Philadelphia 76ers: Mfiondu Kabengele is an intriguing young big

When the Philadelphia 76ers initially announced their 15 man roster, some openly questioned why Daryl Morey and company would opt to keep four centers.

Sure, Joel Embiid gets hurt from time to time – nobody is arguing that – but why hold onto both Vincent Poirier and Tony Bradley when they are essentially the same player; a pair of throwback, traditional centers who can’t stretch the floor all that well from beyond the arc. Was it simply to keep their salaries on the books to use later in a trade, which is ultimately how Morey was able to acquire George Hill in a three-team deal, or because the front office felt Poirier simply outplayed other options like Justin Anderson and Ryan Broekhoff?

Either way, having four big men on the active roster suddenly feels like a luxury, as the Sixers have been in some truly dire straights since wishing au revoir to Bradley and Poirier at the trade deadline, as Dwight Howard just can’t seem to not get ejected from games where he’s expected to log serious minutes as the team’s lone experienced big man.

But what if I were to tell you there’s a young, developmental big who has experience playing under Doc Rivers, a decent enough outside shot, and just so happens to be available right now after being waived by the Sacramento Kings. Is that player worth a look?

Kabengele could give the Philadelphia 76ers another body to throw at bigs.

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Heading into the 2019 NBA Draft, Mfiondu Kabengele was considered far and away the best Florida State product on the board.

Granted, there were only two ex-Seminoles who were generally expected to hear their names called on that fateful Thursday back in June, Kabengele and guard/forward Terance Mann, but of the two, Florida State’s supersized sixth man was considered far and away the better prospect, and this generated a fair bit more buzz from would-be NBAers looking to land a combo big built for the modern game.

I mean, come on, we’re talking about Dikembe Motumbo’s literal nephew who averaged 10.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks during his two-year tenure in Tallahassee; who wouldn’t want that guy outside the lottery?

But since passing from the college ranks into the pros, the dynamic duo of Kabengele and Mann

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have taken very different paths to their NBA career; a fact made all the more interesting considering they both landed with the Los Angeles Clippers on draft day.

Despite being drafted in the first round, the Clippers opted to take things slow with letting Kabengele see the court, starting the 6-foot-9, 250-pound Canadian product off in the NBA before shipping him down to the G-League for extended playing time with the Agua Caliente Clippers. Kabengele would go on to appear in 35 total games for the Clippers with zero starts – averaging two points and .7 rebounds in 4.5 minutes of action – before being traded to the Sacramento Kings alongside a second-round pick to free up a roster spot for potential buyout acquisitions.

And as for Mann, who was selected with the 48th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft? Well, he just dropped a season-high 23 points in the Clippers’ win over the Philadelphia 76ers and looked like an incredibly intriguing secondary wing playmaker.

You know what they say: No one bats 1.000 in the draft.

While normally that would be the end of the story, the Kings went on to make a number of moves just before the trade deadline that brought back more players than they surrendered and opted to release both Kabengele and former second overall pick Jabari Parker in order to free up spaces for new additions like Delon Wright, Maurice Harkless, Chris Silva, and Terence Davis, leaving the duo unrestricted free agents after passing through waivers unclaimed.

After watching the Sixers struggle to field a competent frontcourt in games where Embiid is absent or Howard gets straight-up ejected, could Rivers and Morey see upside in securing Kabengele’s right for the remainder of the regular season? Well, you tell me.

On one hand, the Sixers do have “BBall” Paul Reed, who was used as a pivot-point center with the Blue Coats during their near-championship run in Orlando. Reed measures in at 6-foot-9, 210 pounds, and, when actually given an opportunity to see the court, has been used mostly as a stretch four, except when thrust into action versus the Lakers without so much as practice at the position before the game. If Rivers opted to utilize Reed in more of a hybrid PF/C role moving forward, then the Sixers really don’t need to worry about landing another big man to fill out their rotation down the stretch, as neither Reed nor a hypothetical developmental addition would likely earn minutes in the playoffs.

But if Rivers continues to view Reed as more of a Mike Scott-esque four-man better positioned to play on the wings, then maybe there is value to signing a player like Kabengele to a one/two year contract, even if it comes at the expense of Ignas Brazdeikis and his 2021-22 $1.78 million team option.

Next. Keep an eye on new Magic forward Otto Porter. dark

As things presently stand, the Philadelphia 76ers’ roster isn’t quite ready for primetime. They’re still without Joel Embiid, have yet to see the debut of prized trade deadline addition George Hill and once again, only have two centers on their roster. While Daryl Morey and company could still go out and sign a big-name player like Otto Porter, Mo Harkless, or even the player selected before Embiid in the 2014 NBA Draft, Jabari Parker, if the team instead wants to prioritize landing younger players capable of growing together, Mfiondu Kabengele’s pre-existing relationship makes him a natural fit to land in Philly now or with the Blue Coats in the not too distant future.