Philadelphia 76ers: Depth remains a fatal flaw against elite teams

Despite having the best starting five in the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia 76ers’ depth will remain a fatal flaw moving forward.

The Philadelphia 76ers have a big problem; their uber-short bench.

With only eight players on the roster who average 15 more minutes and only six who average more than 20; the Sixers are a team that can only win in so many ways.

Sure, very few other teams can go as big as the 76ers’ ‘Monstars’-esque starting five, which features five-players standing 6-foot-4 or taller, but the team also only has one player on their roster who stands sub-6-foot-3 and have thoroughly struggled to take on smaller starting fives with elite diminutive scorers.

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And when the 76ers have a player or two missing not named Joel Embiid, Brett Brown‘s margin for error becomes almost nonexistent.

Need proof? Check out the team’s last-minute loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Dubbed a ‘Clash of the Titans’-esque showdown mid-game by ESPN, Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo traded blow after blow for four straight quarters, but in the end, Milwaukee came out on top in large part due to their staggering depth.

While apologists will point to the fact that the 76ers were without both Jimmy Butler and James Ennis against the most complete team in the East, but the Bucks actually lost Eric Bledsoe, arguably their third best player only three minutes into the game on a double technical for throwing a ball at Embiid and throwing down with Mike Scott. However, the Bucks were still able to thrive thanks to the reserve role of George Hill, who put up 20 in 33 minutes of action, despite averaging only 6.6 in 20.3 so far this season.

The 76ers, on the other hand, struggled to replace Butlers’ 18.9 points a game with their Scott-less bench, combining for 18 points by five players in 71 combined minutes of action.

That’s not good.

Granted, it’s not like the 76ers typically get much from their bench anyway, as Scott currently leads the way with eight points of action a night, but when he is forced to step into the starting five, the 76ers have pretty much nothing to go to when their starting five needs some supplementation.

But what’s the team to do?

With all 15 of the team’s roster spots filled and no viable free agents even available to bolster the team’s backcourt, the 76ers effectively have to rely on the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles ‘We all we got’ mantra with the postseason mere days away.

And apparently Brett Brown took those words to heart.

Facing off against the Bucks with only five backcourt players active, Brown deployed a brand new lineup that could actually be very effective if deployed with regularity: Shake Milton, Zhaire Smith, Mike Scott, Ben Simmons, and Joel Embiid.

Now one could argue who exactly is playing what position in this new lineup, as Simmons handled the ball on offense, but played in the paint on defense. But for the handful of minutes this lineup took the court, they looked very encouraging.

With Milton and Smith capable of covering either backcourt positions (and apparently Antetokounmpo), Scott and Simmons capable of covering either forward position and Embiid an inside-out beast in the paint, the Sixers were capable of scoring and defending at all five positions; a luxury that even their starting five doesn’t possess.

While it seems doubtful that this specific lineup will even log a minute together in the postseason, as Milton and Smith are conceivably fighting for the injured-Ennis’ spot in the rotation, but Brown’s willingness to get creative in fielding fresh fives to remain competitive should be applauded.

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Will it be harder for the Philadelphia 76ers to compete if, say, Tobias Harris pulls a hamstring and misses a week in the playoffs? Oh yeah, but unfortunately them’s the breaks for this year’s squad; with a star-studded starting five and not much else, Elton Brand has built a squad capable of winning in only so many ways. Hopefully, they will be enough.