Philadelphia 76ers need more from their guards

The Philadelphia 76ers’ guard depth has vastly underperformed in recent games.

The Philadelphia 76ers are currently 16-7, good for a 1.5-game stronghold on first place in the East. While there’s still a lot of basketball to be played, the Sixers feel like a legitimate presence atop the standings — thanks in large part to Joel Embiid’s MVP-worthy production.

Despite the strong start, however, Philadelphia is clearly not where it needs to be to win a championship. There’s room left for growth, both organically and via trade. Perhaps the greatest area of need is guard depth. Or, more precisely, better production from the guards on the roster.

This is not an article aimed at Ben Simmons, who despite his early offensive hiccups has established his importance to this team. It is more so aimed at the supporting cast — Seth Curry, Shake Milton, and Tyrese Maxey, none of whom have played particularly strong basketball of late.

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It is too early to panic, especially with someone like Curry, who is still shooting 48.5 percent from 3-point range this season. That said, Curry’s resent slippage — possibly linked to lingering fatigue from COVID — has rendered him a borderline non-factor. In the eight games since returning from COVID protocols, Curry is averaging 7.4 points and shooting only 29.2 percent from deep.

Again, it’s too early to panic. Curry was benched the second half of Thursday’s loss to Portland because he didn’t feel right. If he’s still battling sickness and fatigue, then the only major concern is his long-term wellbeing. One can expect him to get better the further removed he is from COVID. If this is simply regression following a blistering-hot start to the year, then one can naturally expect him to balance out this cold streak with a hot streak in the future.

The more concerning performances of late have come from Shake Milton, who hasn’t been playing up to par for a couple weeks now. Over his last 10 games, Milton is averaging just 12.4 points and 2.4 assists across 22.7 minutes per game. He’s shooting a lowly 25 percent from deep, too — a strange drop-off after establishing himself as a 40 percent 3-point shooter in college, the G-League, and last season, in the NBA.

Milton can still score with craft around the basket, and his playmaking should only grow from here. He is far and away the most reliable bench guard on Philadelphia’s roster, and it’s still fair to argue he should see more minutes with the closing group. Like Curry, Milton will probably heat up at some point.

That said, Milton has basically erased himself from Sixth Man of the Year consideration in the span of two weeks. We have seen Milton’s peak and there’s reason to expect he will return to form. He’s too skilled not to. His defense, however, has been particularly rough lately, and that has never been his strength.

Then, one arrives at Tyrese Maxey, who has the most hyped Sixer outside Joel Embiid the first few weeks of the season. While Maxey still drops the occasional flurry of buckets — he scored 15 in the Portland loss — it’s clear Maxey is not ready for the big role many attempted to anoint him early on.

For the season, Maxey’s numbers are respectable — 9.4 points and 2.0 assists on 46.7 percent shooting. He’s only a 31.3 percent shooter from deep, but that was never his strength at Kentucky. It’s an area he must grow into. Rookie guards often have the toughest time adjusting to the NBA, and Maxey has done a largely good job picking up on defensive nuance and running the offense without force-feeding turnovers to the other team.

With all that said, Maxey is a zero from 3-point range and a volume scorer who needs the ball to contribute. While his speed is a refreshing presence in the Sixers’ second unit, there’s a reason the 20-year-old has registered under 10 minutes in four of his last eight appearances. Doc Rivers does not yet trust him to carry a significant load, nor should he.

Maxey is firmly the 10th man in Rivers’ 10-man rotation, and expecting more than that after a few explosive games early in the campaign was always risky. It’s better to temper expectations with rookies — especially 6-foot-2 guards who struggle from 3-point range. Maxey is talented and will become a valuable part of this team down the line, but he’s too young and too raw to be the contributor many thought he would be after his 39-point showcase against Denver.

Guard depth is important in the NBA. It’s difficult to win a championship without elite perimeter creation. The Sixers do not yet have that, instead relying on Embiid, Simmons, and Tobias Harris to initiate most sets in the halfcourt. If Milton, Maxey, and Curry can not elevate their performances significantly, then it becomes all the more apparent that Philadelphia must add to this roster before the trade deadline passes. Lackluster guard depth is a dangerous blind spot for a self-proclaimed contender.

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