The NBA trade deadline is quickly approaching and for the Philadelphia 76ers, the main priority should be trying to trade the disgruntled star in Ben Simmons. However, that shouldn’t be the lone issue that they should address.
To be clear, a Simmons trade could address the two biggest roster issues that the Sixers have. However, that’s not guaranteed, especially considering if this Simmons saga can not be resolved at the deadline.
With that in mind, the Sixers should still be working on trying to acquire players outside of a Simmons trade. The two needs the Sixers need to address are point guard depth and adding larger perimeter defenders.
The Philadelphia 76ers need more point guard depth and perimeter defense.
Let’s start with point guard depth on Philly. Without Simmons playing, the depth is pretty abysmal. Don’t be mistaken, Tyrese Maxey has shown he can be the team’s point guard of the future, but outside of him, the depth has been shakey.
While on the subject of shakey, when healthy Shake Milton is the backup point guard. He’s been stable enough, but he’s not a true point guard, he’s more of a combo guard so there are times where he has struggled to make plays for others.
Furkan Korkmaz and Myles Powell fill out the rest point guard depth. “Point Korkmaz” has been an interesting experiment with ups and downs, but it’s not something the Sixers should have to rely on a semi-regular basis. Powell’s on a two-way contract, but he’s really just an undersized shooting guard.
The 76ers need a veteran point guard that Maxey can learn from moving forward. They also need one to help stablize the point guard rotation. Whether it be in a trade or free agency, Philly needs to bolster the depth chart there.
The other thing that the Sixers lack is perimeter depth with significant size. This has caused the team to struggle to defender larger perimeter players and to protect their own basket on the rebounding side of things.
The club’s best three perimeter defenders are Matisse Thybulle at 6-foot-5, Danny Green at 6-foot-6, and Charlie Brown Jr. at 6-foot-6. Korkmaz and Georges Niang are both 6-foot-7 but they can be taken advantage of on the defensive end as well as neither are strong rebounders. In other words, the Sixers perimeter depth is just too short.
Getting a perimeter defender who is around 6-foot-7 or preferably 6-foot-8 would help the 76ers tremendously. It would be even better if they could find a player who can play on both sides of the ball and not just defensively.
Regardless of what happens with Simmons, the Philadelphia 76ers need to address their needs at point guard and perimeter depth.