The Philadelphia 76ers are just a few days away from the official start of the regular season. Fortunately, the team seems to have gotten some bits of good news here and there, starting from the most recent update on Joel Embiid, who is now set to make his long-awaited debut after months of inaction.
Having said that, the 76ers are in no way resolutely set for the upcoming campaign. The roster still has a lot of issues that can be fixed by the front office from here on out. Most glaring at this juncture is the fact that the team is still missing some key names, especially in the backcourt, with Jared McCain set to be out for around a month due to his untimely thumb injury.
With Nick Nurse and the coaching staff plotting three-guard lineups to open games, the 76ers are a bit more vulnerable off the bench, especially since their only options outside of Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, and Quentin Grimes are, well, Eric Gordon and Kyle Lowry. Not exactly inspiring, right?
Clearly not. The 76ers cannot afford to enter the year clinging onto some walking liabilities. Fortunately for them, the perfect person to man the backup guard spot in the interim just popped out of the blue, and the front office should capitalize.
The 76ers should sign Spencer Dinwiddie while he is still available
Just recently, the Hornets made the tough decision to cut Spencer Dinwiddie from their roster, which results to the open market suddenly being home to a tenured veteran guard who can help a team out. The 76ers could be that team, and they could definitely view him as a replacement for McCain in the meantime.
The 32-year-old combo guard turned in a productive season for the depleted Dallas Mavericks last season, and give his ample experience functioning as a prominent part of the rotation, the 76ers should target him given his sensible fit on the roster.
Dinwiddie is a big guard who can score from all three levels, and though his efficiency has taken a hit, there are not many players who can offer the kind of production he can in a less expensive package. He will definitely have a lot of suitors at his juncture, and it would be in the 76ers’ best interests if they zoom in on him as their target.
This is exactly the kind of low-risk, high-reward move the 76ers should be hellbent on doing, if only to undo the mistakes they made in re-signing a couple of unplayable vets in Gordon and Lowry.