Have Sixers coaches failed to develop talent?

By Rusty Gorelick | Jul 21, 2018

PHILADELPHIA,PA - MARCH 17: Justin Anderson #23 of the Philadelphia 76ers gets the crowd pumped up against the Dallas Mavericks at Wells Fargo Center on March 17, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) /

In the past two days, the Philadelphia 76ers shipped out three young players with decent upside. The coaching staff should have done better to develop them.

Interim general manager Brett Brown traded away Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Justin Anderson, and Richaun Holmes in the past few days to trim the roster down to 15 players. Although adding Mike Muscala was a shrewd transaction, the fact Coach Brown traded those three proves the Philadelphia 76ers‘ coaching staff failed by not developing any of those guys into decent role players.

Today’s NBA has more three-pointers and fast-breaks than ever, and the Sixers gave away three players who all can contribute in on at least one of those fronts. Philly also lacked perimeter defense in its second unit, and both TLC and Anderson could have helped the team tighten up when the likes of Robert Covington and Ben Simmons sit.

Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot has solid three-and-D potential and could become the fifth offensive option as a starter on a good team, sort of like a more efficient and humble Corey Maggette.

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Anderson had more passion than just about anyone else on the team, as well as a penchant for slamming down a momentum-shifting dunk when coming in off the bench.

Holmes showed flashes of ability when defending inside and running to the rim, and he shot well from deep in his second season.

Obviously, these guys have plenty of flaws in their abilities, but since they have flashed the ability to help the team, Brown have done better to prepare them for playoff contention.

For instance, TLC clearly needed to add muscle and make his jumper more consistent in order to become a valuable two-way wing to have on the bench. Fans saw that as soon as the Sixers drafted the Frenchman in 2016, but the coaching staff did not take the time do help him complete those tasks.

It’s tough to place all the blame on the coaching staff’s lack of ability to help players improve. The Philadelphia 76ers need to win now, so they cannot wait any longer for their eighth and ninth men to start contributing. That said, the numbers prove these players made barely any progress during their stays in Philly.

In his rookie year as a 76er, Holmes shot 18.2 percent from long range, but he saw that rocket up to 35.1 percent as a sophomore. This past season, the Bowling Green product shot a career-low 12.9 percent from three-point land. Furthermore, in terms of per-36 minute averages over the past two seasons, he saw dips in scoring, steals, blocks, and free-throw attempts.

Luwawu-Cabarrot also saw most of his numbers dip from his rookie year to last season. His averages for points, rebounds, and steals decreased, and he also shot less efficiently from the field and the foul line in his second year. His lightning-quick first step and long arms indicated that he had potential as a slasher and a three-and-D player, but his coaches evidently could not help him blend his raw abilities to make him into a regular in the 76ers’ rotation.

Plenty of other factors can hold some blame for the players’ decrease in production. For instance, those players had never played for a competitive team before, they faced more competition for minutes, and they had more than one teammate capable of taking over a game. Those things do not excuse the absence of awareness Holmes showed on defense and the erratic decision-making Anderson flaunted when he received the ball.

These are only two players in the large pool of current and former Sixers players under Brett Brown, but it does question how much talent he has developed. Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid came into the league pegged as future stars, and aside from T.J. McConnell and Robert Covington, no players have made major strides during Brown’s five-year tenure.

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At the end of the day, those raw young players were not ready to step in and play meaningful minutes on a good team. Each of TLC, Holmes, and Anderson only has three full seasons of experience at most, which provides some insight as to why Brown did not deem them ready to contribute in important games, but at the same time, the coach knew the timeline for the Process, so he should have done better to prepare the homegrown talent for the biggest stages in basketball.