There are a few age old rules of the NBA based around the idea that since only 5 players per team are on the court at a time and one player can dominate the ball on both sides of the court in a fashion unlike any sport you always want the best player in a trade. The Philadelphia 76ers were presented with the opportunity to turn to 7/10 players, Covington and Dario into a 9/10 player in Jimmy Butler. In terms of team building you do the trade 10 out of 10 times as you should be able to fill in the other roster spots with players that can provide positive contributions in limited roles. Turns out that when you make the trade 10 games into the season instead of before the season starts it is a bit harder to find those other pieces.
From the sixers perspective there was no chance that they were going to win a NBA title this year prior to the trade, unless the Warriors had some major injuries. After the trade it is arguable that the starting lineup can match the fire power but being realistic the trade decrease the sixers odds to win the title because it removed all depth on the team. Assuming that Butler replaces the minutes that Covington gave the team, there are still 32 minutes that Dario played that need to be filled with no good answers on how to fill them assuming playing Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid more minutes is out of the question because you want them to have long and healthy careers.
The options are Mike Muscalla, a player who struggled to make it on the floor for one of the worst teams in the NBA last year and is best suited to play 10 minutes at the 5 against smaller backup centers when Embiid rest and a few minutes a night next to Embiid at the 4, not close to 25 minutes a game as he struggles to shoot from behind the arc. Shooting 34% from 3 so far he has not provided the constant perimeter threat that Dario did at the beginning of the season or last season.
Wilson Chandler- A player who is near the end of his nba journey. Injuries have sapped most of his athleticism and at times he can bring positive play if he goes over 20 minutes in the game you can see the decline in his play. It is hard to get more out of him then the sixers are getting as he is a role player that understands he is meant to play defense and hit open shots. So far the defense has been decent as long as he does not get switched onto the opposing point guard and the shot has been connection at 40% from beyond the arc. He currently is starting and plays 26 minutes a game which is already to many minutes for a player with his injury history.
Amir Johnson- yeah he is currently just a waste of a roster space. He aged about 5 years in one season last year and it is clear that he just does not have it athleticaly to play the way the sixers need him to play. Any time given to him is just asking for the opponent to go on a 10-0 run.
Jonah Bolden- The kid is raw and there are issues with the defense and it is unclear if he can consistently make shots but he has more athleticism than any the above 3 players combined. It is unlikely that the 1st year player could make a major impact but he could provide another player who can switch on most players and put up some resitence when players attack the rim. Something the sixers struggle at when Embiid is not in the game. Earlier in the season the 76ers started Fultz and brought JJ off the bench to develop confidence in his game well the rotation could use some tweaking again and injecting Bolden into the lineup could allow Chandler to help with bench units and keep the team afloat when two of Butler, Embiid and Simmons are on the bench.
The sixers have another major problem with the players off the bench at the guard position. TJ is not good enough to be the best guard off the bench and run the point for 20 minutes a night. Shamet cannot cover anyone, though he will get better with experience and Korkmaz is a plus shooter but negative defender like Shamet. Korkmaz and Shamet provide spacing as both are above average 3 pointers but at this point in their young careers they give little in terms of ball handling or defense. Both are thin bodies but it appears that they may be able to work there way into being average to slightly below average defenders instead of turnstiles, which they currently are.
The Sixers need a guard who can cover the opposing teams point guard for extended minutes a night. The player that was supposed to fill this role was either Markelle Fultz or Zaire Smith both dealing with injuries that are keeping them off the floor. Even when Markelle struggled with his shoot he showed that he could be a dominate defensive players when he set his mind to it. The issue was at times when the offense was not going well he would become disinterested in the defensive part of the game. Smith has not played this season, due to a broken foot and allergic reaction. Out of Texas Tech he appeared to be a tenacious on ball defender who had elite NBA athleticism. With a floor of Tony Allen he was the type of player the Sixers were missing when they faced off against the Celtics in the playoffs last summer.
The Sixers once again have on the best starting lineups in the NBA but when the star players are off the court the bench proves unable to do anything. The large load on the starters will continue to take it's toll on the starters and the players will show more fatigue as the season goes on.
The team is far from a finished project and needs another wing and big man to fill out the roster. The player could be waiting to return from injury or may be lurking on the roster of team that is heading towards the lottery this year. The sixers still have the mid level exception but there is no one worth using it on just yet. The problems facing the team are fixable but a reminder that it takes a team to win in the NBA today not just 3 great players.
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