Philadelphia 76ers bench is team’s Achilles Heel for NBA Playoffs

Here comes the trade deadline, there goes the trade deadline

The team ran aground of player injuries. Rookies Markelle Fultz (shoulder) and Furkan Korkmaz (foot) both fell to injury,and neither appear to be returning this season. Had Fultz remained on track, by now he would not only be a hot-handed shooter off the bench, but he may have replaced J.J. Redick in the starting lineup. Had Furkan Korkmaz remained healthy, he most certainly would have seen quality playing minutes when Redick was injured. Would that have made a difference in his role going forward? Perhaps or perhaps not. But the team would know the pecking order of the wing assets from experience.

Now, all the team can do is revise their original projections.

No upgrade

The Philadelphia 76ers, due to their unique circumstances, were truly in need of a trade to upgrade their bench. Ideally, any trade would have moved either Amir Johnson, Jerryd Bayless, or both in return for a productive player or players who could come off the bench for the 76ers to help this playoff push.  The trade deadline came, the trade deadline went.  The Bucks picked up backup center Tyler Zeller for shooting guard Rashad Vaughn and a 2020 second round pick.

That is a deal the Philadelphia 76ers could have matched, and it would have given the team solid reserve help behind Joel Embiid.  In the end, the team let the trade deadline pass by unheralded. The team opted to sign buyout players. Cheap low-risk moves? Absolutely. Enough to turn the tide on the bench? Perhaps, but more likely too little too late.