Trey Burke
Position: point guard
Potential role: key reserve
Trey Burke will never live up to the hype of being a lottery pick, but he has found a nice role in the NBA as a spark plug off the bench and last seaosn was a primary example of that. Between the New York Knicks and the Dallas Mavericks, he averaged 10.9 points and 2.7 assists, while shooting 35.2 percent of his shots from downtown.
After losing T.J. McConnell this summer in free agency, Burke seems to be the ideal candidate to become the primary backup point guard, as Christopher Kline of The Sixer Sense recently wrote about. There’s no doubt that Neto will challenge Burke early in the season, but I tend to agree with Kline’s assessment that Burke should be the main reserve at the point guard position.
James Ennis
Position: small forward/shooting guard
Potential role: key reserve
After starting last year with the Houston Rockets, Ennis was traded to Philly around the trade deadline. He provided stability in the wing rotation for the Sixers in the later part of last season and in the playoffs. Between the Rockets and 76ers, Ennis averaged 6.7 points and 3.1 rebounds, while making 35.3 percent from the 3-point line.
Like last season, Ennis most likely will be the first wing off the bench. Hopefully, he improves his 3-point percent, but should be a solid 3-and-D player, who occasionly crashing the offensive glass. Ennis the the veteran of Philly’s wing rotation coming off the bench. He will have to lead by example for young players like Smith, Thybulle, Korkmaz and Milton.