Why the Sixers should consider signing Isaiah Thomas for Orlando

Isaiah Thomas would help bring scoring off the bench to the Philadelphia 76ers

With most of their regular season being underwhelming, the Philadelphia 76ers need to take some risks before and during the NBA’s Orlando restart to bolster their legitimacy as a contender.

One of those leaps needs to be taken in the coming days. According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the league’s transaction window to sign players for the rebooted season is slated to run from noon ET on Tuesday to 11:59 p.m. ET on June 30.

Per Charania, teams can have up to 17 players on their rosters for the season’s resumption. The Sixers currently have 16 on their roster.

The Sixers don’t need a wing who can defend or another big man, but picking up a guard who can score off the bench should be their top priority.

Enter two-time All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas, who previously played with the Washington Wizards. Thomas was waived by the Los Angeles Clippers after being part of a three-team trade at this season’s trade deadline.

Thomas had a decent season in 40 games with the Wizards. Despite some recent injuries, Thomas showed he can still score at an effective rate.

He scored 12.2 points per game, dished 3.7 assists and shot a career-high 41.3% from the 3-point line. Still, he shot an inefficient 40.8% from the field in 23.1 minutes per game.

The Sixers wouldn’t need Thomas to return to the borderline MVP-caliber play he had with the Boston Celtics during the 2016-17 season. They would only need him to be a primary shot creator off the bench. Alec Burks would also fit that bucket-getter role, as he was having a career year with the Golden State Warriors before being traded to Philly in February.

The one consistent — and valid — knock on Thomas has been his defense. He isn’t a serviceable defender and is prone to getting caught in high ball screens. According to NBA.com stats, Thomas has had the worst defensive rating on the Wizards this season at 120.2.

But the Sixers boasting a relatively flexible roster could help mitigate Thomas’ defensive woes. He would be surrounded by size off the bench in players such as Burks, Glenn Robinson III and possibly Al Horford.

That’s if the Sixers decide to use a starting lineup where Horford isn’t included, though.

Horford moving to the bench would open the Sixers’ flexibility, as that would allow for Shake Milton or Matisse Thybulle to start in his place; Ben Simmons would then slide to the power forward and maintain ball handling and facilitating responsibilities.

The Sixers currently have one of the least productive scoring benches in the league. According to NBA.com stats, the Sixers rank 26th in bench scoring (31.4) and 22nd in bench field goal percentage (43.6%).

A bench core of Horford, Thomas, Robinson and Burks could revitalize Philly. Horford would have more space to work on offense, and he’d have his former Celtics teammate in Thomas to play with in the pick-and-roll.

Thomas has proven to be deft in the pick-and-roll. As a crafty dribbler, he creates space to earn open looks from deep and in the lane. While in Boston, Thomas and Horford were one of the league’s top pick-and-roll duos.

Because of Thomas’ ability to draw defenders, Horford could regularly play in space and score. He was one of the most league’s most effective scoring roll men in the 2016-17 season. According to NBA.com stats, he scored 3.6 points per game as a roll man.

Thomas was one of the NBA’s top scorers as a ball handler in the pick-and-roll that season. He scored 9.2 points per game as a ball handler in the pick-and-roll, per NBA.com stats.

A nine-year veteran, Thomas has scored 18.1 points per game, dished 5.0 assists and shot 36.4% from the 3-point line in his career.

Signing Thomas would be a risk for Philly, mainly because of his mediocre defense. But if they signed him, the Sixers would be banking on his offensive production off the bench, an area where they could certainly use more help.

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