Sixers: Player grades through first two weeks of season

Sixers player grades: Key reserves

After struggling out of the gates, De’Anthony Melton has found his rhythm in the Sixers’ offense. He is clearly the best reserve on the team and figures to play important minutes all season. I’ve even seen one Sixers pundit (perhaps jokingly) call for Melton to start over Harris. It’s a fascinating proposition, if not one the Sixers would ever truly consider.

Danuel House Jr.’s minutes may be dwindling if he can’t get the 3-point shot to fall more consistently. We’re only seven games into the season and House has a reputation of running hot and cold, but his current success rate of 27.3 percent beyond the arc won’t cut it. He makes plays on defense, though, and I would personally argue in favor of keeping House entrenched in the second unit.

Georges Niang is starting to pick up the pace from 3-point range. He’s immensely valuable to the Sixers’ offense because of his quick trigger and generally sharp decision-making. He gets exploited on defense and he probably can’t play in the playoffs, but Niang is a reliable regular season player.

Montrezl Harrell has done basically nothing to earn his minutes so far. After Doc Rivers spent all of training camp talking about how Reed and Harrell would both see minutes, the latter has been almost homogeneously the backup center. Harrell is often out of rotation on defense and the offense has not exactly made up for it. Long heralded for his efficiency around the rim, Harrell has mostly functioned as a black hole in the post. Time to cut his minutes, methinks.

In far less time than Harrell, Reed has looked every bit the improved two-way force Philly should prefer at center behind Joel Embiid. He can defend in multiple spots on the floor, he crashes the glass with reckless abandon, and while the offense could stand to improve, the talent and athleticism are there. He might get more comfortable playing off of James Harden if he actually, I don’t know, gets the chance to play off of James Harden.

Matisse Thybulle has been firmly in the rotation for two games now. With Philadelphia’s transition defense faltering, it looks like Doc Rivers may turn to the 25-year-old defensive specialist for support. That’s fair and it would greatly benefit the Sixers if Thybulle can make himself into a reliable rotation piece. That said, the offense is still not there.