The Philadelphia 76ers revealed one sad, but very real concerning fact about the franchise’s depth chart at the point guard position.
The preseason is over and the Philadelphia 76ers are preparing for the beginning of the regular season. The team went 4-1 during the preseason and outside of the concerns about the team’s 3-point shooting, the roster performed well overall. Despite this, there is still some issues regarding the point guard depth chart heading into the regular season.
On paper the subtraction of T.J. McConnell, along with the additions of Raul Neto and Trey Burke this summer should have improved the depth chart. In terms of players capable of manning the position, it did. Shake Milton and starting shooting guard Josh Richardson can also handle the backup point guard role. Despite the amount of players that can be the team’s backup point guard, there’s still questions surrounding the position.
Each player’s stats this preseason paint a solid picture of what they can bring to the backup point guard position. Burke averaged 5.6 points and 2.2 assists, while converting 44.0 percent of his field goals and 57.1 percent of his 3-pointers (stats per RealGM). Neto averaged 4.3 points and 2.8 assists, while making 46.2 percent of his shots from the floor and 33.3 percent of his 3-point attempts (stats per RealGM).
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Milton averaged 7.4 points and 0.8 assists, while shooting 56.0 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from behind the arc (stats per RealGM). Richardson averaged 12.4 points and 4.0 assists, while converting 43.8 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from downtown (stats per RealGM).
Burke has very nice stats, but head coach Brett Brown had seemed to have favored Milton and Neto by the end of the preseason. Neto’s durability and ability to step up against more athletic competition are still serious questions. There’s no doubt that Burke is the better scorer, but Neto fits the mold as a more traditional point guard.
Milton has real potential in scoring the ball, but appears better suited as a secondary playmaker at this point. Asking Richardson to be the second unit’s point guard seems a lot to ask of him for a whole season, especially when it’s not his natural position. It’s unknown if he could even do if the majority of a season.
This preseason all four players were put into the situation as the team’s backup point guard. They all showed their positives and negatives in that role. None of them gave any sort of stability to the position on a regular basis.
If things don’t get figured out on the point guard depth chart within the first couple of months this season, the Philadelphia 76ers could end up searching for a more proven point guard else were. The franchise can’t afford to have a weak position on the roster this season as they aspire for a NBA championship.