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Every team needs to have a guy off their bench who will come in and provide good offensive play. A guy who will give the team a spark when it comes to scoring and an electric play when the time calls for it.
For the Philadelphia 76ers, that guy was Alec Burks who was acquired from the Golden State Warriors in a February trade deadline deal. It was a struggle initially for him to find his role, but he found a groove inside the bubble and he finished averaging 12.2 points and 3.1 rebounds in 18 games with the Sixers.
2019-20 season averages
15.0 points
4.3 rebounds
2.9 assists
41.8% overall percentage
38.5% from deep
The Sixers had trouble finding a role for Burks in the early going as Ben Simmons was still running things at the point guard spot and Shake Milton was beginning to emerge, but when he did play, he made an impact.
In his second game with the Sixers, he had 19 points off the bench to key a big win over the Brooklyn Nets and he scored in double-figures five more times before the league hiatus. He then scored 20+ points three times in the seeding games inside the bubble as he really craved himself out a role.
In the playoffs, it was a different story. After scoring 18 points in Game 1, coach Brett Brown turned to Raul Neto instead of Burks in Game 2 due to his issues getting the ball into the post in the first game. He was unable to find his groove from there as he had two points in Game 2, nine points in Game 3, and then 13 in Game 4. He shot only 18.8% from deep in the playoffs as he was not able to find his groove again on offense.
Burks is a free agent heading into the offseason and there is no guarantee that he returns to the Sixers. Philadelphia only has about $6 million to play with and general manager Elton Brand will have to decide if he wants to bring him back or see if he can find more of a 3-point shooter on the open market. [lawrence-related id=37401,37395,37389]