. The inability of the team to develop either Markelle Fultz or Furkan Korkmaz has likely resulted in two more players not making the roster next season.  At the moment, those two bubble players are Justin Anderson and TLC.

Position                  Starter                     Veteran                        Developing Player

Center                     Joel Embiid              Ersan Ilyasova(#)       Anzecs Pasecniks
Power Forward    Dario Saric              Richaun Holmes         Jonah Bolden
Small Forward     Robert Covington  Furkan Korkmaz        2018 Draft Pick – rd 1

Shooting Guard    J.J. Redick (#)           Marco Belinelli (#)     2018 Draft Pick – rd 1

Point Guard          Ben Simmons         T.J. McConnell             Markelle Fultz

However you mix and match the names on this roster for 2018-2019, there is compelling evidence that the team is saturated at the wing position for now. Similar to the previous front office, that logjam at the wing is choking the team’s production and development timelines.