Philadelphia 76ers: The peculiar case of Mike Scott’s future
Is Mike Scott’s career with the Philadelphia 76ers about to sink or soar?
*braces for impact* Mike Scott‘s 2019-20 season was beyond underwhelming.
The least heralded member of the Philadelphia 76ers‘ deadline-skirting trade with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2019, Scott parlayed 37 games of plus-play coming off the bench into a brand new two-year, $9.8 million contract that would keep him in the City of Brotherly Love through the 2021 season.
In theory, the idea tracked, as a modern NBA team can’t have enough 3-and-D combo forwards who shoot over 40 percent from beyond the arc. But in practice, boy, not so much.
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Despite playing on the most lucrative contract of his career, Scott’s statistical performance dipped across the board from its 2018-19 highwater mark, with the 31-year-old all but falling out of Brett Brown‘s playoff rotation.
Now were Scott’s numbers down because of a dip in playing time, or was his playing time down because of a lack of production? Either way, six points in 17.8 minutes of action is hardly the sort of production a team expects from their sixth man, especially when said sixth man is the highest paid bench player on the team.
Had Brown been retained for his eighth season in South Philly, Scott’s bags would all but certainly already be packed, as he’s one of the rare players on a cash-strapped roster who can be traded for a non-vet minimum asset, but there’s an $8 million man who has something else to say on the matter.
I know, crazy, right? After trading away Scott, Tobias Harris, and Boban Marjanovic not 18 months prior, Doc Rivers has been reunited with his former wards in the City of Brotherly Love, with the unfortunate task of having to get the most out of a team clearly trending in the wrong direction.
But is this really good news for Mike Scott’s future with the Philadelphia 76ers?
On one hand, Rivers’ Clippers signed Scott in free agency going into the 2018-19 season. Typically, teams don’t sign free agents they don’t think they fit in their scheme – Trey Burke notwithstanding – so assuming Rivers doesn’t completely change up what he likes to do, it’s fair to, um, assume that assumption still stands. With that being said, Scott only averaged 14.4 minutes of action under Rivers in Los Angeles and was traded away midseason despite being in playoff contention.
Granted, Rivers and his GM Lawrence Frank also traded away Harris, arguably the team’s best player for Landry Shamet and future assets, so maybe the Clippers really were planning to pack it in and prepare for an offseason facelift?
With Scott and Harris in place, Rivers has a pair of solid forwards who know his system. Then again, Scott’s cap hit is sizeable enough that the Sixers could trade his contract alongside Zhaire Smith for a player like Lou Williams – assuming whomever takes over for Rivers in LA values heavy draft compensation over a 6-foot-1 walking bucket.
With five picks in the 2020 NBA Draft, including four in the second round, the Sixers could conceivably land a pretty decent player using Scott’s contract as filler. With a slew of bigger forward-sized players already filling out the starting five, would the Sixers be better off with a stretch five coming off their bench? How about a veteran point guard who can shoot a little?
If the Bucks are looking to move some pieces around, George Hill would certainly look nice in red, white, and blue.
dark. Next. If Elton Brand can be an NBA GM so can Rajon Rondo
When the Philadelphia 76ers announced Doc Rivers’ signing, I, like many, assumed this would be good news for Mike Scott’s future. But between his down-production in Los Angeles, the fact that he was literally traded away from the team, and the trade flexibility his contract presents, it actually feels much more likely that ‘The Threegional Manager’ may not be long for the City of Brotherly Love after all. Much love to the #mikescotthive but ya’ll may be looking for a new under-the-radar folk hero in the not too distant future.