The Philadelphia 76ers expect to have a strong starting unit when the season begins on Dec. 22. That’s what happens when a team has two stars in Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid who can do plenty of different things on the floor.
However, what about when those two head to the bench? How about when the bench unit is surrounding the two stars on the floor? They need to step in and do their job as well.
The 2020-21 bench unit will be led by players such as Shake Milton and Furkan Korkmaz who can bring some shooting off the bench. Both players shot over 40% from deep in the 2019-20 season and Milton took big steps forward so coach Doc Rivers has a lot of hope for him.
“I’ve had a lot of luck with really good second unit guards,” said Rivers with a smile. “I think we have that. I think Shake number 1, right when I took the job, Shake has been where my focus has been. I got to let him play even freer which is crazy. I will say when I told him that, he was very happy with that news. I told him that I would hold him far more accountable defensively than I did with Jamal (Crawford) and Lou (Williams) for sure, but Shake has that ability in him. Furkan has another ability in him and using them as a combination of scorers coming off the bench would be terrific for us.”
Milton took over the team’s starting point guard job while in the bubble as former coach Brett Brown was trying to figure out rotations and such, but it seems like he will be heading back to the bench with this current fit.
Then, there’s Korkmaz who had a breakout season when he really needed it. He was probably on his last chance and he came out and he had a terrific season that should have him figuring into the rotation at some point.
“I love what he can do,” said Rivers of Korkmaz. “Obviously, it’s tough not having a practice yet, just doing individual workouts, but Furkan is an extremely skilled basketball player with size. He can shoot the ball, he can dribble the ball, can play pick-and-roll, has a very high basketball IQ, still young. I think Furkan will be a very big piece to what we do this year.”
When it comes to minutes and who plays in what situation and in what role, that won’t come easy. Rivers only has a few weeks to work with this roster in camp and only two preseason games before it all gets underway on Dec. 22 so there is a lot to work out when it comes to nailing down a rotation.
“I won’t have it by game 1. It’s just impossible,” Rivers said with a laugh. “In this case, I don’t know because some of this will be guys still working themselves into great condition and so you don’t see their best. For some maybe the system, it takes time for them to figure it out so I don’t have a date. I would prefer by game 1, but that’s not going to happen. I’m realistic about that so it’s just going to be something that kinda happens through the season.”
Either way, it does appear that Milton and Korkmaz will be figuring into the team’s rotation at some point in the season. [lawrence-related id=39672,39669,39666]