Philadelphia 76ers roster today compared to start of the season
Despite needing some major alterations, the Philadelphia 76ers have only seen some minor changes to their roster this season.
Like most teams, the Philadelphia 76ers saw some changes to their roster as the season progressed. Nothing major like what happened in the 2018-19 season, but there were some minor changes. With there being a possibility that the NBA season gets canceled, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, due to the coronavirus, it feels like a good time to evaluate what the roster looked like to begin the season and where it was before the stoppage of games.
Below was the opening day roster:
- Ben Simmons
- Josh Richardson
- Tobias Harris
- Al Horford
- Joel Embiid
- Mike Scott
- James Ennis
- Furkan Korkmaz
- Matisse Thybulle
- Raul Neto
- Trey Burke
- Shake Milton
- Jonah Bolden
- Kyle O’Quinn
- Zhaire Smith
- Norvel Pelle (two-way contract)
- Marial Shayok (two-way contract)
Now it should be noted that since then, Philly traded Ennis to the Orlando Magic, while also waiving both Burke and Bolden to making room on the roster for Glenn Robinson III and Alec Burks who were acquired from the Golden State Warriors. The 76ers also converted Pelle’s contract into a regular NBA deal because of his impressive defensive skills he showed off when given the opportunity.
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Overall there weren’t any major moves made, but general manager Elton Brand did try to bring in more 3-point shooting to the team by adding Robinson and Burks. Burks was also brought in to be a reliable backup point guard because Neto and Burke weren’t getting the job done.
However, there wasn’t just change to the roster during the season, but the starting five and the bench rotation saw some changes as well.
The biggest change that was made was that Horford became the team’s backup center. It’s clear that the trio of Simmons, Embiid, and Horford can’t work well together. Moving Horford to the bench made sense from a fit perspective, but also to help preserve both Embiid and Horford for the postseason as well.
Due to multiple injuries, Milton has emerged as a legit starter on this team. The combo guard has shown real potential as a creator/scorer in the half-court and should be a starter once everyone is healthy and whenever play begins again.
Furkan Korkmaz also has emerged as a sharpshooter/offensive spark plug off the bench. After looking like a bust in his first two seasons, Korkmaz has really come into his own during his third year.
Despite being a rookie, Thybulle has found a nice role in the rotation thanks to his defensive skills. He’s easily the best defender in the rookie class and once he gains more experience, he has a shot of becoming an elite defender in this league, if he’s not already.
Next. Brand shouldn’t want to go to the Knicks. dark
While there were some minor changes in terms of personal this season, the Philadelphia 76ers saw some major changes when it came to the starting five and the team’s depth charts.
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