Philadelphia 76ers: Which all-time Sixer would fit best on 2019-20 roster?

A fun Philadelphia 76ers hypothetical for your quarantine pleasure.

The world is on quarantine so the sports news world has slowed down considerably. That’s where I come in with this article. Since we can’t escape the ‘Rona Roaring, I figured I would explore the fun, meaningless, hypothetical of which former Philadelphia 76ers player would fit best on this year’s roster.

Before diving into this topic completely, I must tell you the criteria I am measuring the former Sixers by. There are three factors in total: fit, statistics,and peak value. Next step would be listing the players I picked that are up for consideration: Billy Cunningham, Jrue Holiday and Andrew Toney are all under the microscope for evaluation. It was easy to narrow down the candidates because the Sixers haven’t been the best at selecting, trading or signing guards/wings in their franchise history.

Billy Cunningham is revered in the Sixers overall history as he was a vital part of the 1967 NBA Champion Sixers. The team that took down Bill Russell’s Boston Celtics on its path to the title. Cunningham adds more height to the Sixers jumbo sized lineup, standing at 6-foot-7 with good leaping ability and instincts.

Cunningham’s biggest positive attributes are his knack for rebounding, starting the fast break with an outlet pass, and not needing the ball on offense to be effective. Just imagine Cunningham grabbing a board and tossing it to Simmons freight-training his way down the court. So many possible easy layups and free throws waiting to happen.

Over his peak years of ’68-’69 to ’72-’73, Cunningham averaged 24.2 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. Now those numbers would not be put up with the likes of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Tobias Harris, but it’s a nice type of safety blanket knowing there is someone that can potentially produce those numbers even just for a single game. The downside of Cunningham is the lack of space he provides for the offense. Cunningham is a product of the era he thrived in, no three-point line and scoring in a way that is clunky.

Jrue Holiday is next up and could actually be acquired in a pipe dream of mine and many others but that’s another topic for another day. The former Sixer was famously traded to the New Orleans Pelicans the summer after he made his lone All-Star appearance and was beginning to blossom. The 17.7 points per game player in New Orleans he’s become would be a seamless fit and incredible complementary player to Embiid and Simmons.

Holiday is a really good combo guard with good size at 6-foot-3, a very good defender, can create shots for himself and others, runs a very good pick-and-roll, and can finish effectively at the rim. Only real knock is that he’s sort of average as a 3-point shooter, for his peak shooting 34.6 percent. That would be able to increase as Holiday would have plenty of time to orchestrate the pick-and-roll offense using Embiid or Simmons as the screener as well as finding his role in the offense

The final candidate is another legend in Sixers lore, Andrew Toney. Better known as  “The Boston Strangler”, Toney had a five year peak with the Sixers, was a two-time All-Star. Toney is a 6’3” guard just like Holiday but he was a certified bucket. With his quick first-step, limitless range, and unorthodox jumper Toney averaged 17 points per game in his peak playing next Julius “Dr.J” Erving and Moses Malone.

Toney brings exactly what the Sixers need, a scoring guard who doesn’t need to be the star. Oh and another thing, he keeps his cool in big moments and games. Toney put 30, 39, and 34 on the Boston Celtics in 1982 Eastern Conference Finals. Having a player that can look at those make or break times in a game unfazed is a desperate need for the Sixers.

It is a tough decision between Jrue Holiday and Andrew Toney — sorry, Billy Cunningham. The two guys are interchangeable in multiple ways. Ultimately I side with Andrew Toney because of his experience in big games for the Philadelphia 76ers best fit on the 2019-20 roster. I’d like to hear your input on this topic because it’s just for fun and getting your mind off what is going on with the Coronavirus.