Philadelphia 76ers: 3 playmakers to pair with Joel Embiid

Saben Lee is a fun, low-key option for the Philadelphia 76ers.

And last but not least, the man of the hour, Saben Lee.

What, you aren’t familiar with Mr. Lee, aka tdbiy_zero on Twitter? The pride of St. Louis, Missouri, and a proud alumnus of Vanderbilt?

Oh goodness, you might need to sit down.

The 38th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Lee’s NBA numbers are nothing special. In 75 games with seven starts, the collegiate Commodore has averaged 5.4 points, 2.4 assists, and 2.4 rebounds on 15.8 minutes of action per game.

But in the G-League? Goodness, Lee is the backcourt version of Paul Reed.

In 27 games of action with the Motor City Cruise, Lee has averaged 27.9 points, 7.4 assists, 5.2 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game. He slices through a defense like butter, and while his outside shot isn’t elite, as he makes the shot well below league-average in both the G-League and the NBA, he’s more than capable of finishing around the rim Tyrese Maxey-style while giving his teammates good looks.

Would Lee fit into the Sixers’ playoff rotation? No. Would he even play every game? No, but gosh, he can dribble, drive, and put the ball in the right spot, and that, my friends, is more than most players across the roster can say. In place of a player like Paul Reed, who will never crack Doc Rivers’ rotation, Lee would be an obvious upgrade over players like Myles Powell at the one and could serve as a solid enough option with upside in your run of the mill uneventful regular season game.

Want to know more? Read up on Lee here.

If there is any luck in this world, the Philadelphia 76ers will exit the 2022 NBA Trade Deadline with someone, anyone who can dribble the ball and take some pressure off of Joel Embiid. If it’s any of these players, great, and if it’s someone else, well, that’s great too; as long as the team has at least one more player who can handle the ball, I’ll be a happy camper.