Potential Sixers lineup with James Harden No. 2
- James Harden
- Danny Green
- Matisse Thybulle
- Georges Niang
- Paul Reed
Right now, it looks like Paul Reed is the Sixers’ backup five in lieu of Andre Drummond. Paul Millsap is a very real candidate to take on that role, but frankly, my preference is Reed or Charles Bassey. It can’t hurt the Sixers to invest in younger talent when Millsap, a 37-year-old who was benched early in the season by Brooklyn, is on the verge of retirement.
Let’s stick with Reed for now. Doc Rivers should stagger Embiid and Harden to the best of his ability. Both players are capable of elevating elite offenses by themselves. Keeping one of them on the floor at all times all but guarantees that Philadelphia won’t have a severe offensive decline for long stretches of a game.
This lineup feels like one Doc Rivers should go to regularly. Without Embiid to anchor the defense, Matisse Thybulle, Danny Green, and Paul Reed provide enough disruptive potential to keep opposing offenses out of wack. Meanwhile, Green and Niang are elite 3-point shooters who stand to benefit from Harden’s playmaking out of the pick-and-roll. Reed isn’t the most polished roll man on the team, but he’s athletic enough to play above the rim and finish easy ones inside.
Thybulle has developed as a cutter, and would no doubt feast on backdoor cuts with Reed and Niang spacing the floor. This lineup also has a fair amount of defensive versatility, in that Thybulle can guard the best perimeter player while Harden is hidden on the opponent’s least threatening player. Niang and Reed are both reasonably mobile if Rivers desires to put Harden in the post defensively.