The Philadelphia 76ers survived a close outing at home against the struggling Sacramento Kings, but no one will be especially gleeful about how that game went for the hosts. After all, they had to come back once again in the final frame just to eke out a win against one of the worst teams in the league. More importantly, an obvious lineup choice now hovers around the coaching staff.
Since returning from injury, Kelly Oubre has started in majority of games. However, with the bench still struggling to produce consistently, it is high time for Nick Nurse and the coaching staff to realign his role and deploy him as their resident sixth man. Their latest game against the Kings only doubles down on that much-needed change.
In 37 minutes of court time, Oubre registered just four points and three rebounds, attempting just three shots all game long. While that is a complete aberration from what has been the case for him this season, his role is currently not being optimized to what he is capable of as a natural scorer.
The 76ers have to move Kelly Oubre to the bench
With Philly already having four capable shot creators in the starting unit, a fifth one is not really needed. Instead, the coaching staff should seriously consider starting either Dominick Barlow or Trendon Watford at power forward and have Oubre lead the second unit.
The 76ers bench is 26th in the league in scoring per game, which continues a troubling trend for the franchise. Quentin Grimes, who is currently sidelined, has not shot the ball well for a couple of months now. Jared McCain is slowly getting his groove back, but having him be the main pendulum swinger off the bench places too much burden on him.
Oubre is averaging more than 14 points per game this season while shooting nearly 50 percent from the field and 37 percent from three-point territory. Those numbers stand to go up when he has the liberty to hunt for his own shot with the second unit — something he simply does not have when playing with the starters for the most part.
The veteran Oubre has become an instrumental part of the team, but the 76ers also need to do him justice by placing him in a better position to succeed and make full use of his skill set. By moving him to the bench, he should be able to help the squad in a more tangible way.