Philadelphia 76ers Player Rankings: Defense rules

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Philadelphia 76ers, Josh Richaedson and Ben Simmons (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

6. Matisse Thybulle

October Stats: GP 4| MINS 21.8| FG% 23.8| 3P% 26.7| FT% 75.0| TRB 1.8| AST 1.5| BKL 1.5| STL 3.0| PF 3.3| TOV 2.8| PTS 5.0

Despite being a rookie, Brown relied on Matisse Thybulle as the primary bench player during October. Thybulle proved he could be one of the top defenders in the league early on in this season. Where Thybulle’s main struggles come from is on the offensive end of the ball. If nothing else, his 3-point percentage needs to improve as the season progress. If he had even slightly better offensive numbers, then he might have been higher in these rankings.

Read. Thybulle deserves to play through struggles. light

5. Josh Richardson

October Stats: GP 4| MINS 33.0| FG% 37.5| 3P% 23.5| FT% 86.7| TRB 4.0| AST 3.0| BKL 1.3| STL 1.8| PF 3.3| TOV 2.8| PTS 13.3

Josh Richardson had a rough start to his career as a member of the Sixers. It didn’t help that Brown played Richardson out of position for half the game. There’s no doubt that Richardson has skills as a playmaker, but he shouldn’t be the team’s full-time backup point guard, especially when both Neto and Burke are on the roster. Despite his struggles on offense, Richardson has played at an elite level on defense.

4. Ben Simmons

October Stats: GP 4| MINS 35.3| FG% 54.7| FT% 44.4| TRB 5.3| AST 8.0| BKL 0.8| STL 2.8| PF 3.8| TOV 4.8| PTS 16.5

For those who were hoping to see Ben Simmons take a big step in his development this season, October didn’t provide that. He only had one game in which he scored over 20 points and he didn’t take one 3-point shot during the month. There’s no doubt he stepped up on the defensive end of the ball, but his offensive game didn’t take a step last month.