Philadelphia 76ers Player Rankings: Trade deadline shake up
The landscape of the Philadelphia 76ers changed after the NBA trade deadline, which caused a shift in the roster makeup during February.
If the Philadelphia 76ers weren’t a top heavy roster before the NBA trade deadline, they definitely became one once the deadline passed. General manager Elton Brand made several moves that saw the likes of Wilson Chandler, Landry Shamet, Mike Muscala and Markelle Fultz become members of new teams.
The players that were brought in to replace them have already made their way onto February’s players rankings and these rankings will be significantly different than January’s rankings. It should be noted that these rankings are different from The Sixer Sense’s rankings of the roster after all the trades the team made. These rankings are solely focused on their performance in the month of February.
17. Zhaire Smith
February Stats: None
Previous ranking: 16th
February wasn’t a month of optimism for the 16th pick of the 2018 NBA Draft. He still hadn’t seen any game action in the G-League or NBA. Head coach Brett Brown even believed that the rookie wouldn’t see any playing time in the NBA at all this season, reported by Keith Pompey of Philly.com.
16. Haywood Highsmith
February Stats: None
Previous ranking: 14th
Highsmith didn’t see any playing time with the Sixers in February. What made matters worse for the undrafted rookie is that he struggled to produce with the Delaware Blue Coats. For the previous month, he averaged 10.1 on 23.7 percent shooting from downtown in the G-League.
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15. Justin Patton
February Stats: None
Previous ranking: 17th
Justin Patton did make positive strides in February. He finally made his season debut with the Blue Coats. He had a little rust here and there, but overall showed potential. He averaged 11.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks, while shooting 53.8 percent from the floor in seven games. Patton did get recalled to the Sixers before the end of the month to bolster the team’s depth at center.
14. Shake Milton
February Stats: GP 1| MINS 20.0| FG% 42.9| 3P% 0.0| TRB 4.0| BLK 0.5| AST 2.0| PF 2.0| TO 1.0| PTS 6.0
Previous ranking: 13th
Milton may have gotten more playing time with Philly despite the roster turnover if he had not broken his finger down in a G-League game. He had surgery on his hand and has been recovering ever since.
13. Amir Johnson
February Stats: GP 2| MINS 9.0| FG% 50.0| 3P% 0.0| TRB 1.5| STL 0.5| PF 3.5| TOV 1.0| PTS 3.0
Previous ranking: 12th
If it had not been for the multiple injuries the 76ers experienced at the center spot in February, there’s a real chance that Johnson wouldn’t have seen any game action at all. He even volunteered to play with the Blue Coats to get some game burn. Whenever health returns to the Sixers depth chart at center, expect Johnson not to play except on the rarest of occasions.