The Philadelphia 76ers went out and made big trades for proven shooters Danny Green and Seth Curry in the 2020 offseason as they get set to have better spacing around Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.
However, the two of them are off to slow starts from deep as Green shot 2-for-6 from deep and Curry shot 1-for-6 in the two preseason games. Numbers like that will not get it done in the grand scheme of things.
On the flip side, it is just preseason and this has all happened so quickly due to the truncated training camp period. Coach Doc Rivers is not concerned with the slow start.
“This is what I know, Danny Green is a great shooter, Seth is a great shooter, Tobias (Harris) is a great shooter, Furkan (Korkmaz) is a great shooter, that’s never going to change,” he stated. “That doesn’t mean that they’re not going to go through stretches where they’re not making shots. It’s just the way it is. That happens to all of them and I’m fine with that. The good news with this team is we can find, eventually, if one of us is not having a night, we can find someone else that’s having a night.”
To Rivers’ point, Korkmaz shot 4-for-9 from deep, Shake Milton shot 5-for-11, and Mike Scott shot 5-for-7 in the two preseason games. The team now has a few options off their bench that they can turn to when the main guys are not having a good night and that is something that they did not have in the past.
“I already had it, but it just proves what I was saying,” Rivers added. “There were going to be nights where our bench is going to win games for us and that’s a great thing to have.”
On top of what Green brings the team on offense, he has been terrific defensively to begin the preseason. He has had active hands on that end and he has bothered his opponents. He had a few impressive plays in Friday’s win over the Indiana Pacers and that is what will help the team when his shooting isn’t there.
“Danny Green has been unbelievable,” Rivers added. “You would think that a guy that was 1,000-years old, he’s just so darn smart, that he helps. I tell you when you look at our defense and if you do break our defense down you still have to score with Joel (Embiid) or Dwight (Howard). That makes things pretty tough and what we’re trying to encourage the guards is because we have Joel and Dwight behind us then you can get closer to your guy be more aggressive.”
The Sixers now turn their attention to the Washington Wizards on Wednesday to open the season. [lawrence-related id=40380,40371,40368]