The 76ers can shock everyone with this possible lineup decision

Just like that, training camp is slated to open in a couple of weeks. The Philadelphia 76ers, coming off a wild and eventful offseason, will get a first look at what the roster looks like on the hardwood. Before the regular season begins, questions will start popping up, particularly those about lineup and rotation decisions.

Realistically speaking, only Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Paul George are locks in the opening group. Thus, Nick Nurse and the entire coaching staff will have their hands full trying to strike that right chord in order to balance out the firepower in the starting and second units.

But to supply some jolt, here is a lineup proposition that could shock everyone.

The 76ers can surprise everyone with this lineup change

Philadelphia is rather vulnerable physicality-wise. A solution, you say? Why not try starting Guerschon Yabusele, the French breakout star who signed with the 76ers just recently to return to the NBA?

The team doesn’t need another scorer in the starting unit. What they need are reliable, low-usage connectors who can hit spot-up threes and defend willfully. That’s where Yabusele cuts into the equation.

While he’s a career 32.3 percent three-point shooter in his brief two-year stint in the NBA, Yabusele has since hones his stroke from the outside, canning 41.1 percent of his triples in Europe since 2019. Granted, the NBA has a farther three-point line, but that’s still tangible progress as a shooter for the 28-year-old.

Yabusele is also an instinctive forward who knows how to make quick decisions and find the open man. He’s nowhere near a playmaking hub, but he’s not a liability in the passing department.

Defensively, he offers a ton more initial resistance than the likes of Kelly Oubre Jr. and Caleb Martin who both project as undersized forwards who will give up a lot of size on a nightly basis. By shoehorning Yabusele into the starting unit, they can play their natural position on the wing and preserve their bodies for the long run.

There’s obvious, yet unpopular credence to slotting Yabusele in as a starting power forward for the 76ers. He doesn’t have to play starter-typical minutes, but allowing him to fill a niche role with their star-studded opening lineup will smoothen the rotation a tad more and fill in a gap that majority of the players on the team simply cannot supply.