To be brutally honest, it is quite difficult to make a proud bet about the Philadelphia 76ers parading a better roster next season. Aside from adding VJ Edgecombe, the team was not able to pull off any other mind-blowing move, with their current lineup composition looking almost exactly similar to the one they trotted out last season.
The 76ers are clearly banking on better injury luck for their core players, although that remains a daunting proposition. But with the Eastern Conference still have a lot of up-and-coming teams looking to make noise next season, the franchise cannot possibly get comfortably lying low and waiting for the injury bug to evade them.
To make matters worse, the front office did not do enough to try to upgrade some critial areas of concern. And perhaps no player embodies what the 76ers badly lack more than Kelly Oubre Jr., who has become a bit of an afterthought following the team’s maneuvering over the summer.
Still, the 76ers are slowly but surely making their feelings about Oubre known, especially in view of a particular move they executed in free agency.
76ers make their feelings about Kelly Oubre Jr. known after adding Trendon Watford
Nearly simultaneous to the untimely departure of versatile forward Guerschon Yabusele, who headed to their rival Knicks in free agency, the 76ers made a quick pivot and plucked Trendon Watford off the open market. However, given the latter’s strengths, it is more likely that he will profile as an upgrade over Oubre and not a straightforward Yabusele replacement.
Watford, who is coming off a very productive campaign with the Nets last season, has the makings of what could be a hell of a bargain bin signing for the 76ers. After all, he has the tools to usurp the 10-year veteran in the rotation and prompt the coaching staff to give him a bigger role than the eccentric forward.
Right off the bat, Watford is already a much better three-point shooter than Oubre, who clocked out as one of the worst three-point shooters in the league last season among players who regularly took triples. Watford himself did not shoot the three-ball particuarly well last season at just 33 percent, but he is a career 34.9 percent shooter who will definitely benefit from having more talented creators around him.
Also, Watford might even be a better defender than Oubre. While the latter has made strides on that end, especially last season, he is still prone to making boneheaded mistakes on that end, whereas Watford does not take too many risks, unless calculated, and is usually very heady when taking on more talented opponents.
We have not even talked about how much better Watford is as a secondary playmaker. Unlike Oubre, who has a tunnel vision, he is a willing passer who has an uncanny skill in finding angles and available passing windows. That will be a sleek addition to a 76ers team in dire need of connectors.
Clearly, the Philadelphia 76ers should commit to reducing Kelly Oubre Jr.’s role next season, especially with Trendon Watford already on board. Otherwise, the team will risk rewinding their on-court missteps, giving them an even slimmer margin of error.