Before we get into the 76ers side of thing lets look at who they will be playing in the 2nd round. The Pistons are a very unique team in the modern NBA and they have an old school starting 5 with two bigs that can’t space the floor. They won over 50 games last year and were the #2 seed before getting upset in the first round by the Raptors. They are the worst shooting team in the NBA, but make up for that with being an elite rebounding and defense team. There starting 5 has been the same for over a year now Reggie Jackson, Avery Bradley, Tobas Harris, Kenneth Faired and Andre Drummond.
The loss of Covington hurts he was the best perimeter defender on the team and also spaced the floor with his shooting. Its not a death blow as Joe Ingles is still a elite defender so he can guard the #1 wing player and Ben or Fultz should be good enough to guard most teams #2 option. Keep in mind that Covington was starting at SG. Everyone knows that Ben is capable of starting at PG and then slide Fultz over to SG. If it’s Guard then sees the bump up in minutes then Ben would stay at PF creating a mismatch when Faired tries to guard him on the perimeter. Now lets take a look at who should see the biggest increase in minutes
Collin Sexton
He is in averaging about 20 minutes a game and the rookie just isn’t ready to start and see 30 minutes a game. We don’t see his role changing much for the rest of the playoffs.
J.J Redick
This would be the easy move start J.J who lead the NBA in 3-point % as a veteran he isn’t going to be rattled by the pressure. His defense isn’t good anymore, but Avery Bradley isn’t a great offense player so that shouldn’t be a huge issue. We would predict his minutes to go up some.
Greyson Allen
Another popular name amongst the fans and Allen didn’t log a single minute in the Nets series. He could sneak in and steal a few minutes, but from what we hear we don’t expect him to get much playing time. He will have to wait till next year as J.J has just been playing to good to sit down.
Dario Saric
If you want a safe starter he is your man, as you know he is going to give you solid minutes. He isn’t going to win you the series, but he wont lost it for you either and that might be enough.
Richan Holmes
He has been buried in the bench this year and only played in 23 games this year. When he played he only saw 8 minutes a game and he is just to good to keep on the bench, as his overall is 80ish now. Since Ben will play more PG this series Holmes should join the rotation even if it’s just for 10 minutes or so a game.
T.J McConnell
Similar to Holmes his overall is now pushing 80 and just can’t get on the court. We don’t see that changing as Ben will play more PG and he is still behind Sexton despite having a higher overall.
Justin Anderson
He is a player that very slowly is getting better and he should get some minutes when Ingles is on the bench and Ben is playing PG. He signed a extension this year at a team friendly price. He isn’t a huge scoring threat though his 3-point shoot is respectable now. A great athlete that’s can fill up the stat sheet in several areas off the bench. This could be huge for his career and could put him in line for some more minutes next year.
Jahlil Okafor
Its very rare he and Embiid play at the same time and if this were any other team other then the Pistons he would have no chance to start. He matches up well with Faired and we don’t see any reason why on paper this doesn’t work for this particular series. The front office has to decide this year if they will pay him 17 million plus per year and this would help them decide. If you go by who is the best 5 players currently then you have to include Okafor after the way he played the opening series. How would the floor spacing work with him and Embiid together?


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