The Philadelphia 76ers didn’t forget about their G-League prospects and now one center in particular has caught the eye of the front office.
If the name Norvel Pelle sounds familiar, it should. Pelle played for the Philadelphia 76ers summer league team last year and has been playing for the Sixers G-League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats, this season. He’s now caught the attention of Philly’s front office according to Serena Winters of NBCSPhilly.
Norvel Pelle has impressed with the Delaware @blue_coats and the Sixers would like to get a closer look at him.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) March 6, 2019
Per a team official, the Sixers are working out Norvel Pelle today (in Camden) w/ the possibility that he could join the Sixers at some point in the near future...
This news comes with starting center Joel Embiid and Boban Marjanovic both being out with injury. In their absence, head coach Brett Brown has turned to rookie Jonah Bolden and veteran Amir Johnson to carry the bulk of the minutes at the center spot with Ben Simmons, Mike Scott and Justin Patton getting the occasion run. However, all of those players aren’t either natural centers or have major holes in their game.
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Bolden and Patton are raw with little to no NBA experience and Bolden, in particular, can get into foul trouble easily. Johnson’s age has diminished his defensive skill. Both Simmons and Scott play out of position whenever Brown inserts them as centers. Adding another center might make sense for the Sixers.
The Sixers were recently rumored to be interested in former NBA champion Andrew Bogut. With that rumor combined with this one regarding Pelle, it’s clear that the Sixers aren’t comfortable about their depth at center.
When Pelle played with Philly’s summer league roster, he averaged 13.8 minutes, 7.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks on 51.6 percent shooting from the floor, per RealGM. That performance got him a training camp invite, which ultimately landed him with the Blue Coats.
As a member of Delaware’s roster, Pelle has had an up and down season. He’s had to face a five game suspension for violating the G-League’s Anti-Drug policy in January of this year. Despite that lapse in good judgement, Pelle has had a good season statistically. He’s averaged 22.1 minutes, 9.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.0 blocks on 68.8 percent from the field.
The 6-foot-11 center is a defense oriented big man with limited offensive skill. Outside being able to attack the rim on pick-and-rolls or on offensive rebounds, Pelle doesn’t have any distinguishable offensive skills. Still, his defense is a very valuable skill.
Now if the Sixers do decide to bring Pelle onto the roster, they only have two ways of doing so. The Sixers could sign the G-League prospect to a 10-day contract or they would have to waive a player to make room for the center. With the roster already having four centers on it, it would most likely be a center waived to make room for Pelle.
Embiid and Marjanovic aren’t options and there’s no reason to waive Bolden who has shown the potential to being a long term piece of the franchise. That leaves Johnson and Patton as options to waive. Johnson’s veteran presence in the locker room is beyond valuable, so Patton would be the most likely option. He doesn’t really have a future with the club beyond this season.
The Philadelphia 76ers interest in Pelle makes sense. The need for reliable depth behind Embiid and Marjanovic makes sense as the Sixers hope to make a deep playoff run. It will be interesting to see if this rumored interest that Philly has in Pelle will turn into a signing before a playoff run.