It appears that young players will be in the Philadelphia 76ers rotation.
There’s been plenty of revelations about potential lineups and rotations since the Philadelphia 76ers have arrived at the Disney Bubble. One of those revelations is that head coach Brett Brown will rely on two young perimeter players to come off the bench.
Brown also said Ben Simmons ran PG today while playing with group that included Furkan Korkmaz, Matisse Thybulle, Tobias Harris and Al Horford. Brown said Thybulle, Horford and Korkmaz will all be in the Sixers rotation.
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) July 16, 2020
While it’s not surprising to see that Ben Simmons’ position shift the power forward won’t be full time, this also revealed that Brown will play rookie Matisse Thybulle and third-year wing Furkan Korkmaz.
This is surprising to hear considering that Brown plans to have a 10-man rotation once play resumes and to cut it down to nine players eventually. While both players have played well this season, both have major flaws in their games.
Thybulle is elite defensively but struggles to shoot the ball with any consistency. Korkmaz is one of the best shooters on the team but is a liability on the defensive end. Each of these weaknesses could cause major issues in a playoff series.
With Al Horford appearing to have a role off the bench, that only leaves one or two more spots in the rotation after Thybulle and Korkmaz. There are three players that could fill that role in Alec Burks, Glenn Robinson III, and Mike Scott.
Scott seems unlikely to have a role so it’s more likely going to be veterans Burks and Robinson. However, my money is on Burks having a bigger role because he can play point guard and not be a liability defensively like Raul Neto at that position.
It’s surprising that Brown has two young players in the Philadelphia 76ers rotation despite their being capable veterans on the roster. However, both players do have skills that can help Philly despite their respective weaknesses.