3 Players the Philadelphia 76ers should keep next season

The Philadelphia 76ers' season came to an unheralded end as Nick Nurse group fell to the scrappy New York Knicks in six games. An opening-round exit should be considered a slight disappointment considering that the Knicks outscore the 76ers by just a point (150-149) through six back-and-forth battles.

However, there is always hope as long as Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey remain on the team, and Philadelphia should build around its current superstar core. The Sixers will enter the offseason with just one player under contract, Joel Embiid. The rest of the squad will become free agents. This means that they will have the financial flexibility to retool.

Despite the abysmal performance of the bench unit in the playoff series vs. New York, there are salvageable pieces that could help the team improve next season. There is still time to evaluate performances from the regular season and the playoffs and decide who can help the Sixers in the long run.

That said, the Sixers were one of the worst teams in bench production during the playoffs and several players could be exiting the franchise following the early first-round exit. Shooting ability and defensive coverages in the perimeter will be a priority for the front office that hope that they can bring in a third-string superstar alongside Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.