Philadelphia 76ers have a deep bench to begin the 2021-22 season

The Philadelphia 76ers have always had a solid starting five within the past four seasons as long as both Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons share the floor. However, the team’s bench has always been a question.

Last year, the bench was horrendous with guys like a post-prime Dwight Howard, almost retired Mike Scott, and a recovering George Hill. It’s didn’t help that Shake Milton had a down year shooting as well.

Thanks to an offseason retooling of the bench, it can be clearly seen that the Sixers have a much better bench than they did last season.

The Philadelphia 76ers are deeper this season versus last year.

Before getting into the new guys, let’s look at the returning players. It’s fair to say that young guards/wings like Furkan Korkmaz, Matisse Thybulle, Isaiah Joe, Tyrese Maxey, and big man Paul Reed have either stayed the same or gotten better from the previous year. That alone improves the team’s depth, especially when Shake Milton and possibly Simmons return to the active roster.

Then newcomers like Andre Drummond and Georges Niang look like real positives to this bench unit. It can be argued that Drummond is the best defensive backup center the Sixers have had during Embiid’s tenure. It doesn’t hurt that he’s in his prime and has something to prove to the rest of the league.

It’s clear that Niang is a significant upgrade over Mike Scott and is probably the best backup power forward on the roster since the Sixers traded for Ersan Ilyasova. His shooting opens up so much for the 76ers and he does all the little things that make him someone valuable to have on the floor.

However, the eye test alone isn’t enough. Last season, Philly’s bench was a plus/minus of plus-0.7, which was 11th best in the NBA. This year thus far, they have a plus/minus of plus-3.9, which is the eighth-best in the league.

This Philadelphia 76ers’ roster is deeper than last year and that should pay off over an 82-game season.