8 Sixers Things To Watch After The All-Star Break

Who will the fifth starter be? Is Burks the backup point guard?

[photo: Mitchell Leff/Getty Images]

Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He has been legally banned from covering the team in person, but that ban will be lifted in March of 2020. He is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.

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Well, things are changing. And they’re changing quickly.

First, it was the trade very early Thursday morning to bring in Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III from the Warriors. Then the Week Of Korkmaz (it was actually three days) came. And while my calendar indicates that there were two days in between the trade happening and Burks and GRIII touching down in Philly, it actually took six full years for them to get here. All of that was nothing compared to the fiasco stemming from Joel Embiid -- first telling the crowd to shut up, then flirting with Jimmy Butler on Instagram, both inciting days of angry takes. And on Tuesday night, Brett Brown finally pulled the plug on the underperforming starting lineup as he moved Al Horford to the bench. 

The good news for the Sixers is that, for a team which typically deals with bizarre and completely unexplainable changes being forced on them at the least convenient times possible, these adjustments are all happening at a surprisingly appropriate time. With the All-Star Break now underway, the team has a full week to regroup and map out their plan for the rest of the year. This team looked a lot different against the Clippers, and they will continue to stray away from their old selves after the break. So, what should we be watching for over the last 27 games of the season?

1. I don’t think there’s anyone vehemently opposed to moving Horford to the bench at this point -- his presence next to Ben Simmons and Embiid is often an eyesore, to put it lightly -- but it’s fair to question how meaningful this actually will be. Joel has averaged over 30 minutes per game this season, and as bad as things have been recently, Horford is too good to only play 17 or 18 minutes. So they’re not going to avoid Horford + Embiid minutes altogether. But what their focus seems to be (and I find it wise) is to be smarter about when those minutes take place. Yes, Horford, Embiid and Simmons are all very good, and Simmons has proven the ability to easily coexist with either one individually. But those three playing together simply is not tenable for a team that needs to be better offensively. That means an easy but meaningful fix: as they arrange their substitution patterns, the Sixers should make sure that most (or all) of the Horford + Embiid minutes come during the two stints where the backup point guard is in the game. Speaking of the backup point guard…

2. It looks like Alec Burks is going to be the backup point guard for now, which isn’t a surprise -- after all, the Sixers got him to have someone who they felt good about with the ball in their hands. But he won’t be on his own -- expect Josh Richardson to play alongside Burks, functioning as the secondary ball-handler in those units. In fact, each of Burks’ stints at point guard against the Clippers came alongside J-Rich. While we’re talking about takeaways from that game…

3. It appears that Shake Milton is out of the rotation for now. This is far from shocking, as this had to happen with somebody, but it would have been nice to see Shake try to maintain his stretch of good, complementary basketball. No basketball team stays injury-free (especially not the Sixers!), so it’s hard to see him not finding minutes again at some point between now and April. Because of the versatility on this roster, namely that of Simmons, the Sixers have an easy job when it comes to slotting players in and out of the rotation. This may not be the only case this month of a player exiting the rotation, and the Sixers utilizing their versatility...

4. I say that because it seems like if things don’t change soon, Mike Scott is on his way out of the rotation. He’s stuck around despite poor play for two reasons: he’s a willing spot-up shooter, and he can play power forward. But with the reinforcements now ready to be used, it’s quite easy to adjust the rotation to keep him out. In fact, the Sixers did it themselves: Scott was on the floor for the first five minutes of the second quarter against LA, and never saw the court again. Because the Sixers are plentiful with wings who they trust to play, they can now replace Scott’s minutes with playing time for those wings, and simply slide Tobias Harris up from the three to the four, where he is much more effective to begin with. Given the way Scott has played for months now, this is a no-brainer. But there is a decision that might be a little tougher, for the Sixers…

5. That decision is: who is the fifth starter going to be? Predating the Horford benching, Matisse Thybulle was the guy. Korkmaz started in Al’s place against the Clippers (and failed to score). But what about Robinson III? Korkmaz is certainly better, but was exploited on defense by the Clips in a way that should scare the Sixers. Plus, keeping him on the bench can help energize second unit lineups. Thybulle may have the most to gain from the experience as someone who is going to be counted on in many playoff series to come. But to take Horford out of the starting lineup and replace him with someone who won’t give you reliable shooting or ball-handling would be counterproductive. Starting Robinson III, though unremarkable, might be the play here. He is without question a good shooter, is the first Sixer to cut off the ball since Timothe Luwawu-Cabbarot, and may not be a positive-impact defender, but is far from the negative that someone like Korkmaz will be if taken advantage of. If it were up to me, the starting lineup when the Sixers return from the break would be Simmons - Richardson - Robinson III - Harris - Embiid. Now, let’s zoom out a bit and take a look at some outstanding stories…

6. Tracking the standing of Oklahoma City’s first-round pick is going to be a fascinating task. As a reminder, the Sixers acquired it from Orlando in last year’s Markelle Fultz trade. But the pick only goes to the Sixers if it falls outside of the top 20, otherwise the Sixers will instead receive OKC’s second-rounders in 2022 and 2023. The Thunder are currently sitting tight in the 20th spot, just one game behind the team in line for #21… the Sixers. Funnily enough, as much as everyone in Sixers land is hoping for the pick to convey this summer, that outcome may actually require a disappointing end to the season from the Sixers themselves.

7. I have an honest question: why is Kyle O’Quinn still on this team? Even as someone who was a fan of his game for years before joining the Sixers, I just don’t understand. He’s been dreadful this season, and even if you believe there is a useful player somewhere in there, it is abundantly clear that the coaching staff does not trust him at all. I imagine KOQ would be cut if the Sixers are able to woo a premier buyout free agent (if such a thing exists), but even if they don’t get any of those highly-sought-after guys, they should find someone else, even if a developmental project. O’Quinn is a waste of a roster spot.

8. Last but not least, I want to take a minute to acknowledge the insanity and hilarity of those two Korkmaz games. I think the most effective way to do this is to look back at his career timeline leading up to this season:

• Summer 2016: drafted in the first-round

• 2016-17 season: plays overseas

• Summer 2017: comes over, signs rookie scale contract (two guaranteed seasons, two team option years)

• 2017-18 season: only 80 total minutes

• Summer 2018: drops 40 (!) in a Summer League game

• 2018-19 season: fails to find footing in rotation, has third-year team option declined, requests trade, is not traded

• 2018-19 exit interview: "It was a tough season for me.. I was the first player to ask to get traded and then 6 or 7 players were traded but I'm still here"

• June 23, 2019: reportedly agrees to contract with Turkish basketball club Fenerbahçe Basketball

• July 20, 2019: Sixers pursuit of Kyle Korver fails; Korver chooses to sign with the Milwaukee Bucks

• July 24, 2019: as the Plan B to Korver’s Plan A, re-signs on two-year minimum contract with the Sixers to fill out the back-end of the roster

All of this… and he’s actually good now. It would be unbelievable if the Sixers weren’t involved. But I’m not sure this even cracks the top ten of weirdest Sixers occurrences of even just the last three years.