Who’s the Philadelphia 76ers’ best bench player now?

That’s been a lot of positives for the Philadelphia 76ers thanks to the arrival of James Harden. However, nothing in this world is perfect and there has been a drawback to trading for the former MVP.

Besides sending Ben Simmons to the Brooklyn Nets, the Sixers also sent two future first round picks, Seth Curry, and Andre Drummond. Lossing two valuable role players does hurt Philly’s depth and the question now arises who’s the bench reserve on the Sixers for the rest of the season?

Who’s the Philadelphia 76ers’ best reserve for the rest of this season.

Prior to this trade, Andre Drummond was clearly the best player coming off the bench for the 76ers. He can grab 20 rebounds on any given night and is now the starting center for the Brooklyn Nets. With him gone, Philly loses a big insurance policy at the center position and the bench’s defense has become a lot worse.

Curry’s one of the best shooters in the NBA and holds a record for the Sixers. He was a starter for Philly and for all tense-and-purposes will be replaced by Harden in the starting five. That being written his elite floor spacing will be missed.

Currently, the 76ers have Furkan Korkmaz, Georges Niang, Shake Milton, Danny Green, and Paul Millsap in their regular rotation. Millsap is probably going to be pulled out of the rotation due to his poor play and the recent addition of DeAndre Jordan. Whether it be Millsap or Jordan, the backup center position isn’t a strong one for the 76ers right now.

That leaves the four wings coming off the pine for Philly. Despite my article stating that Korkmaz needed to step up, he has done the opposite of that and he honestly shouldn’t be in the rotation. Danny Green looks like a shell of his former self from last season. Injuries and age have clearly affected his ability to play, but he’s still a solid reserve.

That leaves Niang and Milton as the two last options. Milton has the tools to become a legit sixth man but he hasn’t found his grove under head coach Doc Rivers. In four games with Harden, Milton has played more off-ball, which should have helped his game. Milton has shot 42 percent from the field this season, but in four games with Harden, Milton has shot 50.0 percent from the field. The potential is there for him to get much better, but he’s not there yet.

Niang on the other hand can be a high-volume 3-point shooter and is an underrated defender. In the four games Niang has played with Harden, the power forward has gone 10-20 from the 3-point line and has averaged 8.0 points per game. While those numbers aren’t flashy, they are consistent and that’s the best the Sixers can ask for from their bench right now.

Niang is the Philadelphia 76ers’ best player coming off the bench right now, but Milton has a chance to become the team’s sixth man as he gets more comfortable playing with Harden.