A slew of narratives have defined the Philadelphiua 76ers amid their grim start to the season. At this point, every mention of their slow start has become exhausting in all aspects, but to be fair, it is not like the squad has done anything to quell those repetitive talks away.
Injuries have once again been at the forefront of their ills, but another thing of note for the 76ers this season is how subpar Nick Nurse has been. While known for being one of the boldest and most shrewd tacticians out there, his lineup decisions and in-game management have been pretty questionable thus far, with fans and pundits alike calling him out almost on a nightly basis as Philly drops game after game.
While the champion head coach has eventually made some of the adjustments many were calling for, there remains a lot to be desired from him this season. And one area in particular that has been detrimental to the team is his overblown trust on some grave underperformers, as is the case with his favorite baller on the roster.
Nick Nurse should drop Kyle Lowry from the 76ers rotation
Nurse has always favored veterans over younger players, and that cannot be any clearer with the way he has utilized Kyle Lowry this season.
Lowry, who remained with the 76ers after an impressive mini-stint last season, has been absolutely abysmal thus far. He is currently norming a career-low 5.7 points and 3.1 assists per outing while also turning in meager shooting splits, draining just 37.5 percent of his shots, including a balow-average 34.7 percent conversion rate from downtown.
Even worse is the fact that he is logging 23.4 minutes per contest — an overly generous figure for a player that had basically turned into a passing dummy for the most part. Honestly, this level of production should not be unprecedented for a 38-year-old veteran playing in his 19th season. Clearly, Nurse should take a bigger piece of the blame pie.
At this point in his career, Lowry is best suited for a very minor role as an emergency ball handler when the team needs a lift playmaking-wise. That Nurse continues to repose so much trust on him despite his drastic decline does not do the veteran or the team any favors.
Sure, his deep trust in Lowry is perhaps warranted due to the time they spent with the Raptors which culminated in a championship, but time marches on. Moving forward, Nurse should slowly start phasing his minutes out in favor of younger options on the roster, especially when the Philadelphia 76ers start getting a cleaner bill of health.