Yeah, the Philadelphia 76ers should definitely target a buyout shooter

During James Harden‘s introductory press conference, Daryl Morey mentioned how the Philadelphia 76ers valued the addition of Paul Millsap but could still look to fill the team’s final roster spot with another big man instead of a shooter.

On paper, that isn’t the worst idea. In games where Joel Embiid can’t go, the Sixers would be forced to rely on a center rotation of Millsap, Charles Bassey, and Paul Reed, which is fine for 14ish minutes a night but would get exposed pretty quickly by any center with a pulse over a full 48 minutes of action.

But in practice? Well, maybe filling the fifth slot on the center depth chart isn’t as important as finding someone, anyone, who can knock down an open shot without moving their feet.

Need proof? Well, look no further than the Philadelphia 76ers’ absolute shellacking by the Boston Celtics on their home court, in a game where Paul Millsap, of all people, led the team in both 3 point shooting and 3 point shooting makes. Even if “Splash Millsap” becomes a thing in this his 16th year in the NBA, it might be a good idea to secure an additional shooter who can take outlets from the paint and actually thread the needle through the hoop.

The Philadelphia 76ers need a shooter in the worst way.

When the clock hit triple zeros at the end of regulation, the Philadelphia 76ers found themselves the not-so-proud owners of a brutal shooting percentage in their 135-87 loss to the Boston Celtics.

How bad did things get? I’m talking 23-80 from the field and 8-32 from beyond the arc, which *spoiler alert* is really bad.

Now granted, if the Boston Celtics didn’t make a franchise-record 25 of their 45 3s on the way to a 135 point performance, maybe the game would have been a tad closer. On the season, the Celtics only make an average of 33.8 percent of their 3s in any given game, but in the end, their lucky shooting night is a mere footnote in a game that could have profound playoff implications a few months down the line.

Will James Harden’s arrival help to mitigate his new team’s lack of outside artillery? Oh, you’d best believe it; Harden is an all-time 3 point shooter who puts up an average of 7.0 attempts per game, but whether he’s off the court or on it, the Sixers need more shooters to space the court and keep the painted area open for drives.

Could Shake Milton/Furkan Korkmaz/Georges Niang/Isaiah Joe/Danny Green all get hot at the right time? Could Paull Millsap continue to space the floor like a darn Curry and make the fanbase forget about the actual Curry Daryl Morey shipped to Brooklyn? And what about Tyrese Maxey? He’ll be playing off-ball more and hit 39.9 percent of his shots from beyond the arc.

It’s possible one or more of those scenarios come to pass. But it’s also possible that none of them do, and the Sixers find themselves with even worse spacing than they had before Harden came to town.

I get that a backup center is important, but give me a Garry Harris over Robin Lopez any day of the week.

As things presently stand, the Sixers don’t have a single shooter who is making 40 percent of their attempts from 3 point range. For a time, the team had two in Seth Curry and Tyler Johnson, but neither remain with the team at this current juncture. Instead, the team is left with a 17 man roster featuring only five players shooting above 35 percent, which is sort of “The Mendoza Line” of beyond the arc marksmanship.

When five of the players who are shooting below 35 percent spend at least some of any given game at the shooting guard position, you know a team is just asking for trouble.

So who could the Sixers turn to? Which players are realistically available in the buyout market? Well, we don’t quite know just yet. So far, only a few players have been waived by their respective teams, with as many as a half dozen more potentially set to hit the open market before the March 1st deadline.

If a two-way player like Gary Harris hits the open market, he would obviously be the most in-demand option for teams looking for a plug-‘n-play rotation piece, but even if he doesn’t or lands elsewhere, there’s a chance players like Ben McLemore, Cory Joseph, or even Mike Muscala could find their way onto the open market and on the lookout for a new team.

Even if the Sixers aren’t the most attractive landing spot on the market, the idea of playing with Harden and Embiid may be enough to attract a solid performer.

In a perfect world, we wouldn’t be in this situation. The Brooklyn Nets would have just accepted a one-for-one plus Andre Drummond swap of James Harden and Ben Simmons, and Seth Curry would still be here, but unfortunately, as Daryl Morey pointed out earlier today, in the NBA, you have to give something up to get something back. While the Philadelphia 76ers could have mitigated Curry’s loss by signing Danuel House to a 10-day contract – boy, who banged the table for that one? – they can’t ignore their lack of shooting for much longer, as even James Harden can’t elevate a group shooting 35.7 percent from deep all on his own.