The Sixers have a three-point shooting problem
By Will Kofron
Expecting players to completely change how they play may be too much to ask.
This leads us to other ways the Sixers can work to manufacture more three-pointers. Nicolas Batum, De’Anthony Melton, and Danuel House have all done what has been asked of them from a shooting perspective and the return of Kelly Oubre will assuage some of these issues, but that cannot be the only solution.
While Patrick Beverley appears to be a beloved teammate and personality, there is no reason for him to ever appear on the court at this point in his career. Though he is still a solid defender, he is quite possibly the worst offensive player in the league. There is no offensive skill he performs at an average level.
Beverley looks like a middle school basketball player who is too weak to shoot from NBA range: his shots are always short. He is a total liability on the offensive end and while Jaden Springer suffers from similar issues, there is at least some potential there. Patrick Beverley’s days of being a positive rotation player are over.
Mo Bamba had a dreadful preseason, but he is an actual stretch five that should see the court. It may be worthwhile for Nick Nurse to experiment with lineups that feature both Mo Bamba and either Joel Embiid or Paul Reed. Bamba can fit the mold of what Nurse had with Chris Boucher in Toronto. The regular season is the time to experiment and not being more creative with the rotations to fix the very glaring three-point issue is malpractice.
Will a few rotation tweaks solve all of their issues? No, but it is better than continuing to trot out a losing strategy. Nurse can only do so much as most of the players likely are who they are at this point in their careers.