Despite having just registered their most damning loss of the season thus far, the Philadelphia 76ers remain in good shape to start making real noise in the East. However, somehow away from the public eye, Paul George has immensely struggled as of late despite getting more than enough minutes to continue his otherwise impressive start to the campaign.
Heck, to say that George has struggled in recent games might be an understatement. Over his last eight outings, he has turned in just 13.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.5 assists a night. While he is still impacting the game in other ways aside from scoring, he is still banked on heavily by the team to be their primary release valve in the perimeter. Shooting 35.4 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from three-point range during that span will just not cut it.
With the 76ers getting closer to becoming fully healthy, the coaching staff has some decisions to make role-wise. The rotation is going to leave some interesting choices for them to make, and in light of George’s struggles, it might be time for him to see his role get realigned for once — off the bench.
The 76ers should seriously consider moving Paul George to the bench
George has become more than willing to defer to his teammates who all need the ball to operate, but his much more limited usage has had a significant impact on his wind-up on every night. As such, moving him to the bench as a nominal sixth man where he has more liberty to create for himself could unlock an even more lethal dimension for the team’s scoring attack.
Individually, George’s numbers should look even better leading the bench against weaker opposing second units. Likewise, his burden on the defensive end of the floor will be tempered that way.
The 76ers have one of the lowest scoring benches in the NBA, and with Jared McCain still struggling, it is time for the coaching staff to entrench a real, high-caliber creator on their second unit. After all, deploying George as a complementary piece for a full game is probably not the best way to optimize his strengths.
Of course, given Nick Nurse’s propensity to have is five best players start at all times, it will probably be a long shot for the 76ers to bench Paul George. However, given all the cards they have right now, it is becoming to feel more justified than before to make such a drastic realignment for the nine-time All-Star.