After Sunday night's All-Star Game, we still have three days to kill before the Sixers are back in action.
Today, NBC Sports Philadelphia's Paul Hudrick and Noah Levick discuss who should be part of the Sixers' playoff rotation.
Tuesday, they'll look at how the Sixers can overcome the Celtics, and Wednesday they'll review their expectations for the rest of the season.
Hudrick
Brett Brown has said that his rotation will be at 10 players for now and will go down to nine when the playoffs come. You could make the argument that number should perhaps be eight given how elite the starting five is.
Looking at the five bench guys now, Brown has mentioned that veteran Mike Scott is a lock as the backup four. You figure T.J. McConnell will also be in as the backup point guard. Brown also seems determined to see how much he can use Boban Marjanovic. The other two guys off the bench should be James Ennis and Jonathon Simmons, without a doubt.
Jonah Bolden has been the odd man out, but that may not continue into the postseason. He lost his job as Joel Embiid's backup really by no fault of his own. He'd been doing a nice job as the backup five and makes a ton of sense as a rim protector that is capable of switching onto guards and can hit the occasional open three.
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As we saw in the game against the Celtics, Marjanovic is a liability against bigs like Al Horford and Daniel Theis with the ability to hit shots from the perimeter. Marjanovic was exposed big time in the pick-and-roll, already a sore spot for the Sixers.
With McConnell, he seems more like a matchup-type player as he can be exposed by bigger guards. That's where the Jimmy Butler point guard experiment comes into play. If I were Brown, my playoff bench would be Scott at the four, Bolden at the five and then either Ennis or Simmons as a backup wing while Butler runs the point. The nice thing about having useful, versatile pieces is you can match up against other teams and also swap players that maybe don't have it on a given night.
If the starters all play around 40 minutes, that leaves about 40 minutes - 13 apiece - for three players. That should be manageable given the strength of the starting unit.
Levick
The playoff rotation is going to have to be largely matchup-dependent. That's a good thing.
The Sixers now have the personnel to adapt off the bench to most situations. For instance, if you're playing the Bucks and have to deal with the threat of Brook Lopez as a three-point shooter, you'd likely prefer Jonah Bolden's quickness and ability to defend away from the rim over Boban Marjanovic. If you're playing the Hornets, Jonathon Simmons could get more minutes as a physical defensive option against Kemba Walker. T.J. McConnell might play a more prominent role against the Celtics, a team he thrived against last postseason.
Furkan Korkmaz should not be part of the equation; Simmons, Ennis, McConnell and Mike Scott all offer more reliable value. Korkmaz is dependent on hitting three-point shots, and he hasn't done that consistently. And unlike Korkmaz, Simmons, Ennis, McConnell and Scott all have playoff experience.
We also shouldn't forget about Zhaire Smith. According to general manager Elton Brand, the expectation is still that he'll play this season. If Smith gets back on the court and his stint with the Blue Coats goes well, he deserves a shot to show what he can do this year at the NBA level. And if Brett Brown likes what he sees, Smith's perimeter defense and athleticism could be an intriguing playoff option.
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