3 Philadelphia 76ers who should be dropped from the rotation

The Philadelphia 76ers have a mountain to climb moving forward. Bannering a 2-9 record after their latest loss, the team does not have any more cushion to fall back on if they still continue to rack up losses. Sure, the season is still young, but at some point (preferably now), they will have to be more proactive in closing the gap between them and the field in the race out East.

While there has been some positive in-house developments thanks to surprise contributors, the 76ers have also had a slew of players who have immensely struggled to begin the season. Hence, the coaching staff should start phasing these players out of the rotation.

4 Players the 76ers should drop from the rotation

1. Eric Gordon

Profiled as one of the better under-the-radar acquisitions in free agency, especially at the veteran’s minimum, Eric Gordon was supposed to inject some stability at the backcourt for the 76ers. After all, 16-year-veteran has carved out a long career thanks to his steady play as a perimeter scorer.

Unfortunately, he’s become absolutely unplayable. Despite getting awarded with nearly 20 minutes per outing, Gordon has tallied a meager 6.1 points per outing on a horrible 38.5 percent shooting from the field, which includes an even worse 30.4 percent conversion rate from downtown, his supposed bread and butter. Given that offers very little elsewhere, he should not be in the rotation anymore.

2. KJ Martin

For some reason, KJ Martin continues to get minutes from Nick Nurse and the coaching staff this season. While the 76ers are admittedly thin at forward, mobilizing Martin as a stopgap solution has only given the team more headaches, really, especially on the offensive end.

Sure, his athleticism and motor makes him one of the better defenders on the team, but his complete lack of an offensive game outside of finishing at the paint has become highly detrimental to the team’s attack on the scoring end. Philly does not view him as a long-term option, though, and he is widely expected to get traded when his trade restriction gets lifted.

3. Andre Drummond

Perhaps the boldest entry on this list, Andre Drummond is as solid pf a backup as it can get at center. However, given the long absence of Joel Embiid, the veteran big man has been shoehorned into a starting role and it has not looked good at all.

Relegating him to the bench should solve a lot of things and cover up his mistakes, but if he continues to struggle as a finisher and his lack of rim protection subsists, it might be time for the 76ers to stick with the undersized, yet effective Guerschon Yabusele as the nominal backup center and look for Adem Bona to accelerate his growth. Hopefully, Drummond figures it out.