Philadelphia 76ers: What happens to Mike Scott during the playoffs?

Should the Philadelphia 76ers play Mike Scott this postseason?

Despite having several months to think about it, Philadelphia 76ers‘ head coach Brett Brown has some tough decisions once the season continues at Walt Disney World. One of those tough decisions pertains to the amount of playing time veteran Mike Scott will receive during the playoffs.

What should Brown do?

Scott has struggled with being a consistent threat from the 3-point arc this season. This year, the power forward’s averaged 5.7 points on 35.8 percent from downtown. Despite his inconsistent play, he’s still one of the Sixers’ more reliable 3-point shooters coming off the bench.

Last season, Scott provided gritty defense, but that has been lacking for stretches of the season. In general, he’s seen a drop from last season after he was traded from the Los Angeles Clippers to Philly.

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However, part of the drop off in his production can be explained by the fact that he’s 31-years-old and he’s already lost a step. I wrote about playing him as a small-ball center would help offset the decline as he gets older, but that wouldn’t make much sense right now due to the plethora of centers already on the 76ers roster.

One would imagine that Scott could step up his play for the postseason, especially with the extended hiatus from play due to the coronavirus. Brown has to consider Scott’s uneven play this season when trying to figure out his playoff rotation.

Last season Brown primarily used three players of the bench for the playoffs. Scott and James Ennis were the two locks, while Brown switched Boban Marjanovic and Greg Monroe based on matchups.

Heading into the restart of play it’s hard to imagine that Brown won’t start combo guard Shake Milton over big man Al Horford. That means that guard Alec Burks and Horford are likely locks for playing time coming off the bench with the reserve at the wing position yet to be determined.

Considering that Brown hopes to play starting center Joel Embiid 38 minutes a night during the playoffs, it’s hard to imagine that Brown just plays Horford 10 a game during the playoffs. That means that in all likely Horford would absorb reserve minutes at the backup power forward role as well.

It would be unlikely and a poor choice if Scott were to be the third player off the bench for Philly during the playoffs based on Burks and Horford appearing to be strong candidates for playing time and the roster construction.

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The most logical conclusion is that Scott will be left out of the Philadelphia 76ers’ playoff rotation, especially working under the assumption that Horford comes off the bench moving forward.