Philadelphia 76ers: Boban Marjanovic’s arrival changes Jonah Bolden’s role

The Philadelphia 76ers acquired three backup frontcourt players before the trade deadline, meaning Jonah Bolden faces an uphill climb into the rotation.

Jonah Bolden’s development has given cause for optimism, but the Philadelphia 76ers‘ bench has held the team back from reaching its full potential this season. The Sixers relied on Amir Johnson and Mike Muscala to back up Joel Embiid for the beginning of the season, but Bolden’s rise has forced Johnson out of the rotation and GM Elton Brand traded Muscala to the Los Angeles Lakers at the deadline. The Sixers acquired a handful of power forwards before the deadline, so Bolden has to wait until next season to have another extended run in the rotation.

Boban Marjanovic will fill in as the Sixers’ primary backup center, and with other new faces like Tobias Harris, Mike Scott, and James Ennis all able to play power forward, the Australian has not seen any action in the two games since the trade deadline. He will not fit into the rotation unless Brett Brown wants to really mix up his lineups, but Bolden has the potential to become an effective player in today’s NBA.

Bolden shoots an almost respectable 31.9 percent from three-point range, and Sixers fans have long looked at the 41.9 percentage he put up over 25 games with KK FMP Belgrade in the 2016-17 season as an indicator of the Aussie’s potential as a shooter. If the Sixers use him like the Toronto Raptors used Pascal Siakam early in his career, Bolden could become a similar player.

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Now, the 6-foot-10 forward will have to battle with Harris, Simmons, Mike Scott, and James Ennis for minutes at power forward and Embiid and Boban for time at center. The main difference is that he will have to provide spacing so the team’s stars can go to work in one-on-one situations, but he will undoubtedly not have as much time to prove himself since the Sixers want to win now and recently acquired veterans playing in Bolden’s position.

The former UCLA forward hits 78.1 percent of his shots inside 10 feet, with 39 percent of his field goal attempts coming from that range. That number will fall as he will have to share the floor with Marjanovic if he receives playing time, and the 7-foot-3 center will take up most of the space in the paint. Bolden has only taken six shots off of touches long than two seconds, revealing his averseness to putting the ball on the floor and attacking the rim. Though it would help the Sixers a lot if he could do that, he fits in well as a rim-running big man and a weak-side outlet who can sit on the baseline and finish a play.

Siakam has broken out this season in Toronto, so even if Bolden does not work his way back into the rotation before the playoffs, only one summer of work separates him from substantial minutes in the rotation.

At this point in his career, Bolden plays like a generic forward who cannot put the ball on the floor with confidence, but he can easily fix that this summer. He can stand at the baseline for slashers to dump it off to him and step out and fire up a three.

Additionally, the 23-year-old has played in 28 games this season, making 29 screen assists. Brown has just started to use pick-and-roll plays more often due to Jimmy Butler “challenging” him in a film session, and with the acquisition of Tobias Harris, the former San Antonio Spurs assistant will need to take advantage of that play because Harris uses it lethally. Brown likes to spot the minutes of his starters so at least one plays at all times, so in those mixed up lineups, Brown could throw Bolden out there as a faster, more versatile alternative to Boban without sacrificing too much in terms of pick-and-roll aptitude.

Bolden needs to prove he can stretch the floor if he wants to shoehorn his way back into Brown’s bench unit. Catch-and-shoot threes already make up 51.2 percent of his field goal attempts, and with the addition of Harris, the Philadelphia 76ers now have three borderline-All-Star players who thrive in dribble-drive situations.

Still just 23, Bolden needs to improve his shooting to help the team as the playoffs approach while not losing sight of developing a well-rounded skill set. Pushing the rookie out to the perimeter to accommodate Boban Marjanovic will help Bolden in the long run. Eventually, he will have to learn how to create his own shot, and this experiment will aid the development of that vital skill.

Given Jonah Bolden’s style of play, size, and athleticism, he could end up as a Siakam-type player once the rawness wears off and he fully adjusts to the NBA, but Brand and Brown smartly traded for players with more experience than Bolden as the Sixers look to make a deep playoff run.

The facts show the Philadelphia 76ers are in win-now mode, so Brown and Co. do not have time to wait for the Aussie to develop as the playoffs approach. Although Bolden may not have as many opportunities to impact a game this season as a result of these transactions, it does not mean his time with the team will end anytime soon.